Car Wash Feasibility Study in Indiana

Smaller than the national car wash loan

Indiana car wash loans run well below the national scale. The median loan is $610,000, only 0.66x the nationwide median, and the location quotient of 0.68x says washes are a thinner slice of Indiana approvals than of the national book. The state is 20 of 53 and the class is 17 of 39 locally. From FY2017 to FY2026 SBA approved 51 loans totalling $47.9 million, while the heart of the loan range extends from $260,500 to $1.3 million. A lender comparing Indiana to a Sun Belt market should expect smaller projects, fewer express tunnels and more conversions of older sites.

A strong real estate component

The program mix is notable: 31 loans under SBA 7(a) and 20 under SBA 504, so a large share of the financing involves owned land and buildings. Premier Capital Corporation is the only named lender, with 10 504 loans and $11.0 million, a sizeable per-loan average. Franchise affiliation appears on 9.8% of loans. The geography is diffuse, with Lake County at 6, Hamilton at 4, and Clark, Hendricks, Knox and Tippecanoe at 3 each, so there is no single dominant metro. Industry coding lumps car washes with truck washes and mobile washes, which can distort any reading of ticket size.

Cancellation and missing loss data

Cancellation shows a floor of 11.6% across FY2024 and earlier approvals, and counting undisbursed loans changes nothing: 11.6%. Borrowers should note that a real portion of approvals never reaches funding, often because land entitlements or equipment orders slip. Indiana's loss rate is unavailable: the FY2017 to FY2021 funded window holds too few loans (under 30) to support a rate. We do not read the absence as good news or bad news. Weather, a long closing and construction cost swings all feed into the outcome.

The study an Indiana car wash needs

An Indiana study should size the traffic count and household density around the site, identify competing tunnels and self-serve bays, and test price points for single washes versus monthly memberships. It must model winter weather, since freezing conditions reduce wash demand and raise operating costs. Equipment, water reclaim and site work deserve line-by-line pricing against loans near the state median. Coverage of loan payments should survive the weakest quarter. Valuation must split land and building from the wash equipment. The Indiana record shown here lets a lender judge whether a request is typical or unusual.