Document And Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Oct. 24, 2012
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2012
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Registrant Name	GENTEX CORPORATION
Entity Central Index Key	0000355811
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Trading Symbol	gntx
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		142,753,791