Interest expense incurred on borrowings under the floorplan line of the credit facility and arrangements with vehicle manufacturer affiliates for the financing of specific new, used and rental vehicle inventory. Interest expense also includes the net impact of interest rate swap settlements during the period, which are designed to hedge exposure to variable interest rates.

No definition available.

Condensed Consolidated Financial Information Condensed Consolidated Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
REVENUES:	$ 2,673,632	$ 2,823,176	$ 2,782,449	$ 2,608,355	$ 2,672,602	$ 2,800,569	$ 2,726,480	$ 2,432,854	$ 10,887,612	$ 10,632,505	$ 9,937,889
COST OF SALES:									9,292,543	9,098,533	8,489,951
GROSS PROFIT	389,181	406,668	410,119	389,101	380,133	398,382	391,573	$ 363,884	1,595,069	1,533,972	1,447,938
SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES									1,170,763	1,120,833	1,061,964
Depreciation and amortization									51,234	47,239	42,344
ASSET IMPAIRMENTS	$ 20,000	$ 10,900	$ 1,000	$ 900	$ 85,700	$ 900	$ 1,000		32,838	87,562	41,520
INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS									340,234	278,338	302,110
Floorplan interest expense									(44,927)	(39,264)	(41,614)
Interest Expense, Other									(67,936)	(56,903)	(49,693)
Gains (Losses) on Extinguishment of Debt									0	0	(46,403)
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES AND EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									227,371	182,171	164,400
BENEFIT (PROVISION) FOR INCOME TAXES									(80,306)	(88,172)	(71,396)
EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									0	0	0
NET INCOME									147,065	93,999	93,004
COMPREHENSIVE LOSS									(8,960)	(56,000)	(30,307)
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO PARENT									138,105	37,999	62,697
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
REVENUES:									0	0	0
COST OF SALES:									0	0	0
GROSS PROFIT									0	0	0
SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
ASSET IMPAIRMENTS									0	0	0
INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS									0	0	0
Floorplan interest expense									0	0	0
Interest Expense, Other									0	0	0
Gains (Losses) on Extinguishment of Debt											0
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES AND EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									0	0	0
BENEFIT (PROVISION) FOR INCOME TAXES									0	0	0
EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									(148,767)	(94,439)	(93,332)
NET INCOME									(148,767)	(94,439)	(93,332)
COMPREHENSIVE LOSS										0	0
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO PARENT									(148,767)	(94,439)	(93,332)
Parent Company [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
REVENUES:									0	0	0
COST OF SALES:									0	0	0
GROSS PROFIT									0	0	0
SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES									2,722	3,024	2,796
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
ASSET IMPAIRMENTS									0	0	0
INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS									(2,722)	(3,024)	(2,796)
Floorplan interest expense									0	0	0
Interest Expense, Other									0	2,320	2,272
Gains (Losses) on Extinguishment of Debt											0
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES AND EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									(2,722)	(704)	(524)
BENEFIT (PROVISION) FOR INCOME TAXES									1,020	264	196
EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									148,767	94,439	93,332
NET INCOME									147,065	93,999	93,004
COMPREHENSIVE LOSS										0	0
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO PARENT									147,065	93,999	93,004
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
REVENUES:									8,734,673	8,893,990	8,175,242
COST OF SALES:									7,379,323	7,555,043	6,929,334
GROSS PROFIT									1,355,350	1,338,947	1,245,908
SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES									954,495	950,268	883,442
Depreciation and amortization									43,472	41,220	36,701
ASSET IMPAIRMENTS									21,794	18,899	15,571
INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS									335,589	328,560	310,194
Floorplan interest expense									(40,444)	(36,063)	(34,061)
Interest Expense, Other									(64,870)	(52,276)	(46,517)
Gains (Losses) on Extinguishment of Debt											(46,403)
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES AND EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									230,275	240,221	183,213
BENEFIT (PROVISION) FOR INCOME TAXES									(83,560)	(89,698)	(77,911)
EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									0	0	0
NET INCOME									146,715	150,523	105,302
COMPREHENSIVE LOSS									10,121	(1,543)	(4,059)
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO PARENT									156,836	148,980	101,243
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
REVENUES:									2,152,939	1,738,515	1,762,647
COST OF SALES:									1,913,220	1,543,490	1,560,617
GROSS PROFIT									239,719	195,025	202,030
SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES									213,546	167,541	175,726
Depreciation and amortization									7,762	6,019	5,643
ASSET IMPAIRMENTS									11,044	68,663	25,949
INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS									7,367	(47,198)	(5,288)
Floorplan interest expense									(4,483)	(3,201)	(7,553)
Interest Expense, Other									(3,066)	(6,947)	(5,448)
Gains (Losses) on Extinguishment of Debt											0
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES AND EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									(182)	(57,346)	(18,289)
BENEFIT (PROVISION) FOR INCOME TAXES									2,234	1,262	6,319
EQUITY IN EARNINGS OF SUBSIDIARIES									0	0	0
NET INCOME									2,052	(56,084)	(11,970)
COMPREHENSIVE LOSS									(19,081)	(54,457)	(26,248)
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO PARENT									$ (17,029)	$ (110,541)	$ (38,218)