Automotive
Maaco Franchise
An automobile collision repair and painting franchise ("Maaco Collision Repair & Auto Painting," also branded "America's Bodyshop") operating standalone auto body centers. Founded by Anthony Martino in 1972, the same year and founder as sibling brand Meineke; both are now part of publicly traded Driven Brands. Unlike Meineke, Maaco's franchised unit count fell every year in its FDD's three-year reporting window.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Maaco's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$45,000
Total to open
$196,000–$644,000
Ongoing royalty
8% of gross sales
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough automotive industry average, not a figure from Maaco's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$456,000 – $904,000
Startup investment
$196,000–$644,000
Royalty per year (8%)
$52,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$260,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Maaco's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical automotive profit margin (~12%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general automotive industry benchmark, not a figure from Maaco's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
2.5–8.3 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Maaco is currently losing locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Maaco actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
ShrinkingFrom Item 20 of Maaco's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 411 | 398 | -13 |
| 2023 | 398 | 376 | -22 |
| 2024 | 376 | 363 | -13 |
Most recent year (2024): lost 13 franchised units, ending the year at 363 total.
How Maaco compares to other Automotive franchises
Across the 9 automotive franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $278,880–$790,285, with royalties averaging around 5.9% of gross sales (based on the 4 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
$515,250–$650,400 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Tint World$249,950–$479,950 · 6% royalty
Midas$385,450–$940,050 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
CARSTAR$23,500–$165,300 · 5.5% royalty
Jiffy Lube$211,000–$510,000 · 4% royalty
Big O Tires$511,500–$1,882,500 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Meineke$224,898–$1,200,818 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Valvoline Instant Oil Change$192,375–$639,550 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Maaco Franchise FAQ
How much does it cost to franchise a Maaco?
Based on Maaco's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $196,000–$644,000, including the $45,000 franchise fee. Maaco only files a Net Worth/Experience Exemption notice with California DFPI (DFPI Regulated Entity ID 470018, all filings are exemption notices, no full registration/marked-FDD on file), so this entry is sourced from Minnesota's CARDS registry instead, matching this dataset's established practice for exemption-only franchisors: Clean FDD, Issuance Date June 20, 2025, as amended September 18, 2025 and December 15, 2025 (MN File No. 10915, document 35144-202512-04, filed 12/17/2025). Item 5: $45,000 initial franchise fee (reduced to $22,500/$20,000 for a franchisee's 2nd/3rd+ unit; $5,000 resale fee on an existing-center purchase). Item 6: royalty is 8% of gross receipts (4% for a newly developed Center's first 6 months). Item 7 gives two formats -- this entry uses the lower "Auto Body Conversion Center" TOTAL of $196,000-$644,000; a "Ground Up Center or Non-Auto Retrofit Center" (new construction) runs $728,500-$3,994,000, several times higher, mainly on construction cost. Item 20 Table No. 1, fiscal years 2022-2024 (this filing's own reporting window, a year behind the 2023-2025 window used elsewhere in this dataset) -- fetched directly from cards.commerce.state.mn.us and read from the PDF.
What is the Maaco franchise fee and royalty rate?
The initial franchise fee is $45,000, and the ongoing royalty is 8% of gross sales, per the filing on record.
Is the Maaco franchise growing or shrinking?
Shrinking. Across 2022–2024, Maaco lost a net 48 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.
Keep going
- Maaco and Valvoline Instant Oil Change are both automotive franchises; Valvoline Instant Oil Change's total investment starts about $3,625 lower than Maaco's. Valvoline Instant Oil Change Franchise
- Maaco and Jiffy Lube are both automotive franchises; Maaco's total investment starts about $15,000 lower than Jiffy Lube's. Jiffy Lube Franchise
Where this came from: Maaco only files a Net Worth/Experience Exemption notice with California DFPI (DFPI Regulated Entity ID 470018, all filings are exemption notices, no full registration/marked-FDD on file), so this entry is sourced from Minnesota's CARDS registry instead, matching this dataset's established practice for exemption-only franchisors: Clean FDD, Issuance Date June 20, 2025, as amended September 18, 2025 and December 15, 2025 (MN File No. 10915, document 35144-202512-04, filed 12/17/2025). Item 5: $45,000 initial franchise fee (reduced to $22,500/$20,000 for a franchisee's 2nd/3rd+ unit; $5,000 resale fee on an existing-center purchase). Item 6: royalty is 8% of gross receipts (4% for a newly developed Center's first 6 months). Item 7 gives two formats -- this entry uses the lower "Auto Body Conversion Center" TOTAL of $196,000-$644,000; a "Ground Up Center or Non-Auto Retrofit Center" (new construction) runs $728,500-$3,994,000, several times higher, mainly on construction cost. Item 20 Table No. 1, fiscal years 2022-2024 (this filing's own reporting window, a year behind the 2023-2025 window used elsewhere in this dataset) -- fetched directly from cards.commerce.state.mn.us and read from the PDF. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2025-06-20. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.