Christian Brothers Automotive
Bottom line
- Total investment $550K – $680K including a $135K franchise fee, 50.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.9M/year (median $2.7M). Estimated payback in 2.0 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 376 loans (below the industry average).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Christian Brothers Automotive unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
-124%
Negative
Overview
About
Franchisees operate full-service automotive repair shops offering brake service, oil changes, transmission work, and general maintenance. Day-to-day operations include managing technicians, handling customer service, scheduling appointments, and overseeing vehicle diagnostics and repairs while adhering to CBA's service standards and operational protocols.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
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 phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Christian Brothers Automotive presents elevated risk due to an extractive 50% royalty structure, pending litigation, undocumented financial claims, and anemic unit growth that contradicts profitability claims.
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnusually high royalty structure (50% of split profits) is unsustainable and creates misaligned incentives between franchisor and franchisee
- 02HIGHTwo active litigations including material arbitration over competing business violation suggests enforcement issues and franchise relationship deterioration
- 03MINORSlow unit growth (7.9% YoY) with 302 units indicates market saturation or franchisee struggles despite claimed $314k avg net income
- 04MINORHigh initial investment ($550k-$680k) combined with 50% profit split creates extended break-even period and poor ROI structure
- 05HIGHNo Item 19 financial performance claim (Going Concern: False) means franchisor won't verify the $314,559 avg net income figure independently
- 06MED15-year term length locks franchisee into exploitative royalty structure with limited exit options
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
41 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Christian Brothers Automotive · FDD (2025) PDF