From the filed FDD — automated extraction, check the source
2026 FDD
SBA-eligible · directory code S0216 since 2017
BIG O TIRES
Tires · parent company: not identified
Big O Tires is a retail tire and automotive service chain selling tires, wheels, and undercar services such as brakes, alignments, and oil changes. A franchisee operates a multi-bay tire store with sales staff and technicians serving local drivers.
BIG O TIRES net unit count grew 1.7% over 2024–2026 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. Most numbers on this page come from that document; others come from federal SBA loan records and labor and census data, each labelled with its source:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened, transferred and left the system, the main basis for our verdict, which rates how strong the disclosed record is, or says when the system is too new, the filing too old, or the disclosure too thin to judge.
Our rating · opinion
Proven & steady
A real track record with nothing that stands out either way. Units grew 2% (2024–2026: 462 → 470); the fiscal 2026 exit rate was 1.3%, in line with the 1.7% median across 27 comparable systems (automotive). SBA loans to its franchisees approved FY1991–2020 charged off at a rate not clearly different from franchise loans of the same years (45 vs about 54 expected, 0.8×).
Exit rate · fiscal 2026
1.3%
vs 1.7% median across 27 comparable systems (automotive)
Cost to open
$544K–$2.7M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan losses · vs same-year loans
0.8×
45 of 321 charged off vs ~54 expected
Market density · California
Typical density
1% denser than the national average
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Data as of 2026-10-29. Figures come from BIG O TIRES's public FDD filings (latest: MN 2026, extracted 2026-07-22) and SBA FOIA loan records (through FY2026), extracted by us and possibly containing errors. The rating is our opinion, not investment, legal, or tax advice. Franchisor or owner and see something wrong? Report a correction — we review every request.
Buying an existing BIG O TIRES? Transfer fee $5,000, resale record and asking-price check →
What each source says
FDD record · SBA loans · model · auditor
The sources broadly agree, and the verdict follows the FDD's operating record.
FDD record · Item 20
Steady operating record
Units grew 2% (2024–2026: 462 → 470); exit rate 1.3% (fiscal 2026) vs 1.7% median.
SBA loans · vs same-year loans
About as expected (0.8×)
45 charge-offs among 321 resolved loans approved FY1991–2020; about 54 expected.
Modeled risk
Lower risk
Safer than 90% of scored systems.
Auditor opinion · Item 21
Clean opinion
Unqualified audit, 2026 FDD. Says nothing about franchisee results.
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
latest consecutive years · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness · shown, not counted in the verdict
Systemwide units
2024–2026
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2026, 6 of 461 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 1.3% (fiscal 2026), vs a 1.7% median across 27 comparable systems (automotive). An exit is not a failure: this counts terminations, non-renewals and "ceased — other reasons" as reported, and excludes transfers to new owners.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 477 | 462 | 461 |
| Opened | 10 | 8 | 15 |
| Transfers | 24 | 19 | 10 |
| Terminations | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Outlets at end | 462 | 461 | 470 |
| Net change | -15 | -1 | +9 |
The franchisor's own finances
FDD ITEM 21 · AUDITED STATEMENTS · 2026 FDD
KPMG LLP gave an unmodified (clean) opinion on the statements in the 2026 FDD; revenue fell 16% from FY2024 to FY2026.
This is the company selling the franchise, not any franchisee. A clean opinion means the statements are fairly presented — not that the business is healthy.
Revenue · FY2026
$2.68B
extracted · not cross-checked
Net income · FY2026
$450.1M
p. 324 · matched to statement
Where FY2026 revenue came from
4% royalties
initial-fee share not extracted
Show the statement figures ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Fiscal year | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $3.18Bextracted · not cross-checked | $2.95Bextracted · not cross-checked | $2.68Bextracted · not cross-checked |
| Royalty revenue | $190.4Mextracted · not cross-checked | $195.3Mextracted · not cross-checked | $95.6Mextracted · not cross-checked |
| Net income (loss) | $215.8Mp. 324 · matched to statement | $10.7Mp. 324 · matched to statement | $450.1Mp. 324 · matched to statement |
| Equity (deficit) at year end | not extracted | $706.7Mp. 323 | $952.5Mp. 323 |
| Cash at year end | not extracted | $13.1Mp. 323 | $180.2Mp. 323 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan outcomes · compared with franchise loans of the same years
Banks have made 481 SBA-backed loans to BIG O TIRES franchisees since 1991. Of the 321 approved FY1991–2020 that have resolved, 45 charged off — where about 54 would be expected for franchise loans made in the same years. That is 0.8× the expected rate: these loans defaulted at a rate not clearly different from comparable franchise loans (a gap this size on this many loans could be chance).
All-time, 45 of 335 resolved loans charged off (13.4%). That raw figure mixes every approval year since 1991 — loans made in 2006–08 failed at several times the rate of loans made in 2010–13 across all franchises — so it is shown as evidence, not as the score.
0.8×
45 of 321 resolved (FY1991–2020) vs ~54 expected
13.4%
45 of 335 resolved, every approval year
50.4%
charged-off $ ÷ approved $, defaulted loans
$1,134,086
what recent franchisees borrowed
69 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
22 vs 21
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%) · dashed line = all franchise loans that year
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO BIG O TIRES BY SBA FRANCHISE NAME/CODE · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL · EXPECTED = SAME-YEAR RATE ACROSS ALL SBA FRANCHISE LOANS, LOANS ≥ ~6 YEARS OLD
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Wells Fargo Bank National Association
26.8% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 15.5% of its resolved SBA loans to other franchise brands in the FOIA file, vs 14.8% nationally — a read on that lender's portfolio mix, not a finding about the bank.
Who buys it
68.7%
borrowers with no other franchise SBA loan on record
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators have charged off less often than brands sold mostly to newcomers (see methodology).
Does experience help here?
−3.2pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 7.1%; single-unit owners at 10.3% (each on 15+ resolved loans, owners identified by borrower-name matching).
Computed from 481 SBA 7(a)/504 loans matched to BIG O TIRES by SBA franchise code in the SBA FOIA file. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. Owner-level splits rely on borrower-name matching and may misclassify. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $17,500 franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $544K–$2.7M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$544K–$2.7M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$17,500
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
See Item 6
not a single flat % — read the fee table
This is not profit. It covers what the FDD fixes: what you put in, and the royalty you owe on sales. Your take-home depends on parts, technician labor, rent, and the months to breakeven, none of which the FDD fixes for your unit (some Item 19s include cost data — read it).
Build a real pro-forma for BIG O TIRES with a buyer-paid CPAHow the earnings claim is built
FDD ITEM 19 · BASIS · 2026 FDD
The headline figure is Average annual Gross Revenues for Calendar 2025 (Jan 1 - Dec 31, 2025), for 454 of 465 units, leaving out operated < 12 consecutive months as of Dec 31, 2025, did not report Gross Revenues every month of 2025, closed during 2025.
Graded on three things the filing states: coverage (2 points if the figure covers at least 75% of the units it is compared with, 1 point for 50–75%), centre (2 points if it prints both a median and a mean, 1 for one of them), and costs (2 points for costs through a profit line or full cost detail, 1 for some cost items). 5–6 points = More complete, 3–4 = Partial, 0–2 = Limited. The grade describes the disclosure, not the business.
Show the basis ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| What is measured | Average annual Gross Revenues (gross sales) |
| Period | Calendar 2025 (Jan 1 - Dec 31, 2025) |
| Whose results | Franchised outlets |
| Units included | 454 of 465 franchised Big O Tires Stores in operation in the U.S. at end of 2025 |
| Left out |
|
| Average (mean) | $2.8M |
| Median | not printed |
| Met or beat the average | 190 (41.9%) |
| Costs shown | Yes — through a profit line |
| Where | p. 86 (Item 19 runs pp. 85–89) |
Labor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 14 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $165K in back wages for 108 workers, including 1 child-labor case. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
14
Back wages owed
$165K
Employees affected
108
Since 2020
1
1 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 2 minors across the system's franchised locations.
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual BIG O TIRES franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not BIG O TIRES itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Cases are matched to the brand by trade name and may include misattributed employers. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2023.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · a prediction from disclosure and loan-file features
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 90% of the systems we score (lower-risk band).
Observed · vs same-year loans
0.8×
45 of 321 seasoned loans charged off
Risk percentile
10th
Checkable · higher = riskier
Modeled · vs same-year loans
0.7×
≈ 11.5% at the all-loan vintage mix
Top drivers: Item 20 exit rate (lowers) · System size (log units) (lowers) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Item 3 litigation (log) (lowers). The brand has 30+ seasoned resolved SBA loans, so the score can be checked against its own record. A linear scorecard trained on brands' vintage-adjusted SBA loss records; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Public records
Bankruptcy, closure & federal court records · coverage is selective · dockets are not scored
Franchise litigation docket: Robert Mena v. Big O Tires, LLC (District Court, C.D. California)
Filed against the franchisor · CourtListener/RECAP ↗ · 15mo ago
10 questions to ask a BIG O TIRES franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These questions come from what BIG O TIRES has disclosed. Each one carries the number it came from, so you can check the answer against the record.
- 01
BIG O TIRES’ own Item 20 shows 6 of 461 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2026 — about 1.3%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2026
- 02
10 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2026. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?
Item 20 counts transfers as neutral, but a transfer can be a good sale or a reluctant exit — the filing does not say which.
FDD Item 20 · FY2026
- 03
SBA loans to BIG O TIRES franchisees approved 1991–2020 defaulted at a rate not clearly different from franchise loans made in the same years: 45 charge-offs among 321 resolved loans, where about 54 would be expected (0.8×). Did you finance with an SBA loan, and how close did your first two years come to trouble?
This is the lender's view of how these loans ended, from public federal records matched by SBA franchise code — independent of anything the franchisor discloses — compared with franchise loans made in the same years. A charge-off is a loan outcome, not proof the business closed.
SBA 7(a)/504 loan record, seasoned loans FY1991–FY2020 · 0.8× of same-vintage franchise loans
- 04
Item 7 says the low end to open is $544K; the average recent SBA loan to BIG O TIRES franchisees was $1.1M. What did you actually spend to open, all in — and did your loan cover anything beyond the build-out?
Lenders size loans to the project they finance. If owners say they spent near the loan figure rather than the Item 7 floor, budget from what they spent.
FDD Item 7 vs SBA approvals FY2020+
- 05
BIG O TIRES makes an earnings claim in Item 19. Does your unit look like that number — and do you know which units they included to build it?
Item 19 is legal to build from a flattering subset. Ask whether they excluded new units, closed units, or company stores.
FDD Item 19 · 2026
- 06
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 07
Item 3 discloses 4 legal matters. Do you know what those were about, and were any brought by franchisees?
Franchisee-brought suits over territory, fees or support tell you how the franchisor behaves when there's a disagreement.
FDD Item 3 · 2026
- 08
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 09
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 10
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if BIG O TIRES’ numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is usually paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid only by you, never by a franchisor you're considering — and the job is pressure-testing BIG O TIRES’ numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Franchisors: send corrections with the page reference and we will review them against the filing and update or annotate the page. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
BIG O TIRES franchise questions, answered from the filings
How many BIG O TIRES franchised outlets left the system last year?
In BIG O TIRES's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2026), 6 of 461 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 1.3% — compared with a 1.7% median across 27 comparable systems (automotive) tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons" as the franchisor reported them; it excludes transfers to new owners. The FDD does not say why each outlet left, and an exit is not the same as a failure.
How much does a BIG O TIRES franchise cost?
Per BIG O TIRES's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $17,500 (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $544K–$2.7M (Item 7).
Does BIG O TIRES disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — BIG O TIRES makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.
How often do SBA loans for BIG O TIRES franchises default?
SBA loans to BIG O TIRES franchisees approved 1991–2020 defaulted at a rate not clearly different from franchise loans made in the same years: 45 charge-offs among 321 resolved loans, where about 54 would be expected (0.8×). All-time, 45 of 335 resolved loans since 1991 charged off (13.4%); that raw figure mixes every approval year, so we compare with same-year loans instead. A charge-off is a loan loss, not proof the business closed. Source: public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data.