Components of Other Intangibles (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Amount that fair value exceeds carrying value	70.00%
Gross carrying amount	$ 1,475,924	$ 1,478,217
Accumulated amortization	(811,075)	(745,298)
Net	664,849	732,919
Other intangibles, net	746,149	814,219
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Expected Amortization, Year One	97,000
Trademarks and Trade Names [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Gross carrying amount	514,231	519,577
Accumulated amortization	(174,785)	(152,668)
Net	339,446	366,909
Customer and supplier relationships
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Gross carrying amount	603,621	617,952
Accumulated amortization	(424,577)	(405,237)
Net	179,044	212,715
Software and technology related assets [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Gross carrying amount	345,122	326,988
Accumulated amortization	(199,083)	(174,513)
Net	146,039	152,475
Covenants not to compete
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Gross carrying amount	12,950	13,700
Accumulated amortization	(12,630)	(12,880)
Net	$ 320	820
Maximum [Member] \| Trademarks and Trade Names [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	30 years
Maximum [Member] \| Customer and supplier relationships
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	20 years
Maximum [Member] \| Software and technology related assets [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	15 years
Maximum [Member] \| Covenants not to compete
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	5 years
Minimum \| Trademarks and Trade Names [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	4 years
Minimum \| Customer and supplier relationships
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	3 years
Minimum \| Software and technology related assets [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	3 years
Minimum \| Covenants not to compete
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	2 years
Trademarks [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)	$ 81,300	$ 81,300

Amount that fair value exceeds carrying value

No definition available.

Name:	lkq_Amountthatfairvalueexceedscarryingvalue
Namespace Prefix:	lkq_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Useful life of finite-lived intangible assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetUsefulLife
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Accumulated amount of amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of amortization for assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with finite life expected to be recognized in next fiscal year following current fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported from current statement of financial position date (rolling approach).

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAmortizationExpenseNextTwelveMonths
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 928
-SubTopic 340
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6473545&loc=d3e61844-108004

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount after amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 926
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120154696&loc=d3e54445-107959

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance and having a projected indefinite period of benefit.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsExcludingGoodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Sum of the carrying amounts of all intangible assets, excluding goodwill, as of the balance sheet date, net of accumulated amortization and impairment charges.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph ((a)(1),(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388964&loc=d3e16212-109274

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsNetExcludingGoodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_TrademarksAndTradeNamesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=lkq_CustomerandsupplierrelationshipsDomain
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_ComputerSoftwareIntangibleAssetMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_NoncompeteAgreementsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_TrademarksMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: