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auto repair shop for Sale in North Dakota

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Established Agricultural Equipment Dealership and Repair Center photo
Other Agriculture
+1

Established Agricultural Equipment Dealership and Repair Center

ND, US

Confidential opportunity to acquire an established agricultural equipment dealership and repair operation serving agricultural customers throughout the Upper Midwest. The company combines whole-goods equipment sales with recurring parts and service revenue, providing a balanced operating model that is less dependent on new-equipment transactions alone. Ownership has built a regional presence for fifteen years and is retiring. The dealership sells two tractor lines, plus short-line equipment, loaders, attachments, accessories, replacement parts, and support products. Its service department repairs tractors and farm machinery in the shop and through field service calls. Technicians inspect incoming equipment, determine required parts and repairs, complete work from formal work orders, and coordinate with office personnel for invoicing. The parts counter also serves customers needing components, accessories, and maintenance items without a repair appointment. No customer represents more than ten percent of revenue. The business has developed demand through its regional reputation, referrals, repeat service needs, parts sales, social media, and regional online listings. Agricultural cycles, weather, equipment availability, tariffs, and customer capital-spending decisions can affect the timing of tractor and equipment sales. The recurring service and parts segments provide important revenue and margin support during periods when whole-goods sales slow. Trailing-twelve-month revenue through August 2026 was approximately $2.18 million, compared with approximately $1.41 million in 2025. The most recent twelve-month period generated approximately $917,000 of gross profit, a gross margin of about 42 percent, and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $403,000 after deducting an estimated market-rate replacement operator expense. Service revenue exceeded $530,000, the highest period reviewed. Detailed financials will be available to qualified buyers after execution of a confidentiality agreement. The eight-person team includes five full-time and three part-time employees. The staff supports sales, parts, service, accounting, receivables, work orders, marketing, maintenance, and shop assistance. Both owners currently work full time. One owner leads sales and assists with parts and service, while the other manages accounting. Existing personnel are expected to remain with a new owner, although a buyer should plan to replace or absorb the owners' responsibilities following the transition. The business operates from an approximately 5,500-square-foot facility on a fenced commercial lot. The property includes a loading dock, overhead bridge crane, heated floors, air conditioning, mezzanine storage, and a separate storage building. The real estate is offered separately and may be purchased or leased from ownership. A buyer may purchase the operating location or lease. The sale is expected to include the dealership's furniture, computers, parts shelving, business equipment, shop tools, diagnostic equipment, pressure-washing and parts-cleaning systems, welding and torch equipment, splitting stands, specialty tools, forklifts, and a service vehicle equipped with an air compressor, hoist, and toolboxes. Personal tools belonging to the owners or technicians are excluded. New and used tractors, parts, attachments, and other inventory will be addressed through a closing inventory count and mutually acceptable transaction terms. The ideal buyer may be an agricultural equipment dealer, tractor dealership, rural equipment platform, parts and service operator, strategic acquirer, or experienced owner-operator. Manufacturer approval and the transfer or replacement of dealer agreements will require buyer diligence. The sellers are willing to provide transition assistance covering customer relationships, equipment sales, parts purchasing, service processes, accounting, and operations.

$1,600,000Asking Price
$2,178,054Revenue
-Cash Flow

Market Snapshot

National transaction benchmarks for auto repair shop businesses.

Under $500K

Median revenue$571k
Median cash flow$111k
Median sale price$200k
Multiple range1.4x - 2.5x

$500K to $2M

Median revenue$1.43m
Median cash flow$267k
Median sale price$749k
Multiple range2.2x - 3.7x

Over $2M

Median revenue$3.38m
Median cash flow$602k
Median sale price$2.52m
Multiple range3.8x - 5.4x

A variety of factors can cause businesses to trade outside this range, including earnings quality, operational transferability, key-person risk, growth trajectory, and geography, so a listing priced above or below the typical multiple usually reflects real differences in the underlying business.

What to know about auto repair shop acquisitions

GW

By George Wellmer

Cofounder & CEO

Key diligence, valuation, financing, and transition considerations for buyers evaluating auto repair shop acquisitions.

What You're Actually Buying

An auto repair shop acquisition is fundamentally an investment in a customer base, a technician team, and a revenue system, not just the bays and equipment. The best acquisitions in this category are operations that generate consistent cash flow independent of the owner's daily presence. As you evaluate any opportunity, the key question is how much of the shop's revenue depends specifically on the owner's relationships, technical skills, or daily involvement. A shop with a service manager, trained technician team, and documented processes commands a meaningful premium because it transfers with its earnings intact. One where the owner is also the lead tech and service writer requires honest assessment of transition risk before pricing it.

What the Financials Need to Show

Request three full years of tax returns, P&Ls, and bank statements and reconcile them carefully. Key metrics to analyze include: average repair order (ARO) value, technician productivity rate (billable hours vs. available hours), and gross margin by service type. Top-performing shops run 15–20%+ net margins and 80%+ technician productivity. Shops showing margins well below industry norms, typically 8–12% net, often have pricing problems, excessive comebacks, or significant deferred owner compensation. Scrutinize add-backs carefully; owners in the trades industry commonly run personal vehicle payments, family salaries, and discretionary expenses through the business. Each add-back should be documented and explainable to an SBA lender.

Equipment, Real Estate, and Environmental Risk

Auto repair shops carry environmental exposure that other businesses don't. Before closing, commission a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment if the property has been used for automotive services for more than a decade; underground storage tanks, oil/water separators, and solvent contamination from prior operations can create post-closing liability that survives an asset purchase. Confirm the status of all lifts, alignment equipment, diagnostic tools, and HVAC and get an independent assessment of remaining useful life. Deferred maintenance on critical equipment is one of the most common forms of pre-sale value inflation in the auto repair category. Budget 5–10% of purchase price for CapEx reserves if the equipment fleet is aging.

Technician Retention Is the True Asset

The skilled technician shortage in the U.S. automotive services industry is structural, not cyclical. ASE-certified technicians, diesel specialists, and advanced diagnostics technicians are genuinely hard to replace. If the acquisition is dependent on retaining two or three key technicians, address this explicitly in the purchase agreement through retention bonuses, employment agreements, or an earnout tied to staff retention metrics. Ask for technician tenure records, compensation structures, and training investment history. Shops with low turnover and consistent certification investment have a legitimate competitive advantage that is reflected in customer retention rates and average ticket values.

SBA Financing and the Valuation Gap

The majority of auto repair shop acquisitions in the SMB range are financed through SBA 7(a) loans, which require an independent business valuation to support the purchase price. If the seller's asking price is based on verbal representations about cash sales or unreported revenue, the SBA appraisal will not support it and the deal will not close. Insist on verified financials from the start of negotiations. A business that cannot support its price through documented financials is either overpriced or has an accounting problem that becomes your problem at closing. Well-run shops with clean books, documented SDE, and three years of consistent performance are the most financeable and the most valuable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to common buyer questions for this market.

Plan on 90 plus days from signed letter of intent if you're using SBA financing. Three things drive the timeline. SBA underwriting takes 30 to 45 days once you submit a complete package. Incomplete financials are the most common source of delay. Get three years of tax returns, P&Ls, and bank statements before you go under contract. Environmental due diligence adds time. Phase I is non-negotiable on any auto repair shop. Two to three weeks, $2,000 to $4,000. Phase II is strongly advisable given the exposure to petroleum, solvents, and coolant. Budget another four to six weeks and $8,000 to $15,000. The math: Phase II costs $15,000. Remediation starts at $100,000. Licensing transfer is the third variable. Understand how you'll legally operate the business before you're under contract. Discovering a licensing problem in week seven of an eight-week close is not a good situation. Deals that close on time have complete documentation from day one. The ones that drag are still chasing bank statements in week six.