Who owns Texas car dealerships, and what do they charge?

Who is behind the name on the lot?

Toyota of Dallas belongs to Berkshire Hathaway Automotive. Sport City Toyota belongs to Lithia. Round Rock Toyota is part of Penske Automotive Group. Cavender Toyota is in Cavender Auto Family, a different business from Cavender Auto Group. In the Texas license extract, the seller at Cavender Toyota’s address was SBC Automotive, Ltd. The franchise agreement, the dealer’s state license and the parcel title can each name a different entity.

Across 14 groups, 251 of 256 directory entries matched active or pending-renewal dealer-license addresses. Group 1’s directory count of 52 matched its October 2026 investor count after brands at shared addresses were combined. TxDMV licenses franchise showrooms by location, and a showroom can sell more than one authorized brand. Counting badges, showroom locations and dealer license numbers gives different totals. Group 1 dealership directory · TxDMV franchise licensing

Texas limits manufacturer-owned retailing

Texas Occupations Code § 2301.476 generally restricts a manufacturer or distributor from owning or operating a franchised dealer for the same statutory type of vehicle. The law also covers nonfranchised dealer operations and provides narrow exceptions, including temporary operation while a qualifying dealership is being sold. In September 2026, a federal appeals panel upheld the rejection of Lucid’s equal-protection and due-process challenge. An out-of-state transaction made online involves different rules from opening an ordinary manufacturer-owned Texas dealership. Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 2301 · Fifth Circuit’s Lucid opinion

How $1,495 can become $1,828

Five showrooms in the 2027 Camry comparison disclosed a $225 documentation fee. AutoNation included it in the South Austin advertised price. The Cavender listing showed a combined $1,720 dealer package and documentation line, but its pricing disclosure left the inclusion of the documentation fee uncertain. The table works through both readings of the same listing.

The differences use unrounded amounts. The model uses 6.25% tax and excludes a separately stated documentation fee from the tax base. It assumes no trade-in and no additional options, and leaves title, registration and other unquoted amounts out. The extra $239 in the last column includes $225 in documentary fees plus roughly $14 in additional tax because that interpretation changes which portion of the advertised amount represents taxable vehicle consideration. Ask for the written out-the-door amount for the exact vehicle identification number before comparing offers. Texas Comptroller guidance on taxable consideration · Motor vehicle sales tax rate

Texas presumes a documentary fee of $225 or less reasonable under its motor-vehicle sales-finance rule. A dealer that proposes a higher fee must give prior notice and support the amount with a cost analysis. In a separate sample of nine Clay Cooley locations, disclosed documentary fees ranged from $225 to $288, with a median of $250. That shows variation in the listed fee across those offers. It gives no group-wide comparison of the whole purchase bill. Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner documentary fee instructions

How we got this

Ownership and listings were checked as of November 10, 2026. The matched price cohort has nine 2027 Camry LE front-wheel-drive listings at five locations, with four older listings tracked on their own. The two example cars match on trim, drivetrain and suggested total price. Equipment, incentives and sale conditions may differ. The key price to compare is the one that includes every required charge for the specific car, before adding anything you choose to buy.