How much does a Tire Shop cost to buy?

A typical Tire Shop sells for 2.2x to 3.6x seller's discretionary earnings. With estimated SDE of $162K, expect to pay roughly $355K to $581K before adjustments for assets, debt, growth, and local market quality.

How much does it cost to start a Tire Shop?

Startup costs range from $100K to $500K depending on location, equipment, and scale.

Physical

Tire Shop

Q: What are the profit margins for a Tire Shop?

The average profit margin for a Tire Shop is around 17%. Major costs are tire inventory, technician wages, rent, tire machines and alignment equipment, disposal fees, and local advertising. Gross margin improves with service mix and commercial-account penetration.

Low-glamour rubber sales with service bays that keep customers coming back every few years

Bottom line

Worth studying, but do not buy without strong local proof.

Tire shops sell replacement tires, wheel services, alignments, and basic undercar maintenance. BizBuySell rolls tire shops into the broader auto-repair category, where median sold revenue is $819,431 and median owner earnings are $182,133, while market commentary on tire-shop deals commonly lands around 2x to 3.5x SDE. The surprising angle is that a shop can look retail on the surface but behave like a recurring-maintenance business once fleet, dealership, and alignment work are layered in.

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Acquisition score

Fair

Avg Revenue

$950K

Profit Margin

17%

Acquisition Multiple

2.2x - 3.6x

Startup Cost

$100K - $500K

How It Works

Revenue comes from tire replacement, balancing, mounting, alignments, flat repairs, seasonal swaps, and related quick-service work. Better shops add commercial accounts, roadside partnerships, and used-tire value offerings to keep bays full and customer acquisition costs low.

Revenue Range

Low End

$400K

Typical

$950K

High End

$2.2M

Real Acquisitions in This Category

SBA 7(a) change-of-ownership loans · NAICS 441320 · Tire Dealers

Deals tracked

0 in last 24 mo

Median loan

$760K

$438K–$1.2M p25/p75

Implied deal size

$894K

median · ~85% LTV

Charge-off rate

—

not enough resolved loans

Deal Size Distribution

<$150K

$150K–500K

$500K–1M

$1M–2M

>$2M

Financing Profile

Median rate

—

last 24 mo

Median term

120 mo

standard 10-yr

Collateralized

of loans secured

Median jobs

9.5

supported per deal

Top lenders in this space

Live Oak Banking Company9

Plumas Bank2

Frost Bank2

Wells Fargo Bank National Association2

First National Bank of Louisiana2

Where deals happen

CA8

UT3

AR3

MI2

WA2

NC2

NJ2

NE2

NV2

NM2

Franchise vs independent

Franchised acquisitions finance at $770K median vs $575K for independents — a +34% franchise premium. Franchises make up 47% of deals tracked.

Recent Comparable Deals

Closed	State	Loan	Implied deal	Jobs	Franchise
Jan 2022	NE	$928K	$1.1M	18	—
Jan 2022	NV	$1.1M	$1.3M	2	Big O Tires
Dec 2021	MI	$881K	$1.0M	9	—
Dec 2021	LA	$606K	$713K	30	Tire Pros
Dec 2021	LA	$552K	$650K	30	Tire Pros
Sep 2021	HI	$350K	$412K	5	—
Sep 2021	WA	$2.5M	$3.0M	12	Big O Tires
Aug 2021	CA	$740K	$871K	26	Big O Tires
Aug 2021	TX	$1.2M	$1.4M	7	—
Aug 2021	IN	$2.5M	$3.0M	33	Big O Tires

Volume rank #149/544Deal-size rank #238/544p90 loan: $2.3MData as of Mar 2026

Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA dataset, filtered to acquisitions (loans where business age is "Change of Ownership"). Implied deal size assumes an 85% loan-to-purchase ratio, a common SBA change-of-ownership structure. Charge-off rate shown only when 10+ loans have resolved (paid in full or charged off). Interest rates reflect last 24 months only. Actual deal values vary with equity injections, seller financing, and working capital terms.

Pros

+Essential spend with recurring replacement cycles
+Commercial and fleet accounts create repeat revenue
+Cross-sells into brakes, alignments, and maintenance raise ticket size
+Less diagnostic complexity than full mechanical repair shops

Cons

-Inventory management can tie up cash
-Margins are vulnerable if the business competes only on tire price
-Bay utilization and technician throughput still matter a lot

Best For

Operators who want automotive exposure with simpler workflows than a full repair garage

Operating Costs

Major costs are tire inventory, technician wages, rent, tire machines and alignment equipment, disposal fees, and local advertising. Gross margin improves with service mix and commercial-account penetration.

SBA Financing Estimator

Adjust the deal — see if it cash flows after debt service

$-3248/mo

after debt service

Deal price — $1.6M

Range: $1.6M (2.2×) to $4.4M (3.6×+)

Down payment — 15% ($243K)

SBA minimum equity injection is 10% for change-of-ownership

Interest rate — 8.00%

Current prime-based SBA rates: 7.5–10.5%

Loan term — 10 years (120 mo)

SBA median for this category: 120 months

Down payment

$243K

15% equity injection

Loan amount

$1.4M

85% SBA-financed

Monthly payment

$17K/mo

$628K total interest

Monthly profit

$13K/mo

at 17% margin

Monthly cash flow after debt service

$-3248/mo

Margin does not cover debt service at these terms. Lower the deal price, increase the down payment, or extend the loan term.

Estimates only. Excludes owner compensation, capex, working capital draws, and taxes. Margin assumes average occupancy and volume. Actual SBA terms vary by lender and borrower profile.