Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area

Orlando repair shops: high cancellations and two named holders

Car and truck mechanical repair in the Orlando area logs 85 loans, which sum to $43.9 million, between FY2017 and FY2026, 28 of 660 areas for the class and seventh of 39 locally. The location quotient of 0.87x puts shops a bit under their national share, and a $250,000 midpoint loan equals 1.06x the class figure nationally, between quartiles of $100,000 and $743,000. The sharpest signal here is cancellation: a floor of 17.2% for loans approved over FY2017 to FY2024 ended up cancelled.

Programs and the shared code

The 85 loans comprise 74 on 7(a) and 11 on 504. Franchised shops hold 15.3%, so independents dominate. Heavy-truck work shares its code with car repair in SBA's data, so truck shops cannot be split out; a study should say whether trucks are part of the plan, as bay size, lifts and the customer base all differ.

Few holders reach the threshold

Only two lenders are named, both under 7(a): Newtek Bank, National Association with 11 loans worth $2.7 million and, also at 11 loans, TD Bank, National Association with $713,000. The gap in average size is large, and it simply reflects the loans each holds. As with every holder list, this is SBA's record, not a profile of policy. Orange County has 47 loans, Seminole 16, Osceola 12 and Lake 10.

Years, missing values and the study

Where printed, yearly volume ran from 8 loans in FY2017 to 14 loans and $12.2 million in FY2025; FY2019 and FY2021 are left blank, their counts being thin, and blank is never zero, as are the high-side cancellation bound along with the charge-off rate. A shop study here has to test the vehicle population and the competing shops and dealer service departments within easy driving distance, the mix of warranty-driven and out-of-warranty work, technician hiring, equipment and environmental compliance cost, rent or purchase price against loans near the median, and the cash flow to support repayment. Given the cancellation floor, lenders and applicants should also confirm every pre-closing condition. Only project counties found by name on the 2023 metro map are in the area.