Independent auto repair shop
Grove City, south of Columbus · In business since 1992. A thirty-four-year neighborhood repair shop with a stable crew, a phone number people have dialed since 1992 and a labor rate with room in it. Earns its owner about $214,000 a year.
The business
About 4,100 customer records in the shop system; roughly six in ten jobs are repeat customers. The phone number has not changed since 1992.
People. Two full-time ASE-certified technicians (12 and 7 years with the shop) and a part-time service writer. The owner runs the counter and does the diagnostic work.
Premises. A 4,800 square foot, five-bay shop with an alignment rack, leased from an unrelated landlord at $4,200 a month through 2029 with a renewal option. The lease is between the buyer and the landlord.
Hours. Monday to Friday, 7:30 to 5:30. Never open Saturdays.
Pro forma
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1,182,000 | $1,137,000 | $1,089,000 |
| Cost of sales | ($449,000) | ($432,000) | ($414,000) |
| Gross profit | $733,000 | $705,000 | $675,000 |
| Operating expenses, including the owner's pay | ($651,000) | ($632,000) | ($611,000) |
| Net income | $82,000 | $73,000 | $64,000 |
| Add back: Owner salary | $90,000 | ||
| Add back: Owner health insurance | $11,000 | ||
| Add back: Depreciation | $26,000 | ||
| Add back: One-time items | $5,000 | ||
| Owner's discretionary earnings, 2025 | $214,000 |
Swipe the table sideways for 2024 and 2023.
Gross margin 62 percent in 2025. Asking price is 2.27 times 2025 owner's earnings and includes equipment valued at about $165,000. Figures are rounded; the owner's tax returns and bank statements are provided to a buyer after the confidentiality agreement.
What is included
- Three two-post lifts and one four-post alignment lift
- Alignment rack, tire machine and balancer
- Two scan tools, A/C recovery machine, compressor and shop air
- The shop phone number, the business name and the customer records
- Parts inventory at cost, about $12,000, in addition to the price
What a buyer will notice
- No website, no online booking and no text reminders; every appointment is still made by phone.
- Closed Saturdays for the shop's whole history.
- Labor rate is below the Columbus-area average for independent shops.
- The owner's diagnostic time is the bottleneck; the two technicians are not fully booked.
Role today. Works the front counter and diagnoses; does not turn wrenches most days.
Handover. Ninety days full time at closing, longer by agreement.
Reason for selling. Retirement at sixty-six after thirty-four years.
The asking price includes the equipment and the goodwill; inventory is added at cost at closing. The profile is one that lenders commonly finance through SBA 7(a) loans with a buyer down payment; the seller would consider carrying a portion of the price for a qualified buyer.
Besides this page: texted to every auto repair owner within fifty miles, sent to the buyers on our list who asked for Columbus and auto repair, and shown to lenders who finance deals like it. The owner gets a weekly text with who looked and who asked.
Tell us who you are and what you can bring. After the confidentiality agreement you receive the owner's name, the address, three years of tax returns and a walk-through.
Ask about this businessBuyers pay LastDayFirstDay nothing. Our fee is paid by the seller at closing.
This profile is representative of the Ohio trade businesses LastDayFirstDay lists. Its figures are a composite prepared from typical one-owner businesses in this trade and do not describe a specific company currently for sale; current listings, with the owner's own numbers, are at lastdayfirstday.com/s. We are not attorneys, accountants, appraisers or real estate brokers.