NextGear vs. AFC vs. Westlake — choosing a floor plan provider in 2026

Every independent dealer eventually sits across from this choice: NextGear, AFC, Westlake, or one of the auction-house plans. The rate sheets look similar until you're sixty days into a slow month and discover what the fee schedule actually does to a unit's carry cost. Here's the honest comparison, with the caveat that matters: your terms depend on your credit, time in business, and volume — treat published ranges as the starting point, not the quote.

Figures are published/commonly-cited 2026 ranges. Confirm current terms with each provider before signing.

The short version

• NextGear Capital (Cox Automotive) — ~6.99–9.99% APR. The biggest independent-dealer floor plan in the country. Deep Manheim integration, solid tech, broad auction acceptance. The default choice if you buy a lot at Manheim.
• AFC (OPENLANE/KAR) — ~6.5–10% APR. NextGear's closest rival, tied to the OPENLANE/ADESA ecosystem. Often competitive on fees; branch-based relationships some dealers prefer.
• Westlake Floor Plan — ~7.99–12.99% APR. The most accessible approval of the three — newer dealers and thinner files get lines here when the others say no. You pay for that access in rate.
• Manheim Floorplan / OPENLANE lines — ~6.5–9.5%. Auction-attached convenience; strongest when most of your buying happens inside that auction family.

What actually differentiates them (it's not the APR)

1. Where you buy. The practical decider. If you buy mostly at Manheim lanes and Manheim digital, NextGear's integration means titles, payoffs, and floorings move automatically. Heavy ADESA/OPENLANE buyers get the same gravity toward AFC. Fighting your buying pattern to save half a point of APR usually costs more in friction than it saves in interest.

2. The fee schedule. A $95 floor fee per unit on a 30-day turn is the equivalent of adding roughly 3.5 points of APR on a $10,000 car. Ask every provider for the complete fee list — floor fee, lot audit fee, title handling, extension fees, NSF — and model a real unit through it. The floor plan calculator does exactly this.

3. Curtailment schedules. The difference between 10% at day 45 versus day 30 is real cash-flow room. Newer dealers with slower turns should weight this above rate.

4. Approval friction. Westlake exists in this list because it approves dealers the other two decline — newer licenses, rebuilding credit, low unit history. Starting there, running clean for a year, and refinancing to a cheaper line is a legitimate and common path.

5. Treatment when something goes wrong. Every dealer eventually has a car that won't sell or a payoff that's a day late. Providers differ enormously in whether that's a phone call or a default letter. Ask other dealers in your market — this reputation is local and it's the thing rate sheets never show.

Who should pick what

• Established dealer, Manheim-heavy buying: NextGear, and negotiate — volume moves both rate and fees.
• ADESA/OPENLANE-heavy buying: AFC first, same negotiation.
• New dealer or thin file: Westlake to get operating, with a calendar reminder to re-shop the line in 12 months.
• Low volume (a few floored units at a time): consider whether a floor plan is worth it at all — a local bank line of credit or buying with cash on a smaller floor often beats paying fees on convenience you're not using.

The questions to get answered in writing

1. Complete fee schedule, not the highlights
2. Exact curtailment schedule and payoff-after-sale window
3. Audit frequency and what triggers extra audits
4. Extension terms when a unit ages past the final curtailment
5. What happens to your rate at renewal — intro pricing is common

Then model your real average unit — your price band, your actual days-to-turn — through each provider's numbers before signing. That math, not the APR headline, is the decision. (How floor plans work walks the full mechanics if you're newer to this.)