Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in the Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area

A median of only $50,000

Pittsburgh auto repair loans are tiny. The median is $50,000, a ratio of 0.21x to the national median for shops, and the quartile edges are $25,000 and $161,625. SBA recorded 84 loans in FY2017 to FY2026, $13.9 million gross. The area ranks 29 of 660 nationally, auto repair is 4 of 39 on Pittsburgh's class list, with a location quotient of 1.05x, near the national share.

Allegheny County has 28 loans, Beaver 16, Westmoreland 14, Washington 11 and Lawrence 6. Pittsburgh shows neither a program split nor a franchise share, because both are withheld. A loan of this size points toward equipment and tools, and a study should say plainly what the money buys instead of padding the project with costs it does not have.

Shared code, three names

Under the shared code a truck garage is filed beside a car shop, which matters little at a $50,000 median but could stretch the upper range. Holders listed: The Huntington National Bank with 42 loans and $2.1 million, First Commonwealth Bank with 13 loans and $3.7 million, and Northwest Bank (PA) with 9 loans and $3.1 million. First Commonwealth's smaller count carries a larger dollar total than Huntington's, so the two hold different mixes. These are records of holdings, not lender policies.

Outcome figures

At least 14.5% of approvals through FY2024 were cancelled. Also withheld: the cancellation ceiling, any charge-off rate and some yearly counts, and none of those gaps is a zero. With such small loans, the owner's record and the shop's existing customers will likely count for more with a lender than collateral.

Allegheny County carries 28 of the 84 loans, which leaves a long tail of Beaver, Westmoreland, Washington and Lawrence projects, each with a thin local record. A shop in Lawrence County, with 6 loans on the books, has almost nothing to compare against locally, whereas one in Allegheny County can point to many neighbours. The study should name its county and explain whether customers come from the city, from commuter towns or from highway traffic, and it should keep the loan modest enough that a slow month does not threaten the payment.

A study should test the shop's repeat-customer base, technician skills, bay count against volume, equipment age, and coverage on a request near $50,000. To land in the 84, a Pittsburgh shop loan must name Allegheny, Beaver, Westmoreland, Washington or Lawrence, all present in OMB's July 2023 list; a county outside that list means exclusion, which is why 84 is a floor.