Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender
CAR-X
Other · independent · est. —
Car-X is an automotive repair chain providing brakes, exhaust, tires, oil changes, and general undercar services. Franchisees operate a multi-bay repair shop, employing technicians who serve retail vehicle owners.
CAR-X net unit count declined -21.8% from 2023–2025 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. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- 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 and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Showing strain
Distress
The disclosed record shows weakness — shrinking units, elevated exits, or churn — worth reading closely before going further.
Exit rate · latest year
2.1%
fiscal 2025, per Item 20
Cost to open
$396K–$582K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
12.5%
24 loans resolved — directional only
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · 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
Systemwide units
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 1 of 47 franchised outlets left the system — a 2.1% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 145 | 124 | 118 |
| Opened | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 26 | 0 | 1 |
| Outlets at end | 124 | 118 | 97 |
| Net change | -21 | -6 | -21 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 30 SBA-backed loans to CAR-X franchisees since 1992. Only 24 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 3 of them charged off.
—
24 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$402,416
what recent franchisees borrowed
111 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO CAR-X BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Too few loans to identify
Who buys it
61.5%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 30 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to CAR-X franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. 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 $35K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $396K–$582K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$396K–$582K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$35K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$50K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$500K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for CAR-X with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 4 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $7K in back wages for 42 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
4
Back wages owed
$7K
Employees affected
42
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual CAR-X franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not CAR-X 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. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2021.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand sits mid-pack: riskier than 65% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
65 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
14.8%
Observed SBA charge-off
12.5%
Top drivers: System size (log units) (raises) · Item 3 litigation (log) (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (lowers) · Net unit growth (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for CAR-X. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing CAR-X's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →CAR-X franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of CAR-X franchises closed last year?
In CAR-X's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 1 of 47 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 2.1%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a CAR-X franchise cost?
Per CAR-X's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $35K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $396K–$582K (Item 7).
What royalty does CAR-X charge?
CAR-X charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does CAR-X disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — CAR-X makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.