Automotive
Meineke Franchise
An automotive maintenance and repair franchise (a "Meineke Center") specializing in exhaust and brake system components alongside general vehicle maintenance. Traces back to a business founded by Anthony Martino in Houston, TX in 1972, historically known for mufflers; now part of publicly traded Driven Brands (the same parent group behind CARSTAR, also in this dataset), which took Meineke's predecessor private-equity-backed in a 2015 securitization restructuring.
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 Meineke'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
$224,898–$1,200,818
Ongoing royalty
Not a %-of-revenue fee -- see FDD
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 Meineke's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Startup investment (royalty not included -- see below)
$224,898 – $1,200,818
Meineke doesn't charge a straightforward percentage-of-revenue royalty -- its FDD describes a different ongoing-fee structure instead. That cost isn't included in the total above; check the FDD directly for the real terms before using this figure to compare against other franchises.
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Meineke'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 Meineke'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
2.9–15.4 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Meineke is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Meineke 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
GrowingFrom Item 20 of Meineke's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 706 | 705 | -1 |
| 2023 | 705 | 702 | -3 |
| 2024 | 702 | 716 | +14 |
Most recent year (2024): gained 14 franchised units, ending the year at 716 total.
How Meineke 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
Maaco$196,000–$644,000 · 8% royalty
Valvoline Instant Oil Change$192,375–$639,550 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Meineke Franchise FAQ
How much does it cost to franchise a Meineke?
Based on Meineke's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $224,898–$1,200,818, including the $45,000 franchise fee. Meineke only files a Net Worth/Experience Exemption notice with California DFPI (DFPI Regulated Entity ID 354842, 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 (MN File No. 10930, document 34414-202506-05, filed 7/1/2025). Item 5: $45,000 initial franchise fee (reduced to $22,500/$20,000 for a franchisee's 2nd/3rd+ unit, or $20,000 for a conversion). Item 6: royalty is the greater of a $20,800 annual minimum or a per-category percentage of Gross Revenues (roughly 3%-8% depending on service line). Item 7: $224,898-$1,200,818 TOTAL for a leased location. 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 Meineke franchise fee?
The initial franchise fee is $45,000. Meineke's ongoing fee isn't a flat percent-of-revenue royalty -- check the FDD's Item 6 for the actual structure.
Is the Meineke franchise growing or shrinking?
Growing. Across 2022–2024, Meineke added a net 10 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.
Keep going
- Meineke and Jiffy Lube are both automotive franchises; Jiffy Lube's total investment starts about $13,898 lower than Meineke's. Jiffy Lube Franchise
- Meineke and Tint World are both automotive franchises; Meineke's total investment starts about $25,052 lower than Tint World's. Tint World Franchise
Where this came from: Meineke only files a Net Worth/Experience Exemption notice with California DFPI (DFPI Regulated Entity ID 354842, 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 (MN File No. 10930, document 34414-202506-05, filed 7/1/2025). Item 5: $45,000 initial franchise fee (reduced to $22,500/$20,000 for a franchisee's 2nd/3rd+ unit, or $20,000 for a conversion). Item 6: royalty is the greater of a $20,800 annual minimum or a per-category percentage of Gross Revenues (roughly 3%-8% depending on service line). Item 7: $224,898-$1,200,818 TOTAL for a leased location. 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.