Car Wash Feasibility Study in Kentucky

Plenty of washes, lighter loans

Kentucky car washes are common in the SBA file and small in size. The 1.52x location quotient gives car washes a weight above their national share and a slot of 12 of 39 inside Kentucky, the state ranks 21 of 53, and 43 approvals totaling $34.0 million were made across FY2017 to FY2026. But the median loan of $365,000 is only 0.39x the national median for the class. That is the distinctive metric: many Kentucky borrowers finance an older or smaller wash, an equipment upgrade or an acquisition, in place of the large tunnel builds that lift the national median. The central half of loans stretches from $139,950 to $1.2 million, a wide spread.

Who lends and where

Kentucky's lending is 36 loans through 7(a) alongside 7 for 504, with franchise use at 7.0%. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company alone clears the five-loan listing bar, at 6 loans and $2.6 million. Jefferson County holds 9 loans, Boone County 5, Bullitt County 4 and Daviess County 3, which points at Louisville, northern Kentucky and Owensboro. Volume crept upward over the decade, from a mere 2 loans in FY2017 to 9 in FY2025, and FY2023 stands out with 6 loans and $7.3 million, while FY2026 shows 2 loans for $164,200.

Cancellation reaches 9.4% at minimum for approvals through FY2024 and 12.5% if every still-undisbursed loan is counted as cancelled. Kentucky has too few funded early-year loans, under 30, to print a charge-off rate, so do not read the missing number as zero.

A single industry code serves car washes, truck washes and mobile washes. A project built around a tunnel with a membership model, a self-serve bay or a mobile unit looks the same here, although the economics differ widely. The study has to specify the format.

Questions for the study

A Kentucky car wash study should test traffic and format together. It should show daily passing vehicles, the presence of competing washes and gas station washes, and whether a membership model or pay-per-wash revenue carries the plan. Weather matters in a state with real winters, so seasonal swings must be modeled. Equipment is the main cost, and the typical ticket near $365,000 helps show whether the project is a conversion or a ground-up tunnel. Debt service coverage should be tested at lower wash counts and with rising chemical, water and labor costs. The appraisal will value land and equipment and the going concern, so the study should explain what the business earns beyond the real estate.