An auto dealership stacks two large short-life pools: a massive paved display and inventory lot, and a service department full of removable shop equipment. Cost Seg Smart models dealerships as a first-class type with a dedicated component library covering both the site and the fixed operations.
The signature fact: the display lot is the dealership equivalent of a warehouse truck court. A dealership typically sits on four to five times its building footprint in paved lot, so the heavy paving and high-mast lighting scale with the lot — not the building — and are usually the single largest short-life pool. Stack the service department’s removable equipment (lifts, alignment racks, compressed air, exhaust extraction) and a franchise store accelerates well; a body-shop paint booth adds materially where present.
What reclassifies in an auto dealership
| Component | Recovery period | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Display & inventory lot paving, high-mast lot lighting | 15-year | Land improvements — the dominant line, scaling with the lot |
| Service-bay lifts, alignment racks, tire/balancer equipment | 5-year | Removable service-department equipment |
| Compressed-air distribution, exhaust extraction, lube/waste-oil reels | 5-year | Shop process systems serving identifiable equipment |
| Showroom OEM image-program finishes, display/accent lighting, digital signage | 5-year | Trade dress replaced on reimage cycles; merchandising electronics |
| Parts-department racking, customer-lounge FF&E, sales/F&I millwork | 5-year | Removable racking, furnishings and casework |
Illustrative (modeled, not a completed client study). On a $6.0M franchise store with ~$5.0M depreciable basis and a large display lot, an accelerated share near 22% would move well over $1M into 5- and 15-year pools. Actual results depend on lot size, the service/body-shop department and documentation, and on your CPA’s positions.
Cost Seg Smart produces auto-dealership studies using its dedicated engineering methodology, including the display-lot site analysis; per-property figures are produced at study time. Fees are published at costsegsmart.com.