We reported an all-time record quarter adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.38, an increase of 102% compared to last year.
For the quarter, same store total variable gross profit per vehicle retailed increased $966 or 28% compared to the prior year.
Same-store new vehicle gross profit per vehicle retailed increased $914 or 56%, and same-store used vehicle gross profit per vehicle retail increased $602 or 43% compared to prior year.
Approximately 75% of the pre-owned units retailed are acquired from customers.
For the third quarter, we acquired over 12,000 units, with We'll Buy Your Car, and we're currently sourcing over 4,000 units a month to both supplement our inventory as well as reduce our average used vehicle acquisition cost.
Adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 64.4% in the third quarter of 2020, representing a 800 basis point improvement compared to the third quarter of 2019.
We are committed to operating below 68% SG&A as percent of gross profit on a long-term basis.
We plan to build over 100 AutoNation USA pre-owned stores, with over 50 completed by the end of 2025.
With this expansion, we have set the long-term goal of selling over 1 million combined new and used retail units per year.
As Mike just highlighted, today we reported adjusted net income from continuing operations of $212 million or $2.38 per share versus $106 million or $1.18 per share during the third quarter of 2019.
This represents a 102% increase on a per share basis.
Third quarter 2020 adjusted results exclude charges of $28 million after-tax or $0.31 per share associated with the previously announced exit of our aftermarket collision parts business and an unrealized loss of $2 million after-tax or $0.02 per share associated with our equity investment in Vroom.
That said, we continued to execute in an extremely high level during the quarter, with adjusted same store gross profit increasing 13% year-over-year.
Recovering demand, coupled with limited new vehicle supply, drove strong margins, with same store total PVRs up $966 or 28% compared to the prior year.
We were also able to grow our same-store used unit sales, which were up 3% year-over-year as we successfully met strong demand with trade-in volume and inventory sourced through our We'll Buy Your Car program.
Adjusted same store customer care gross profit declined 2% in the quarter compared to the prior year.
And, as Mike highlighted, adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 64.4% for the third quarter, which represents an 800 basis point improvement compared to the year-ago period.
Looking ahead, we remain committed to maintaining expense discipline, and we continue to target operating below 68% SG&A as a percentage of gross profit.
Floor plan interest expense decreased to $11 million compared to $33 million in the third quarter of 2019 due to both lower interest rates and lower average floor plan balances.
This, combined with lower non-vehicle interest expense, a slightly lower effective tax rate and fewer shares outstanding, generated adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.38, up 102%.
Our cash balance at quarter-end was $351 million, which, combined with our additional borrowing capacity, resulted in total liquidity of $2.4 billion at the end of September.
Our covenant leverage ratio of debt to EBITDA declined to 2.0 times at the end of the third quarter, down from 2.3 times at the end of the second quarter.
Including cash and used floor plan availability, our net leverage ratio was 1.4 times at quarter-end.
Our AutoNation USA stores require upfront capital investment of about $10 million to $11 million per store, and we expect to build at least 50 additional stores by the end of 2025.
Our AutoNation USA expansion is an exciting growth driver, with each store expected to earn a pre-tax profit of almost $2.5 million annually, once running at initial run rate.
In addition, today we announced that our Board of Directors has increased our share repurchase authorization to $500 million.
Our associates, our customers and our partners have helped AutoNation reach a tremendous milestone of raising and contributing over $25 million in the fight against cancer.

Summary:
For the quarter, same store total variable gross profit per vehicle retailed increased $966 or 28% compared to the prior year.
Same-store new vehicle gross profit per vehicle retailed increased $914 or 56%, and same-store used vehicle gross profit per vehicle retail increased $602 or 43% compared to prior year.
Adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 64.4% in the third quarter of 2020, representing a 800 basis point improvement compared to the third quarter of 2019.
We plan to build over 100 AutoNation USA pre-owned stores, with over 50 completed by the end of 2025.
With this expansion, we have set the long-term goal of selling over 1 million combined new and used retail units per year.
As Mike just highlighted, today we reported adjusted net income from continuing operations of $212 million or $2.38 per share versus $106 million or $1.18 per share during the third quarter of 2019.
Recovering demand, coupled with limited new vehicle supply, drove strong margins, with same store total PVRs up $966 or 28% compared to the prior year.
And, as Mike highlighted, adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 64.4% for the third quarter, which represents an 800 basis point improvement compared to the year-ago period.
Our AutoNation USA stores require upfront capital investment of about $10 million to $11 million per store, and we expect to build at least 50 additional stores by the end of 2025.
In addition, today we announced that our Board of Directors has increased our share repurchase authorization to $500 million.