How much does a Auto Body & Collision Repair cost to buy?

A typical Auto Body & Collision Repair sells for 2.5x to 4.2x annual revenue. With average revenue of $1.2M, expect to pay $3.0M to $5.0M.

How much does it cost to start a Auto Body & Collision Repair?

Startup costs range from $200K to $1.2M depending on location, equipment, and scale.

Physical

Auto Body & Collision Repair

Q: What are the profit margins for a Auto Body & Collision Repair?

The average profit margin for a Auto Body & Collision Repair is around 18%. Biggest costs are technician labor, paint and materials, parts procurement, facility rent, frame and booth equipment, hazardous-waste compliance, and insurance. The best shops protect gross profit through disciplined estimating and cycle-time control.

Insurance-paid repair volume with ugly operations and surprisingly durable demand

Collision shops repair wrecked vehicles, handle paint work, and coordinate with insurers after accidents. BizBuySell's auto-repair benchmarks, which explicitly include auto body shops, show median revenue of $819,431, median owner earnings of $182,133, and average earnings multiples of 2.82x. The surprising angle is that insurers and dealer referrals can make a good shop feel closer to a local claims-processing machine than a typical retail garage.

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Avg Revenue

$1.2M

Profit Margin

18%

Acquisition Multiple

2.5x - 4.2x

Startup Cost

$200K - $1.2M

Difficulty

4/5

How It Works

Customers arrive through insurer direct-repair programs, dealer referrals, fleets, and local word of mouth. The shop estimates damage, orders parts, performs body and paint work, and gets paid when vehicles are delivered. Throughput, labor efficiency, paint-booth utilization, and insurer relationships drive returns.

Revenue Range

Low End

$500K

Typical

$1.2M

High End

$3.0M

Pros

+Large ticket sizes and insurer-backed demand
+Referral relationships can create sticky lead flow
+Equipment-heavy moat makes fly-by-night competition harder
+Consolidators and MSOs create exit optionality for strong shops

Cons

-Labor management and technician recruiting are hard
-Equipment, booths, and environmental compliance are expensive
-Margins can get squeezed by insurer pricing pressure and parts delays

Best For

Operators who can manage skilled technicians, insurer relationships, and shop throughput

Operating Costs

Biggest costs are technician labor, paint and materials, parts procurement, facility rent, frame and booth equipment, hazardous-waste compliance, and insurance. The best shops protect gross profit through disciplined estimating and cycle-time control.