Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area

Louisville: auto repair fourth in class, across a state line

Over FY2017 to FY2026, SBA approved 39 auto repair loans in Louisville, worth $17.6 million in all. The class holds 4 of 39 among Louisville's asset classes, and Louisville stands 51 of 660 nationally for auto repair loans. Relative to the national mix, auto repair is modestly overweight in Louisville, with a location quotient of 1.12x. The area spans Kentucky and Indiana: Jefferson County, KY leads, Clark County, IN follows and Oldham County, KY comes next. Project counties: Jefferson County, KY 20, Clark County, IN 7, and Oldham County, KY 6.

At the median, a Louisville loan is $331,500; the quartile band is $112,500 to $528,850. Louisville reads 1.41x of the national auto repair median, so tickets here run bigger. The Louisville program mix stays blank, because Loan Analytics withholds both counts. 15.4% of the loans in Louisville belong to franchised units.

The holder to know

U.S. Bank, National Association alone is named, with a substantial dollar total. The 7(a) names are $6.4 million across 13 loans at U.S. Bank, National Association. Louisville lenders appear as SBA records them, without claiming what lenders require.

The Louisville cohort is too thin for rates, making no claim on losses. FY2018 (9 loans, $3.1 million), FY2020 (6 loans, $2.9 million), and FY2024 (5 loans, $3.3 million) appear in the yearly record. The Louisville years not shown are held back by Loan Analytics, whose rule needs more loans than those years offer. Truck repair is filed with car repair under one code, so the totals cannot split them. The Louisville area is built from project counties, so unmatched loans are excluded.

Louisville study: the key tests

The study should begin with who will turn the wrenches, since a shop sells technician hours: wages, hiring and how many bays can be kept full. It should also test vehicle counts and ages near the site and how dealer service lanes and independents price against the shop. Lifts, alignment racks and diagnostic tools make equipment the main build cost. A site in either state answers to its own licensing and environmental rules, so the study must say which it assumes. Cash flow should be proven on bays actually filled, with a slow month and parts price swings. Valuation weighs site history, since fuel and fluids can leave contamination, and bay buildings that few other users want. Insurance, environmental review of fluids and tanks, and the condition of the lifts and compressors belong on the due diligence list for any existing shop.