How to sell an auto repair shop
An auto repair shop sells on car count, the techs, and the lease. The building, if you own it, is usually a separate deal from the business. The valuation guide's multiple is for the business.
The published average for this category is 2.85× owner earnings. See the full valuation guide. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Get the books ready
Keep repair-order totals, parts and labor margins, and tax returns in one story. Warranty work, fleet accounts, and retail repairs should be distinguishable. A buyer will look at comebacks as well as sales.
Calculate owner earnings
Your salary, personal vehicles run through the shop, depreciation, and a one-time equipment repair are the usual add-backs. Tech wages and parts for the work that continues are operating costs.
SDE explained: how to calculate owner earnings and add-backs walks through the method. Add back only what a buyer can verify.
Reduce owner dependence
If you are the only person who can diagnose, the buyer is hiring a tech. ASE-certified techs who will stay, and a service writer who is not you, are what let the shop open without you.
Licenses and permits
Some states register repair shops or require a licensee for emissions or safety inspections. Those duties are often personal. Environmental rules for waste oil and refrigerants do not disappear in a sale. Check the state and the lease. This is not legal advice.
Customer contracts
Fleet accounts and any warranty-company dispatch should be in writing. The lease matters as much as the customers: term left, rent, and whether the landlord will assign it or sign a new lease with the buyer.
Timing
Shop sales stall when the lease has little time left, so start with the landlord. Techs should hear about the sale from you once it is real, because a shop without them is a lease and a lift.
Ways to sell
Through a broker
A broker familiar with repair shops will separate the business price from any real estate and will know which lenders look at car count. You still produce the repair-order history.
Directly to a buyer
A multi-shop owner or a single buyer who wants your bays may buy the business directly and lease the building from you, or buy both in two agreements.
To an employee or a competitor
A lead tech or a service writer who wants to own the shop, or a competitor who needs another location, is a common buyer. They still have to satisfy the landlord and any state registration.
Nobody contacts you unless you opt in. MainStreetKeys does not introduce you to a broker or a buyer.
Value your auto repair shop
The chat uses the same published multiple as the valuation guide. It is free, and nobody contacts you unless you opt in.
Trade: Auto repair ·
Questions
Is the building in the multiple?
Usually not. The published multiple is a business multiple. Real estate is priced on its own. Confirm that in the contract. This is not legal or tax advice.
What if I want a number and nothing else?
Use the valuation chat. Nobody contacts you unless you opt in.