FranchiseVitals / Automotive
Automotive Franchises
What these brands actually cost to open, and whether they're opening more locations or losing them -- straight from each one's FDD, not a "starting at" number from a sales page.
Across the 9 automotive franchises verified here, the initial investment averages $278,880 to $790,285; the lowest entry point is CARSTAR at $23,500, and Big O Tires runs up to $1,882,500. Initial franchise fees range from $10,000 to $85,000. Royalties average 5.9% of gross sales (5 of these disclose a non-percentage royalty). By the most recent Item 20 filing, 6 are opening more franchised locations than they close, 3 are losing locations.
Computed from the 9 entries listed below, each sourced from its own FDD -- not an industry-wide estimate.
How automotive compares to the rest of the portfolio
Automotive franchises here average a low-end investment of $278,880, against $607,082 across all 130 brands verified on the site -- about 54% lower than the portfolio average.
Royalties here average 5.9% of gross sales, against 6.1% across every verified brand on the site.
67% of the 9 verified automotive brands are in a net-growth year by their latest Item 20 filing.
The investment range above is Item 7 of each automotive franchisor's FDD -- it bundles the initial franchise fee with real estate or lease costs, equipment and signage, opening inventory, training expenses, and a working-capital reserve, not just the fee itself. Two automotive brands with the same fee can still land at very different totals depending on how much build-out their concept needs.
$515,250–$650,400
$249,950–$479,950
$385,450–$940,050
$23,500–$165,300
$211,000–$510,000
$511,500–$1,882,500
$224,898–$1,200,818
$196,000–$644,000
$192,375–$639,550
Keep going
- Automotive franchises average $278,880 to get in the door; see how that compares to every other industry in the same under $500,000 tier. Franchises Under $500,000 to Start
- 6 of the 9 automotive franchises here are in a net-growth year; see how they stack up against growing brands in every other industry. Franchises That Are Actually Growing
Only brands we've hand-verified against their actual filing show up here -- more automotive franchises are added as they're checked.