Car-XFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Car-X franchise requires a total initial investment of $330K – $527K, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 2.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $792K[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 21, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $330K – $527K
- 34th pct Automotive
- Avg gross sales
- $792K
- 8th pct Automotive
- Royalty
- 2.5%
- 1st pct Automotive
- Units
- 118
- 25th pct Automotive
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Automotive · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Automotive avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchised units fell from 76 to 47 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $330K – $527K including a $35K franchise fee, 2.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $792K/year (median $703K).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 19/100.
- System contracting at -38.2% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- CAR-X, LLC
- Parent company
- Monro, Inc.
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 1100 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 105, Schaumburg, Illinois 60173
- Auditor
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.3B
- vs $1.2B prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- Monro
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Car-X franchisees operate automotive maintenance and repair facilities, providing services such as oil changes, brake service, tire care, and general maintenance. Day-to-day operations include managing service technicians, scheduling appointments, procuring parts, and handling customer service and billing.
- CEO
- Daniel LeGault, Jr.
- Headquarters
- IL
- Founded
- 2015
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 10 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $35K | $35K | |
| Equipmentnot refundable | — | — | |
| Office and Waiting Room Furnishingsnot refundable | — | — | |
| Signsnot refundable | — | — | |
| Inventorynot refundable | — | — | |
| Real Estate / Rent (Annual, leased new construction)not refundable | $72K | $180K | |
| Real Estate Purchase and Construction (alternative to leasing)not refundable | $800K | $2.0M | |
| Miscellaneous Opening Expensesnot refundable | — | — | |
| Initial Advertising Fee | $10K | $15K | |
| Additional Funds (3 months)not refundable | — | — | |
| Total initial investment | $917K | $2.2M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$99K
12.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
21%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $330K – $527K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $12K – $60K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $35K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 2.5%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 10.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 12.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 2.5% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 10.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $80 |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $0 |
| Total fee load | 12.5% of rev |
At 12.5% total fee load, roughly $99K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $792K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $703K
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 47 units
- vs category median 70
- Range (low → high)
- $312K→$1.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $312K→$1.8M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 7 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 221 Automotive brands
vs Automotive averages
How Car-X Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 118
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 6
- Turnover rate
- 5.1%
- Company-owned
- 71
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 40%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -6.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -38.2%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 8 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 14
- Loan volume
- N/A
- Amount data pending
- Median loan
- N/A
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 0
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Car-X presents elevated risk due to contracting franchise system, undisclosed profitability metrics, and high capital requirements without clear path to positive ROI validation.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $35,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 19 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 6.0% YoY (118 units) indicates system contraction and potential franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — cannot assess actual profitability or ROI despite $792k avg revenue
- 03MINORHigh initial investment ($330k-$527k) combined with declining unit growth raises recapture risk
- 04MINORRoyalty structure front-loads incentive (2.5% for 180 days) then jumps to 5% — suggests franchisor prioritizes short-term ramp-up over franchisee sustainability
- 05HIGHNo litigation disclosed is positive, but absence of financial performance data is critical gap in due diligence
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 15 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | New York |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 95 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 40 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- VAST Enterprise Retail
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: VAST Enterprise Retail
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
64 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Car-X · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Car-X franchise?
The total investment to open a Car-X franchise ranges from $330K – $527K, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Car-X franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Car-X FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $792K. The median is $703K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Car-X's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Car-X (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Car-X franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Car-X has 118 total units in the United States, including 76 franchised units and 71 company-owned units.
Is Car-X a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Car-X as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 19 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.