Grease MonkeyFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Grease Monkey franchise requires a total initial investment of $291K – $2.0M, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.1M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 9.0% charge-off rate across 166 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 21, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $291K – $2.0M
- 31st pct Automotive
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- 14th pct Automotive
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 8th pct Automotive
- Units
- 371
- 34th pct Automotive
- SBA default
- 9.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
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
20% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line). Within the 15-30% range most franchise investors consider acceptable.
Bottom line
- Total investment $291K – $2.0M including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $890K), with an estimated 20% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 18/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 9.0% across 166 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- 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
- Legal entity
- Grease Monkey Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- MOP GM Holding, LLC
- Incorporated in
- CO
- HQ
- 5575 DTC Parkway, Suite 100, Greenwood Village, CO 80111
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $278.9M
- vs $288.4M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
Franchisees operate quick-lube automotive service centers performing oil changes, fluid top-ups, filter replacements, and basic maintenance. Day-to-day operations involve managing technicians, scheduling appointments, handling customer service, managing inventory, and driving sales through promotions (including the disputed 'Ladies' Day' marketing).
- CEO
- Brian Maciak
- Headquarters
- CO
- Founded
- 2006
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 33
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40K | $40K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $35K | $75K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $216K | $1.9M |
| Total initial investment | $291K | $2.0M |
Source: Grease Monkey 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
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
$206K
18.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
17%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $291K – $2.0M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $35K – $75K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $20K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Revenues · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 0.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 5.0 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 0.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $193 |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Total fee load | 6.5% of rev |
A 6.5% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $890K
- Avg p&l bottom line
- $227K
- Reported as P&L Bottom Line in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 20.1%
- Based on P&L Bottom Line / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- Franchisee-Owned
- Sample size
- 149 units
- vs category median 70 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $272K→$3.2M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $561K→$1.9M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 221 Automotive brands
Revenue is only 1.0x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Automotive averages
How Grease Monkey Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 371
- Opened
- 13
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 5
- Turnover rate
- 1.3%
- Company-owned
- 162
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 56%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +4.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +11.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 8
- Transfers (3yr)
- 17
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
- 166
- Loan volume
- $114.5M
- Median loan
- $518K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 9.0%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 85.8%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 49
- Defaults
- 15
Vintage analysis
Grease Monkey charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Grease Monkey's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 32-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Grease Monkey presents moderate-to-elevated risk due to active litigation, unprotected territories, slow growth, and lack of financial transparency, offset partially by reasonable unit economics if claimed revenues hold.
Litigation (Item 3)
1 case reference(s): 1 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · KPMG 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
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 18 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHActive class action litigation (Aug 2024) for gender-based discrimination creates legal/reputational risk and potential operational mandate changes
- 02MINORUnprotected territory exposes franchisees to direct competition from other Grease Monkey locations and cannibalization of revenue
- 03MINORSlow unit growth (4.0% YoY) suggests market saturation or franchisee satisfaction issues; 371 units is modest for a mature brand
- 04HIGHNo Item 19 Financial Performance Representation (Going Concern = False) prevents validation of claimed $227K net income; actual franchisee profitability opaque
- 05MINORHigh royalty burden (6.0%) combined with $39,900 franchise fee and $291K-$2M initial investment creates 5-7 year breakeven pressure if revenue underperforms
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 | 15 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Protected territory | No |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Colorado |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
1 case reference(s): 1 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 29 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 43 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Sage Microsystems and Integrated Services, Inc. POS systems
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Sage Microsystems and Integrated Services, Inc. POS systems
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
100 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Grease Monkey · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Grease Monkey franchise?
The total investment to open a Grease Monkey franchise ranges from $291K – $2.0M, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Grease Monkey franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Grease Monkey FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.1M. The median is $890K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Grease Monkey's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Grease Monkey has a charge-off rate of 9.0% across 166 loans, meaning 9.0% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Grease Monkey franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Grease Monkey has 371 total units in the United States, including 116 franchised units and 162 company-owned units. 13 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Grease Monkey a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Grease Monkey as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 18 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.
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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.