The Economics Behind F&I’s Continued Rise

Repair costs have climbed nearly 54% since 2019, providing important context for rising F&I income as product attachment levels off.

By Gregory Arroyo

The cost of keeping a vehicle on the road has changed dramatically since 2019.

The Consumer Price Index for motor vehicle maintenance and repair rose 53.6% between May 2019 and May 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Repair costs increased another 6.1% during the most recent 12-month period.

That inflation does not explain every dollar earned in the F&I office. It does, however, provide important context for the performance showing up in the StoneEagleDATA dataset.

Through May, F&I profit per vehicle retailed (PVR) averaged $1,990, up 6.3% from the first five months of 2025 and the highest January-through-May average in the dataset.

Through the first five months of 2026, average monthly F&I income per dealer reached approximately $217,400, up 1.8% from the same period in 2025, even as dealerships averaged 4.1% fewer deals per month.

The familiar explanation would be that dealers simply sold more products. The data points somewhere else.

More Profit from Essentially the Same Product Count

Products per deal averaged 1.56 through May, virtually unchanged from 1.55 a year earlier, while penetration across the major product categories showed no meaningful year-over-year movement. Yet total product profit per deal rose 5.1%, with gains across VSC, GAP and the broader ancillary-product mix tracked by StoneEagleDATA.

That is a different pattern from the pandemic-era rise in F&I performance. Products per deal climbed from 1.31 in 2019 to 1.56 in 2022, while annual F&I PVR increased 43.2% to approximately $1,900. Since then, annual averages have remained between approximately 1.52 and 1.56 products per deal, while total product profit per deal has continued to increase.

The product mix broadened during that period as well. Ancillary products’ share of F&I product income climbed from 28.1% in 2019 to 30.6% in 2021, and nearly 34% in 2023. They continued to generate roughly one-third of F&I product income through early 2026, reflecting the growing importance of protection, maintenance, tire and wheel, packages, and other ancillary categories alongside VSC and GAP.

That broader product mix operates in a much different cost environment. Vehicle service contracts and many ancillary products are tied to future repairs, maintenance, parts and replacement, expenses that have risen substantially since 2019.

Reserve Added to the Gain

The product side was not the only source of growth. During the first five months of 2026, average finance reserve increased 5.8% from the same period in 2025 as the average amount financed rose nearly $2,000, or 5.4%, to approximately $37,500.

Even with that increase, the balance of F&I income changed little. Product income continued to account for roughly two-thirds of F&I PVR.

Deal volume adds another dimension to that performance. Through May, dealerships averaged 109 deals per month, down from 114 a year earlier. Stronger PVR still pushed average monthly F&I income per dealer 1.8% higher, but fewer transactions limited how far the per-copy gain carried.

March 2025 shows what volume can add. Dealerships averaged 131 transactions that month, the largest deal count since 2021, and produced a dataset-record of $243,598 in average monthly F&I income per dealer. 

That monthly result came even though F&I PVR was 7.3% below May 2026 at $1,866. Average amount financed was also 8.6% lower at about $35,300.

March illustrates the multiplier effect of volume. Higher PVR can support dealership income when deal counts decline, but stronger volume can turn that per-copy performance into a much larger monthly result.

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StoneEagleDATA is part of StoneEagle’s broader suite of connected solutions — including StoneEagleMENU, StoneEagleMETRICS F&I, Pencilwrench, and StoneEagleMETRICS Service — helping dealers make smarter decisions across F&I, sales, and service.