RECEIPTS
Every number, and where it came from.
We tell buyers not to accept a number without asking where it came from. It would be hypocritical to ask you to accept ours. Every figure DrivrShield publishes is below, with the organization that produced it, the period it covers, and the limits you should know about.
Reviewed quarterly. Several of these moved materially between 2025 and 2026 — dealership margins are not static, and a figure that was true two years ago may not be true now.
Presidio Group / NCM Associates · Q2 2026$1,840Average dealership gross profit on a new vehicle
Aggregates more than 4,000 franchised dealerships. Down 13.5% year over year. This is gross profit on the vehicle itself — it excludes manufacturer incentives, volume bonuses, and holdback paid to the dealer after the sale, which is why a dealer can sell 'at invoice' and still make money.
Presidio-NCM Average Dealership Performance Benchmark
View source →Verified September 2026
Presidio Group / NCM Associates · Q2 2026$1,769Average finance-and-insurance profit per vehicle retailed
An all-time high in Presidio-NCM's tracking history, up 4.8% year over year. This is the finance office alone — rate markup plus product sales — and it now nearly matches the gross profit on the car itself.
Presidio-NCM Average Dealership Performance Benchmark
View source →Verified September 2026
Grunewald, Lanning, Matsa & Salz (NBER / MIT) · Several million loans, 2010–20141.13 pointsAverage interest-rate markup added by dealers over the lender's approved rate
78.5% of loans in the data were marked up. The cost to the borrower was $647 at the median and $1,655 at the 90th percentile. Markups vary enormously — a fifth of loans had none at all, which is exactly why it is worth asking what rate the lender actually approved.
Auto Dealer Loan Intermediation: Consumer Behavior and Competitive Effects
View source →Verified September 2026
Grunewald, Lanning, Matsa & Salz (NBER / MIT) · Several million loans, 2010–2014$647 median / $1,655 at the 90th percentileWhat the rate markup costs a borrower over the life of the loan
For consumers who pay their loans as scheduled. Dealers typically keep about 75% of markup revenue plus a fixed payment per loan.
Auto Dealer Loan Intermediation: Consumer Behavior and Competitive Effects
View source →Verified September 2026
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · 2017 study0.50–0.75 pointsMedian APR markup found by federal regulators
A lower central estimate than the academic dataset. We cite both rather than the higher one alone. The CFPB study also documented disproportionate markups for minority borrowers.
CFPB research on dealer markup in auto finance
View source →Verified September 2026
Management Science (INFORMS) · Published 20242 points, almost never above 3The ceiling lenders typically place on dealer rate markup
Flexibility to mark up is generally greater for borrowers with better credit, and is often capped lower or prohibited entirely for higher-risk borrowers.
Dealer Financing in the Subprime Auto Market: Markups and Implicit Subsidies
View source →Verified September 2026
Grunewald, Lanning, Matsa & Salz (NBER / MIT) · Published 2020–2023More than 80%Share of U.S. auto loans arranged through a dealership rather than directly with a lender
Which is why the finance office matters so much: for most buyers it is the only place the loan gets priced.
Auto Dealer Loan Intermediation: Consumer Behavior and Competitive Effects
View source →Verified September 2026
Presidio Group / NCM Associates · Q2 202652.8%Share of total dealership gross profit generated by service and parts
Context, not a buyer-facing claim: most of a dealership's profit does not come from selling you the car. It comes from financing it and servicing it.
Presidio-NCM Average Dealership Performance Benchmark
View source →Verified September 2026
What we deliberately don’t put a number on
Some figures get repeated so often in car-buying content that they feel like facts. We went looking for the study behind them and couldn’t find one. Rather than repeat a number we can’t stand behind, we describe what we actually know.
Add-on markup multiples
Why we don’t quote a figure: Commonly repeated as '2–4× wholesale cost,' but we have found no published benchmark study behind that multiple. Dealer-installed add-ons are not federally price-regulated and pricing varies by store, so any single multiple would be invented.
What we say instead: Dealer-installed add-ons — paint and fabric protection, nitrogen, VIN etching, theft packages — are priced at the dealer's discretion and are optional and negotiable, including when they are already installed. Ask what it costs to remove the item.
Gross margin by brand
Why we don’t quote a figure: Per-brand margin spreads are not published in any benchmark we can cite. Figures circulating online are estimates without a traceable source.
What we say instead: Margin varies by brand, model, region, inventory age, and month. Rather than quoting a percentage, look at the specific car: how long it has been on the lot and how its price compares with live comparable listings.
Typical trade-in gap
Why we don’t quote a figure: No published benchmark for the spread between a dealer's first trade offer and a vehicle's market value.
What we say instead: Get written offers from at least two outside buyers before you discuss the trade. A written competing offer is evidence; an opinion is not.
Found something wrong?
If a figure here is out of date or misread, tell us and we’ll correct it — help@drivrshield.com. Corrections are published, not quietly edited.
Industry averages describe a market, not your deal. Your specific transaction may look nothing like an average, which is the entire reason we look at your actual numbers instead of quoting statistics at you.