The short answer: it depends on the deal and on what the buyer assumes
One public account of how vendor agreements are handled in a dealership sale comes from the dealer side. In an article for the California New Car Dealers Association, Joseph Berberich of the Los Angeles law firm Manning, Leaver, Bruder & Berberich writes that in a buy-sell of a dealership, vendor agreements are always a somewhat difficult issue. He sets out three points that decide what happens to yours.
- Most sales are asset sales. The article says most dealership sales are asset purchases, not stock sales. In a stock purchase, the buyer of the stock assumes all existing agreements unless the sale agreement excludes them (CNCDA).
- The buyer assumes only what the sale agreement lists. In an asset sale, the agreements the buyer will assume should be included in the sale agreement (CNCDA).
- An agreement the buyer does not assume stays with the seller. The seller remains responsible for it and must buy it out or continue to make payments (CNCDA).
So an older line on this blog, that a vendor's contract is "probably void" after a sale, was wrong. An agreement the buyer does not assume does not disappear: by that article it stays the seller's responsibility. What a vendor usually loses is the store's business rather than the contract: the agreement stays with the seller, while the new owner chooses its own vendors.
What the buyer and the seller negotiate
Which agreements the buyer assumes
The article notes that a sale agreement sometimes has the buyer assume small vendor agreements as a class, giving as an example agreements that cost less than five hundred dollars a month and can be cancelled with a 90-day notice (CNCDA).
Notice to the vendors whose agreements are not assumed
For every agreement the buyer will not assume, the article advises the seller to give the vendor notice that it will end at the earliest date the agreement allows, and it says vendors sometimes agree to end on the closing date, or to a reasonable termination date or a buyout (CNCDA). In the terms the article describes, any early end date or buyout is agreed between the vendor and the seller.
When it is decided
The article calls it a mistake to leave open which agreements the buyer assumes until after the sale agreement is signed, because disputes often arise, and it adds that many parties do leave it to be settled during the buy-sell process (CNCDA). For a vendor, that means your agreement can be discussed between the two dealers before anyone tells you a sale is under way.
What to check in your own agreement
- The contracting party. Which legal entity signed? After an asset sale the store may run under a new entity that is not a party to your agreement.
- Assignment. Can the agreement be assigned to a buyer, and does an assignment need your consent?
- Termination on sale. Does the agreement let the dealer end it when the dealership is sold? The article recommends that dealers insist on such a clause in every vendor agreement they sign or amend (CNCDA), so expect to see one, and know what notice it requires.
- Renewal. The article says evergreen clauses, which renew an agreement automatically unless notice is given in time, are very common in vendor agreements (CNCDA). Know your renewal and notice dates.
- Notices. Check how and to whom notices must be sent, so a notice about a sale reaches the right person.
What a vendor can do
Know about the sale early
The earlier you know, the more of the decision you can take part in. Our guide on how to find out if a dealership was sold sets out where an ownership change shows up. The free monthly activity pages show each month's store records by type and by state, with the latest buy-sells that name a buyer or seller.
Talk to both sides
Before the closing, the seller's team decides which agreements it asks the buyer to assume. After it, the buyer's team decides whether to keep buying from you. Ask the seller's controller or general manager whether your agreement is on the assumed list, and ask for an introduction to the incoming team.
Make continuing the easy choice
Frame your outreach around continuity: what you have delivered at the store, what a switch would cost the new owner in time, and how a transition would work. A short transition offer, such as onboarding for the new team at no charge, gives a busy new owner a reason not to change.
Know the buyer's other stores
If the buyer is a dealer group, check what its other stores use. If they already use your product, you are likely protecting a relationship; if they use a competitor, prepare for a competitive conversation. A BSR subscription shows the buyer on each record where it is known, and a search by the buyer's name lists the other store records that name it.
Build relationships beyond one person
If your only contact is the owner or the dealer principal who is selling, you have no one at the store after the closing. Relationships with the service manager, the parts manager and the controller give you advocates who may stay through the transition, and they are often where you hear about a pending sale first.
How many vendor relationships a year of sales touches
A dealership is a party to many vendor agreements: the article lists dealer management systems, customer relationship management, website maintenance, digital marketing, advertising, F&I products and many more (CNCDA). According to Kerrigan Advisors, dealers completed a record 462 transactions in the twelve months through June 2026, representing 724 franchises. NADA counts 16,991 franchised light-vehicle dealers in the United States in its 2026 mid-year report.
Kerrigan counts transactions, and one transaction can include several stores, so its count and BSR's store records are different units. The Buy-Sell Report has recorded 622 buy-sell store records since June 2025, drawn from state license records and industry reporting; one record is one store, so a deal that moves several stores is several records.