Sonic Automotive, Inc. Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

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

Fair Value Measurements - Assets and Liabilities Recorded at Fair Value (Parenthetical) (Detail)

v3.8.0.1

Fair Value Measurements - Assets and Liabilities Recorded at Fair Value (Parenthetical) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Other Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Cash flow swaps and interest rate caps designated as hedges	$ 5.1	$ 2.8
Other Current Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Cash flow swaps and interest rate caps designated as hedges	0.9
Other Accrued Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Cash flow swaps designated as hedges	1.0	3.7
Other Long-Term Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Cash flow swaps designated as hedges	$ 0.3	$ 2.4

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativesFairValueLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Fair value as of the balance sheet date of all interest rate derivative assets designated as cash flow hedging instruments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4B
-Subparagraph (c)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84234895&loc=SL5624163-113959

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InterestRateCashFlowHedgeAssetAtFairValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Fair value as of the balance sheet date of all interest rate derivative liabilities designated as cash flow hedging instruments.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InterestRateCashFlowHedgeLiabilityAtFairValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_OtherAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_OtherCurrentAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=sah_OtherAccruedLiabilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_OtherNoncurrentLiabilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: