Union County Tire & Auto Repair Center, 20-Year NJ Shop

$1.3M

Revenue

$1.0M

SDE

3.6x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 20-year-old full-service tire and automotive repair center in Union County, NJ, operating from a seven-bay facility on a high-traffic commercial corridor. The shop handles the full range of aftermarket work: tire sales and service, state inspections, advanced diagnostics, routine maintenance, and major repairs. It runs on an 11-person full-time team, including two senior operators who manage diagnostics, inspections, customer interface, and parts procurement, with key staff retained for 10-plus years.

The economics are the headline here. On roughly $1.34M in revenue, the business reportedly throws off $1.0M in SDE and $902K in EBITDA, which implies margins that are extraordinary for a tire-and-repair shop where parts and labor typically eat most of the gross. That gap between revenue and cash flow is the single biggest thing a buyer needs to unpack before writing a $3.6M check.

Importantly, the asking price is for the operating business only. The underlying real estate (a 7,960 SF building on a 14,723 SF C-2 zoned lot) is offered as a SEPARATE purchase, not bundled into the price. That means a buyer pays $3.6M for an operation doing $1.0M in SDE (a ~3.6x multiple) and then either leases the building from the retiring owner or buys it on top, which materially changes the true all-in cost and the go-forward rent line.

Why we like it

Auto repair and tire service is genuinely recession-resilient demand, driven by an aging vehicle fleet and owners deferring new-car purchases. State inspection capability and tire replacement create naturally repeating foot traffic that comps as sticky, route-like revenue rather than one-off sales.
The reported earnings are unusually strong: $1.0M SDE and $902K EBITDA on $1.34M revenue is a margin profile far above typical independent shops. If those numbers survive diligence, this is a cash machine at a 3.6x multiple, which is reasonable for a durable, essential-service business.
The moat is a 20-year local reputation anchored to a high-visibility 'billboard' corridor location and a deeply tenured team, with key staff in place 10-plus years. That combination of brand trust and operational continuity reduces the usual key-person risk and makes the handoff less fragile.
The team already runs the shop independently day to day with two senior operators handling the technical and customer-facing load. A buyer inherits functioning operations rather than having to turn wrenches, which opens the door to running it semi-passively or stacking it onto an existing group.

How to improve it

Verify and then protect the margin story first, because a sub-$1.5M-revenue shop producing $900K-plus EBITDA is an outlier. Normalize the P&L for owner add-backs, confirm the two senior operators are already fully compensated at market, and make sure replacing retiring ownership does not quietly erase $200K of the cash flow.
Lock down the real estate relationship before close. Negotiate either a long-term lease with a capped, market rent or a bundled purchase of the C-2 lot, because an uncapped future rent to a third-party landlord could consume a large share of the stated SDE.
Establish formal fleet and municipal service contracts with local businesses and the township, which converts ad hoc repair work into contracted recurring volume. This is the fastest path to higher-visibility, higher-retention revenue using bays that already exist.
Extend hours into weekends and layer in targeted digital marketing (local SEO, Google reviews, retargeting) to capture younger drivers the 20-year reputation does not yet reach. The fixed-cost base is already in place, so incremental bookings drop heavily to the bottom line.
Add capacity and service lines using the spacious facility: more specialized bays, EV diagnostics, and expanded tire inventory for wholesale accounts. Each addition leverages existing overhead and the prime location rather than requiring a new site.
Install a simple membership or prepaid maintenance plan (oil changes, rotations, inspection reminders) to formalize the repeat-customer behavior into scheduled, prepaid recurring revenue. This raises customer lifetime value and smooths cash flow across slower months.
Document systems and cross-train so the operation is not dependent on the two senior operators. Build an incentive and retention plan for key techs so the transition does not trigger departures that gut the margin.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize the revenue-to-SDE relationship above all else. A 75 percent cash flow margin on $1.34M revenue is implausible for a standard tire-and-repair shop, so demand tax returns, merchant statements, and a detailed add-back schedule to confirm the $1.0M figure is real and not aggressively adjusted.
Clarify the exact real estate terms and cost. The building is sold separately, so determine the purchase price or lease rate, factor that rent or debt service into pro forma earnings, and recompute the true all-in multiple once occupancy cost is included.
Quantify dependence on the two senior operators and verify their intent to stay post-close. Confirm whether either is a relative of the retiring owner, what they are paid, and whether their comp is already in the expenses supporting the stated SDE.
Confirm the NJ state inspection license and any required certifications transfer to a new owner, since inspection authority drives recurring traffic and is not automatic. Review environmental exposure as well (waste oil, tire disposal, lifts and tanks) given the 7,960 SF facility.
Validate the founding date and years in business, which the listing states inconsistently as 'over two decades' yet also 'since ~2008.' Pin down actual history, customer concentration, and whether any single fleet or wholesale account represents an outsized share of revenue.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →