Sonic Automotive, Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Cover
- Document and Entity Information
Financial Statements
Notes to Financial Statements
Accounting Policies
- Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
Notes Tables
Notes Details

Long-Term Debt - Long-Term Debt (Parenthetical) (Detail)

v3.5.0.2

Long-Term Debt - Long-Term Debt (Parenthetical) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	May 09, 2013	Jul. 02, 2012
7.0% Senior Subordinated Notes Due 2022 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt agreement	7.00%	7.00%		7.00%
Discount associated with notes	$ 1.2	$ 1.3
5.0% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2023 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt agreement	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%
Outstanding notes repurchased amount	$ 10.7
Repurchase amount paid in cash, plus accrued and unpaid interest related thereto	$ 10.6
2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate	2.25%	2.25%
Mortgage Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Discount associated with notes	$ 0.1	$ 0.3
Mortgage Notes [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Mortgage notes to finance companies-fixed rate, percentage	3.51%
Mortgage notes to finance companies-variable rate, percentage	1.25%
Mortgage Notes [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Mortgage notes to finance companies-fixed rate, percentage	7.03%
Mortgage notes to finance companies-variable rate, percentage	2.80%

- Definition

Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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+ References

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+ References

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- Definition

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+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1A
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930785&loc=d3e28541-108399

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 15
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3291-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Financing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6513228

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- Definition

The effective interest rate at the end of the reporting period.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
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