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
Dealer Specialties
Automotive · independent · est. —
Dealer Specialties provides vehicle inventory merchandising services for auto dealerships, including photographing cars, gathering vehicle data, and posting listings online. A franchisee runs a service business with field staff who visit dealer lots to photograph and document inventory for sale.
Dealer Specialties net unit count declined -24.7% from 2021–2023 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
Too new to judge
Distress
46 franchised units over 3 disclosed years is not a track record — systems this early have realized only a fraction of their eventual failures. Judge the disclosures, not a verdict.
Exit rate · latest year
21.2%
vs 5.6% across 18 automotive systems
Cost to open
$17K–$45K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
2 loans exist; too few resolved to rate
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
2021–2023
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2023, 7 of 33 franchised outlets left the system — a 21.2% annualized exit rate, vs 5.6% across 18 automotive systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 98 | 97 | 81 |
| Opened | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Outlets at end | 97 | 81 | 73 |
| Net change | -1 | -16 | -8 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 2 SBA-backed loans to Dealer Specialties franchisees since 2008. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
2 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$177,500
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO DEALER SPECIALTIES BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $10K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $17K–$45K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$17K–$45K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$10K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
—
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$0
0% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$0
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 Dealer Specialties with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the riskier end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
84–100 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
26.8%
Observed SBA charge-off
no resolved cohort
Top drivers: System size (log units) (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises) · Net unit growth (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (raises). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. 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 Dealer Specialties. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
7 questions to ask a Dealer Specialties 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 are the questions built from what Dealer Specialties has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
Dealer Specialties’ own Item 20 shows 7 of 33 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2023 — about 21.2%. 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 · FY2023
- 02
The system went from 97 units to 73 over 3 disclosed years. What's the explanation you've been given, and do you believe it?
A shrinking system means fewer owners funding the ad fund and support staff you're paying for.
FDD Item 20 · FY2021–FY2023
- 03
Dealer Specialties’ FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?
When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.
FDD Item 19 · 2024
- 04
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
- 05
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
- 06
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
- 07
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 Dealer Specialties’ numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Dealer Specialties's 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. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
Dealer Specialties franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Dealer Specialties franchises closed last year?
In Dealer Specialties's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2023), 7 of 33 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 21.2% — compared with 5.6% across 18 automotive systems tracked here. 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 Dealer Specialties franchise cost?
Per Dealer Specialties's 2024 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $10K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $17K–$45K (Item 7).
Does Dealer Specialties disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — Dealer Specialties's 2024 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.