They also got finnicky with emissions. It looks to me like they will eventually weed the "small guy" out. Not to get political but D side doesnt want folks accumulating individual wealth, a successful small business used to be a way to do that. An average 4 bay shop in Pa say 20 years ago with two full time guys and a part timer could easily bring in a half million a year. Then you pay bills etc it isnt all profit but yeah you could get where you do make 350-500 thousand a year profit. i don't know about now though. the reason i never opened a shop is because I did extensive research and even took business classes. If you couple what you pay to the state plus the tools. and knowledge needed to work on todays cars you realize it isn't worth it an it isn't fun really. You'd be better off fixing and flipping these old Mopar A bodies and other classics while they are still here and sellable.
