Automotive · registry year 2024 · HQ NC
CARSTAR Franchise
A Driven Brands brand operating in the automotive sector, franchising since 1994. According to the 2024 FDD filing for CARSTAR, this is an editorial comparison record; it does not reproduce the brand's current FDD.
- $500K – $1.2M
- Initial investment · Higher entry cost
- 6.0%
- Royalty rate · Above-average royalty
- 700
- Total locations · Mid-size network
FDD outlay schedule
Registry carstar CARSTAR
CARSTAR needs $500K–$1.2M to open and charges a 6.0% royalty - an entry cost below the typical automotive franchise.
- LO $500K
- HI $1.2M
- FEE $10K
- ROY 6.0%
- UNT 700
- I19 Silent
- INV# #54/223
- UNT# #118/223
Same-sector Item 7 peers
Nearest Item 7 peer: Christian Brothers Automotive ($495K)
Same-sector Item 7 neighbourhood for CARSTAR (registry year 2024). Listed lows only - not a profit, cost-of-living, or suitability claim. Verify the current FDD before relying on these figures. How we place brands →
Franchise Opportunity Health Score
How healthy and transparent CARSTAR's franchise system looks, from 2 of 2 tracked dimensions.
- Network momentum 1.4% net unit growth (YoY) 36/100 · F
- Financial disclosure Item 19 not disclosed 0/100 · F
Benchmarked against the 223-brand tracked corpus (p10-p90 range per dimension); a higher score means a growing unit count and a disclosed Item 19. See how we place brands.
Where CARSTAR's investment ranks nationally
CARSTAR's listed Item 7 low of $500K against every one of the 218 tracked franchise brands with a disclosed initial investment. Listed figures only, verify in the current FDD before relying on them.
CARSTAR vs all tracked franchise brands by listed investment
Initial investment low (FDD Item 7), PlainFranchise brand corpus
$500,000 Higher than most higher than 74% of 218 franchise brands
Franchise brands, banded by listed Item 7 low
Each bar is a $0.001K-wide band; taller bars hold more franchise brands. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainFranchise editorial comparison registry · 2024-12-31
Investment Overview
- Franchise Fee
- $10K
Revenue Data (Item 19)
Item 19 Not Disclosed
This franchisor did not provide financial performance data in their FDD. This is common, disclosure is optional.
Network Size & Growth
Net Growth Rate
Year-over-year unit change
20 locations closed in the last reporting year
Quick Facts
- Sector
- Automotive
- Subsector
- collision repair
- Founded
- 1989
- Franchising Since
- 1994
- Headquarters
- NC
- FDD Year
- 2024
- Item 19
- Not Disclosed
Important Notice · CARSTAR
This CARSTAR page is a registry comparison record, not a verified FDD extract. It does not establish suitability, operating costs, profitability, or expected results for CARSTAR.
Higher-band investment fields for CARSTAR
Signature read: 700 locations · Item 7 low $500K
CARSTAR, a Driven Brands franchise, has been franchising since 1994 - 5 years after the concept was founded in 1989 , currently with 700 total locations (700 franchised, 0 company-owned; 100% of the recorded total is franchised) in the automotive sector, headquartered in NC. The listed total initial investment is $500K to $1.2M, with separate listed low and high values. The registry separately records a franchise-fee field of $10K; its summary does not reproduce every Item 7 line item.
Ongoing royalties run 6.0% of gross sales. CARSTAR has no Item 19 financial-performance field in this registry; the FTC Franchise Rule does not require that disclosure.
Network momentum is currently positive: CARSTAR added units at a 1.4% net rate year-over-year (30 openings, 20 closures). The registry records both the reported percentage and the count of openings and closures when those fields are available.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a CARSTAR franchise cost?
How many CARSTAR locations are there?
What are the ongoing fees for a CARSTAR franchise?
Related reading for CARSTAR: How to Evaluate a Franchise , CARSTAR has no Item 19 in this registry, diligence without a financial performance representation.
Snapshot uses the registry's listed Item 7 initial-investment low and Item 20 location-count fields. It is a descriptive comparison, not a ranking or investment recommendation.
How CARSTAR's Item 7 and Item 19 fields are labeled (expand)
Nationwide brands with similar investment or network size
Two data-derived peer sets for CARSTAR , both outside HQ state NC : nearest Item 7 lows and nearest total-location counts, not the same-sector roster below.
Similar listed investment
Nearest Item 7 lows ($500K here).
Similar network size
Nearest total location counts (700 here).
What to do with this
CARSTAR at a glance, drawn from the same figures above.
- CARSTAR scores 18/100 (F) on our composite opportunity read, combining net unit growth and Item 19 financial-disclosure transparency.
- Its $500K – $1.2M entry cost runs below the typical automotive franchise.
- Ranks #54 of 223 listed franchises by initial investment. See rankings
- Christian Brothers Automotive sits at a comparable investment level ($495K) in the same sector. Compare
Editorial comparison registry, not a source-linked FDD record. Verify the current FDD before relying on any figure.
Read our methodology - what this registry can and cannot establish.
Source: PlainFranchise editorial registry Record-level FDD source link and retrieval date pending
| Publisher | PlainFranchise |
| Sources | Public state franchise disclosure registries and FDD filings |