Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area

Small tickets in a high-ranking metro

Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) in the New York region ranks 1 of 660 metro and micro areas by loans, with 446 loans approved from FY2017 to FY2026 and $173.9 million in gross dollars. Locally the class is 9 of 39. The distinctive metrics point the other way on size: the median loan is $100,000, just 0.43x of the class median nationwide, while the location quotient is 0.62x, below the national share. So the metro leads in count because of its size, while auto repair is a lighter part of its SBA mix and borrows far less per loan than elsewhere.

Program mix, franchises and shared code

The 446 loans divide into 420 under SBA 7(a) and 26 under SBA 504. The middle half spans $50,000 to $465,750. Franchised shops are 3.6% of loans, so this is an independent-owner market. New York truck repair shops fall under the car repair code, so the cell blends both; say which kind of shop is financed before the study starts.

Lenders and places

TD Bank, National Association is listed as holder of 148 7(a) loans worth $15.9 million, well in front of Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company at 44 loans and $2.8 million, then JPMorgan Chase at 16, Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC with 14 worth $17.8 million, and Newtek Bank, National Association with 12. Under 504, Empire State Certified Development Corporation holds 13 loans worth $9.3 million. Such counts are bookkeeping on who carries each loan, not a description of lender policy. Suffolk County, NY leads with 79 loans, then Nassau with 44, Bergen, NJ with 36 and Queens with 35. Yearly approvals grew from 40 loans and $8.4 million in FY2017 to 69 loans and $24.5 million in FY2025.

Reading the shop figures

Of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, 14.7% or more were cancelled; of FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans, 11.1% or more are charged off to date. Each is a floor. A five-year window shows 4.9% charged off among 162 loans. Loan Analytics withholds the cancellation ceiling, which is not zero. A loan enters the region by the placement of its project county on the 2023 map, and unplaceable counties are left out. A feasibility study for a repair shop here has to test bay count and lift capacity against the lease, the mix of mechanical work and its dependence on a technician workforce, equipment and environmental compliance costs, debt service coverage at a small loan size, and an appraisal that values the building apart from the business.