Car Wash Feasibility Study in Idaho

Large tickets and a high cancellation floor

Idaho car washes are financed in large amounts. The FY2017 through FY2026 files list 32 loans for the class, adding up to $45.9 million gross, and a median loan of $1.3 million that is 1.46x the national figure for car washes. Half of all loans fall between $373,250 and $2.1 million. That size reflects land, tunnels and equipment, which is why the program split is nearly even: 17 loans under SBA 7(a) and 15 under SBA 504. The state ranks 30 of 53 for car wash loans and Idaho's own class ranking puts washes at 16 of 39, and the location quotient reads 0.86x. Franchise brands account for only 3.1% of loans, so independents and regional operators dominate.

Lenders and counties

Capital Matrix, Inc. is the busiest 504 sponsor: 7 loans, $11.7 million. Ada County has 10 loans and Canyon County 6, which together account for most of the activity around the Boise valley; Bonneville has 4, Bonner, Kootenai and Twin Falls have 2 each, and Bannock, Gem, Jefferson and Nez Perce have 1 each. Annual volume peaked at 9 loans in FY2019, and FY2025 shows 0. A request outside the Treasure Valley therefore faces thinner precedent, and a study for such a site has to argue its own traffic case rather than borrow one.

Cancellations, charge-offs and the code limit

Among Idaho washes from the FY2017 to FY2024 cohort, 16.7% were cancelled at minimum, and counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled gives the same 16.7%, so the floor and the ceiling coincide. A project of this kind clearly can fall away between approval and closing, and a borrower should expect the process to test the plan hard. Idaho's charge-off rate stays blank, as the funded cohort is thin; we give it no number and do not call it zero. A coding limit applies: one industry code covers car washes, truck washes and mobile washes alike, so some of these loans may be for truck wash or mobile operations rather than a tunnel or self-serve site.

What an Idaho car wash study has to test

The first test is traffic: daily counts on the frontage road, visibility and turning movements at the site, and the number of existing washes within a realistic drive. Weather matters in Idaho, because winter reduces washing frequency and a monthly membership plan changes the seasonal curve, so the study should model both. Cost comes next. With a median near $1.3 million, land, site work and equipment need separate lines, and water, sewer and utility capacity at the parcel can move the budget. Coverage belongs at ramp-up volume, not mature volume. The appraisal values a special-purpose property, often on a cost approach, and the study should square its income forecast with that value before it reaches a lender.