Dealer Garage lets you record each cost against a vehicle: the purchase price, repairs, detail, safety inspection and fees, each with its vendor and amount. It then shows total cost and gross at list price, so you can price a car knowing what it really cost and see what you made after the sale.
Why it matters
Reconditioning is where margin disappears quietly. A car bought cheaply but needing brakes, tyres and a detail can cost more than a clean one at auction. Keeping those lines on the vehicle, instead of in a notebook or a spreadsheet nobody updates, means the gross is always current.
How to record costs
- Open the vehicle and add a cost line.
- Give it a description, the vendor (a shop, auction or detailer) and the amount.
- Repeat as the work happens. The total updates.
Vendors are kept in a list, so a shop's bills can be reviewed together. See vendor tracking.
What you can see
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Purchase price | What you paid for the car |
| Recon total | The sum of repair, detail and inspection lines |
| Total cost | Purchase plus recon |
| Gross at list | List price less total cost |
Internal paperwork
Dealer Garage also includes internal forms such as a vehicle cost sheet, stock-in record, vehicle purchase worksheet and reconditioning record in its paperwork set. See dealer paperwork forms.
An example ledger
| Line | Vendor | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase | Auction | $16,200 |
| Front brakes | Main St Auto | $480 |
| Detail and photos | In house | $160 |
| Safety inspection | Main St Auto | $700 |
| Total cost | $17,540 |
At a list price of $21,900 the gross is $4,360. If a buyer negotiates to $21,000, you know at once that you still clear $3,460.
Habits that make it work
- Record a cost the day you pay it.
- Name the vendor every time so the vendor list stays useful.
- Review the oldest cars first: they carry the most cost and the least margin.
Questions people ask
Does it calculate profit after the sale?
The deal records the selling price and the vehicle record holds the costs, so you can compare them. The dashboard also shows how fast vehicles move.
Can I attach receipts?
You can store files in the built-in document drive.
Try Dealer Garage
Dealer Garage is installable dealer management software for independent used-car dealers in the US and Canada: inventory, leads, deals, dealer paperwork, Facebook Marketplace posting and email campaigns, with records stored on the dealership's own computer..