Valvoline Instant Oil Change
Bottom line
- Total investment $192K – $3.5M including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.7M/year (median $1.6M). Estimated payback in 3.3 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 39/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 80 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 20.9% CAGR over 3 years with 2039 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 Valvoline Instant Oil Change unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
15%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Valvoline Instant Oil Change units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
32.1%
4.02× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.51×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$6.7M
on $16.8M purchase
Total debt
$10.0M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate fast-lube oil change service centers offering quick vehicle maintenance (oil changes, fluid top-offs, filter replacements). Day-to-day operations include managing technicians, scheduling appointments, maintaining inventory, customer service, facility upkeep, and compliance with corporate standards and local environmental regulations.
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 · 7 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
Moderate-to-cautious opportunity with material litigation risk, unverified financial claims, and demonstrated compliance gaps that warrant deep franchisee-level validation before investment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 39 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHActive class action litigation (Moore v. Valvoline) regarding misrepresentation of oil change intervals creates reputational and potential operational risk
- 02MINORNo Item 19 financial performance data provided; average net income of $549,958 cannot be independently verified against actual franchisee performance
- 03MINORHigh capital requirement ceiling ($3.48M) with wide variance suggests significant operational complexity and potential for underperformers
- 04MINORRecent Washington State enforcement action on no-poach provisions indicates compliance and HR management weaknesses at corporate level
- 05MINORGraduated royalty structure (4-6%) incentivizes under-reporting of revenue during critical early years
- 06MINORSystem growth of 10.5% YoY is moderate; no visibility into unit-level profitability trends or churn rates
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Valvoline Instant Oil Change · FDD (2026) PDF