Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in North Carolina

Bigger repair loans than the national norm

North Carolina repair shops borrow more per deal than mechanical repair borrowers elsewhere. The median SBA loan for the class in the state is $350,000, which is 1.49x the national median, across 250 approvals worth $144.3 million from FY2017 to FY2026. The state ranks 17 of 51 for this class, the class ranks 6 of 39 inside North Carolina, and a location quotient of 1.04x shows repair holding roughly the weight in North Carolina's SBA lending that it holds nationally. Our screen needs a gap of a set margin against both the national class and North Carolina's own record across every class before it calls a cell distinct, and this one is not flagged, so the larger ticket appears to reflect the state's lending as a whole as much as the trade.

Who finances the bays

Approvals cluster between $145,125 and $748,250, the middle half of the book, and SBA 7(a) accounts for 228 of the loans while SBA 504 accounts for 22. A franchise share of 20.4% is notable for a trade that is usually independent. Live Oak Banking Company is the largest holder, with 32 loans worth $27.7 million, and The Fidelity Bank's 13 loans total $15.1 million, both pointing to deals that carry property. Wells Fargo Bank National Association holds 17 for only $1.9 million and Northeast Bank 14 for $1.8 million, the small-ticket end. Business Expansion Funding Corporation holds 19 of the 504 loans for $10.7 million. Wake County leads with 31 approvals, Mecklenburg has 23 and Union 15. Volume has risen lately, with 31 loans in FY2024, 32 in FY2025 and 31 in FY2026.

Cancellations and the charge-off record

Cancellation after approval reached at least 9.6% of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, or 10.7% when every undisbursed loan is treated as cancelled. North Carolina repair loans that funded from FY2017 through FY2021 number 110, and at least 3.6% of them are now charged off, yet losses inside five years stand at 0.00%. Every loss so far in that cohort came late. Open loans can still fail, so all of these are minimums.

For a lender, the late timing argues for watching the shop beyond the early years, when equipment and staff turn over. For a borrower, a ticket near the $748,250 top of the middle half usually means buying the building, and that raises the bar on every assumption. A feasibility study for a North Carolina repair shop should test demand by counting vehicles, competing bays and dealer service departments in the actual trade area, price equipment and any site work from quotes, and carry debt service coverage through a soft opening year and a later dip. Because a repair building is a special-purpose property, the appraisal has to find buyers or tenants beyond this operator, and the study should hand over the comparable sales and rents that prove it.

The class counts truck service together with car repair under a single code. Collision, paint and interior work, auto glass, oil change outlets and the residual other-automotive-repair code all sit outside the class, meaning a body shop in North Carolina will not see its record in these numbers.