Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S2190 since 2017
Fix Auto
Automotive · independent · est. —
Fix Auto is a network of collision repair (auto body) shops that fix vehicles damaged in accidents, often working with insurance companies. A franchisee owns and operates a body shop, employing technicians and managing estimates, repairs, and insurer relationships.
Fix Auto net unit count grew +19.1% from 2022–2024 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
Proven & strong
Distress
Enough units and history to judge, and the record is good: growing or stable units with clean exits by the standards of its disclosed record. The standout in the record: the system is growing.
Exit rate · latest year
4.0%
vs 5.5% across 19 automotive systems
Cost to open
$55K–$3.1M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
0.0%
11 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
2022–2024
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2024, 8 of 202 franchised outlets left the system — a 4.0% annualized exit rate, vs 5.5% across 19 automotive systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 181 | 178 | 202 |
| Opened | 12 | 28 | 18 |
| Transfers | 8 | 13 | 15 |
| Terminations | 15 | 4 | 8 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 178 | 202 | 212 |
| Net change | -3 | +24 | +10 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 39 SBA-backed loans to Fix Auto franchisees since 2014. Only 11 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 0 of them charged off.
—
11 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$1,570,558
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
4 vs 5
distinct banks still 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 FIX AUTO BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Live Oak Banking Company
30.4% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 3.6% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
65.4%
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 39 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Fix Auto 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 $10K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $55K–$3.1M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$55K–$3.1M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$10K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
3%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$30K
3% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$300K
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 Fix Auto with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 2 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $1K in back wages for 2 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
2
Back wages owed
$1K
Employees affected
2
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual Fix Auto franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not Fix Auto 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 2017.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the safer end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
1–25 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
7.8%
Observed SBA charge-off
0.0%
Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (lowers) · System size (log units) (lowers). 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
CourtListener/RECAP · 6mo ago
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Fix Auto's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Fix Auto franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Fix Auto franchises closed last year?
In Fix Auto's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2024), 8 of 202 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 4.0% — compared with 5.5% across 19 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 Fix Auto franchise cost?
Per Fix Auto's 2025 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $10K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $55K–$3.1M (Item 7).
What royalty does Fix Auto charge?
Fix Auto charges an ongoing royalty of 3.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2025 FDD.
Does Fix Auto disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Fix Auto makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2025 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.