Bottom line
- Total investment $166K – $208K including a $60K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $453K/year (median $411K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 53/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 14 loans (below the industry average).
- No protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.
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 Garage Kings unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
24%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Garage Kings units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$363K
on $1.8M purchase
Total debt
$1.5M
SBA $0.9M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Garage Kings franchisees operate automotive service facilities offering repair, maintenance, and diagnostic services. Day-to-day operations include managing technician teams, scheduling appointments, ordering parts inventory, and handling customer service. Revenue is highly dependent on local market density, technician productivity, and the competitive pressure created by unprotected territory.
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 · 25 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
Garage Kings presents moderate-to-caution risk due to non-disclosure of net income, unprotected territory enabling direct competition, prior regulatory litigation, and limited system maturity (23 units), making ROI validation impossible and profitability assumptions unreliable.
Score breakdown · what drove the 53 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD despite $453K average revenue — inability to assess actual profitability and ROI on $165K-$208K investment
- 02HIGHHistorical litigation in Minnesota and Washington (2019) for unlawful offer/sale of licenses indicates potential compliance issues and regulatory scrutiny
- 03MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk — multiple franchisees can operate in same area, fragmenting the $453K average revenue
- 04MINOR6% royalty on gross revenue (not net) is standard but painful if net margins are thin — critical to validate actual take-home profitability
- 05MED27.8% YoY unit growth is moderate but only 23 total units suggests small, young system with limited stability and support infrastructure
- 06MED10-year term is long; combined with unprotected territory and undisclosed profitability, creates exit risk if unit economics deteriorate
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
36 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Garage Kings · FDD (2022) PDF