Anyone know the local medium-duty diesel truck maintenance and repair shop business?

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June 16, 2025

by a searcher from University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, CA, USA

I am looking at a small <$1M revenue diesel repair in a semi-rural area of California with an owner that wants to retire and appears to have taken his hands off the wheel a few years ago. I have a young diesel mechanic lined that is smart and a hard worker who wants to buy it with me, so I would help grow the business and he would handle managing the 3 mechanics. The only competition are truck dealers 30 and 60 miles away and the one-off mobile mechanics that aren't really prepared to do proactive fleet maintenance. These are medium duty trucks that a service person drives somewhere to perform a service, so I think electrification is a long way off as opposed to long haul trucking where the self-driving features are more compelling. Looking for specific experience in the space and pros/cons.
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Reply by a searcher
from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, USA
The difficult part will be technician quality and turnover. You have the be at a lower hourly rate than the dealers and you can’t afford the investments that they make in their technicians (training, equipment, facilities). Great business but the efficiency of the technicians will make or break it. Also has the mechanic that you are partnering with managed people before? Being a mechanic and managing mechanics can be very different skill sets. The industry is growing and there’s a lot of investment (PE and others) in the space.
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Reply by an intermediary
in Campbell, CA, USA
We have sold a number of auto care/repair businesses under $1MM. it is getting harder and harder to find diesel repair shops, but it is becoming equally hard to find good diesel mechanics. If you're in a semi-rural area, you should be able to find plenty of work with the local farmers an the local government. Don't neglect the gas and electric markets nor the classic car cash market.
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