Ideal Automotive SalesFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Ideal Automotive Sales franchise requires a total initial investment of $164K – $405K, including a $45K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. The 2025 FDD does not disclose unit-level revenue (no Item 19). Verdict grade: D. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $164K – $405K
- 70th pct Real Estate
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- 25th pct Real Estate
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 11th pct Real Estate
- Units
- 5
- 9th pct Real Estate
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Real Estate · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Real Estate 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
Bottom line
- Total investment $164K – $405K including a $45K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed. The franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Verdict D (Below Average) with a risk score of 72/100.
- No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Ideal Automotive Broker Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- Ideal Automotive Holdings, LLC
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Jian “Jian” Li
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- NY
- HQ
- 15-23 132nd Street, College Point, NY 11356
- Auditor
- DA Advisory Group
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $89K
- vs $127K prior year
Affiliated brands
- Liberty Assist
- Ideal Automotive IP Holdings
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Ideal Automotive Sales franchisees operate used or new car dealerships, handling inventory acquisition, sales transactions, customer financing coordination, and vehicle servicing. Day-to-day operations include managing inventory, sales staff, customer negotiations, financing paperwork, and regulatory compliance for automotive retail.
- CEO
- Jian “Jian” Li
- Headquarters
- NY
- Founded
- 2019
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 1
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 21 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $45K | $45K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising and Promotion Event | $6K | $10K | |
| Grand Opening Assistancenot refundable | $9K | $10K | |
| Training Expensesnot refundable | $800 | $8K | |
| Lease Payments (3 Months)not refundable | $6K | $30K | |
| Lease Security Deposit | $6K | $40K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $10K | $50K | |
| System Setup Feenot refundable | $295 | $295 | |
| Computer Equipment and Softwarenot refundable | $3K | $7K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $6K | $10K | |
| Furniture & Equipmentnot refundable | $3K | $13K | |
| Utilitiesnot refundable | $200 | $800 | |
| Uniformsnot refundable | $100 | $1K | |
| Office Suppliesnot refundable | $400 | $500 | |
| Promotional Suppliesnot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Architecture Feesnot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $1K | $5K | |
| Licenses and Permitsnot refundable | $300 | $8K | |
| Legal and Accountingnot refundable | $3K | $8K | |
| Dues and Subscriptionsnot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Total initial investment | $164K | $405K |
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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $164K – $405K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $60K – $150K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $45K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- Gross Profits · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 47.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $40 |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $50 |
| Total fee load | 47.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
vs Real Estate averages
How Ideal Automotive Sales Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 5
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 4
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 20%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +0.0%
- Net unit change last year
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 1
- Transfers (3yr)
- 1
- Projected new
- 2
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 20.0%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 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 loan disclosures. This brand has only 1 7(a) loan on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 1
- 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
This is a distressed micro-franchise with going concern issues, minimal operating history across only 5 units, complete lack of financial transparency, and insufficient scale to provide meaningful support or proven business model validation.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation is required to be disclosed in this Disclosure Document.
Largest disclosed settlement: $45,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · DA Advisory Group
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 72 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status indicates financial instability or viability questions at corporate level
- 02MEDOnly 5 units system-wide suggests minimal scale, limited support infrastructure, and high franchise failure risk
- 03MEDNo disclosed average revenue or net income prevents ROI validation and suggests poor financial transparency
- 04MINORWide investment range ($164K-$405K spread of 147%) indicates unclear unit economics or inconsistent implementation
- 05MEDHigh royalty rate (5% of gross profits, not revenue) combined with undisclosed profitability creates earnings unpredictability
- 06MINORFranchise fee ($45K) represents 27% of minimum investment—high upfront cost relative to system size and support capacity
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 | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Baseball arbitration |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | New York |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed in this Disclosure Document.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 24 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- our Training Store or at another location designated by us
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Syndicate System
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Syndicate System
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
16 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Ideal Automotive Sales · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Ideal Automotive Sales franchise?
The total investment to open a Ideal Automotive Sales franchise ranges from $164K – $405K, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Ideal Automotive Sales franchise owners earn?
Ideal Automotive Sales does not disclose average franchise owner earnings in their FDD Item 19. Not all franchisors are required to make financial performance representations. We recommend asking existing franchisees directly about their financial experience.
What is Ideal Automotive Sales's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Ideal Automotive Sales (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 Ideal Automotive Sales franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Ideal Automotive Sales has 5 total units in the United States, including 0 franchised units and 4 company-owned units.
Is Ideal Automotive Sales a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Ideal Automotive Sales as a D-grade franchise with a risk score of 72 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.