Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S1101 since 2017
Meineke
Automotive · independent · est. —
Meineke is an automotive repair and maintenance chain known originally for mufflers and exhaust work. Shops now provide full-service car care including brakes, oil changes, tires, and general repairs. A franchisee operates a service garage with technicians and service advisors handling vehicle repairs.
Meineke net unit count grew +1.6% 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 & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The standout in the record: owners who leave mostly sell rather than fail.
Exit rate · latest year
3.1%
vs 5.5% across 19 automotive systems
Cost to open
$225K–$1.2M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
25.3%
vs 14.8% avg across rated brands
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, 22 of 702 franchised outlets left the system — a 3.1% 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 | 706 | 705 | 702 |
| Opened | 23 | 28 | 36 |
| Transfers | 39 | 71 | 74 |
| Terminations | 20 | 28 | 8 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Outlets at end | 705 | 702 | 716 |
| Net change | -1 | -3 | +14 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 766 SBA-backed loans to Meineke franchisees since 1991. Of the 562 that have resolved, 25.3% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
25.3%
142 of 562 resolved defaulted
65.1%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
16.5%
default rate × loss severity
$625,137
what recent franchisees borrowed
64 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
32 vs 41
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO MEINEKE BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Wells Fargo Bank National Association
12.4% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 15.5% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
50.2%
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?
−5.3pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 22.5%; single-unit owners at 27.8%.
Computed from 766 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Meineke 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 $45K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $225K–$1.2M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$225K–$1.2M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$45K
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 Meineke with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 64 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $190K in back wages for 267 workers. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
64
Back wages owed
$190K
Employees affected
267
Since 2020
7
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual Meineke franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not Meineke 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 2026.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 62% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
38 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
11.0%
Observed SBA charge-off
25.3%
Top drivers: System size (log units) (lowers) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (raises) · Single-lender dependence (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
CourtListener/RECAP · 5mo ago
CourtListener/RECAP · 11mo ago
Franchise litigation docket: Meineke Franchisor SPV LLC v. Moriarty (District Court, N.D. Illinois)
CourtListener/RECAP · 12mo ago
CourtListener/RECAP · 21mo ago
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Meineke's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Meineke franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Meineke franchises closed last year?
In Meineke's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2024), 22 of 702 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 3.1% — 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 Meineke franchise cost?
Per Meineke's 2025 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $45K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $225K–$1.2M (Item 7).
What royalty does Meineke charge?
Meineke charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2025 FDD.
Does Meineke disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Meineke makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2025 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.
How often do SBA loans for Meineke franchises default?
Across 766 SBA-backed loans to Meineke franchisees since 1991, 142 of the 562 that have resolved were charged off — a 25.3% default rate, versus about 14.8% across all rated franchise brands. This is the lender's-eye view of franchisee failure, drawn from public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data and independent of the franchisor's own disclosures.