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Property and Equipment | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2011
Property and Equipment [Abstract] |
Property and Equipment | 4. Property and Equipment Property and equipment consists of the following:
|  | December 31, |
(In thousands) |  | 2011 |  |  | 2010 |
Land |  | $ | 131,865 |  |  | $ | 76,357 |
Building and improvements |  |  | 455,650 |  |  |  | 353,088 |
Office equipment and fixtures |  |  | 92,920 |  |  |  | 77,654 |
Parts and service equipment |  |  | 61,561 |  |  |  | 56,651 |
Company vehicles |  |  | 8,391 |  |  |  | 8,137 |
Construction in progress |  |  | 16,191 |  |  |  | 48,230 |
Total, at cost |  |  | 766,578 |  |  |  | 620,117 |
Less accumulated depreciation |  |  | (214,541 | ) |  |  | (181,837 | )
Subtotal |  |  | 552,037 |  |  |  | 438,280 |
Less assets held for sale |  |  | — |  |  |  | (2,020 | )
Property and equipment, net |  | $ | 552,037 |  |  | $ | 436,260 |
During the year ended December 31, 2011, Sonic purchased seven dealership properties for approximately $91.4 million, utilizing cash on hand and borrowings under the then existing syndicated revolving credit facility and floor plan facility. These dealership properties were either previously leased through long-term operating leases or will replace dealership properties currently under long-term operating leases. Interest capitalized in conjunction with construction projects was approximately $2.3 million, $2.3 million and $0.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. As of December 31, 2011, commitments for facility construction projects totaled approximately $18.9 million. During the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, property and equipment impairment charges were recorded as noted in the following table:
(In millions) |  | Continuing Operations |  |  | Discontinued Operations |
Year ended December 31, |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
2011 |  | $ | 1.2 |  |  | $ | — |
2010 |  |  | 0.2 |  |  |  | — |
2009 |  |  | 18.1 |  |  |  | 5.0 |
Impairment charges related to continuing operations were related to the abandonment of construction projects, the abandonment and disposal of dealership equipment or Sonic’s estimate that based on historical and projected operating losses for certain dealerships, these dealerships would not be able to recover recorded property and equipment asset balances. Impairment charges related to assets held for sale were recorded in discontinued operations based on the estimated fair value of the property and equipment to be sold in connection with the disposal of the associated dealerships. During the year ended December 31, 2009, approximately $3.8 million of the impairment charge in discontinued operations was related to Sonic’s General Motors franchise agreements that were terminated by the manufacturer as of December 31, 2009.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6360339&loc=d3e1361-107760 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.13-14) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB) -Number 12 -Paragraph 5 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391110&loc=d3e2921-110230 + Details
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