[kaisen]

Lots of good answers here. As much as they can get is accurate -- they are in business to make money. How much do they mark up the "asking" prices? They can make up whatever number they want. How much will they actually make? Typically a little less than a couple grand, give or take. And that's after any required reconditioning. Just what they actually sold it for, less what they actually have in it. It's very hard to average more than $2K per vehicle for a traditional, non-specialty dealership.

In the end, it doesn't matter -- at all -- what a dealer paid for the car they are selling. It only matters what it is *worth* in the current marketplace. If you can buy a similar car for less, you will. If it represents a decent value relative to other cars you've seen, you'll likely buy it. Whether the dealer made $4000 or lost $1000 should have nothing to do with what you pay.