Car Wash Feasibility Study in Missouri

Missouri car washes: bigger share, far smaller tickets

Missouri's car wash loans are small next to the class nationally. The median of $321,500 is only 0.35x the national class median, though gross dollars still reach $42.8 million over 52 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026. Location quotient is 0.85x, so washes claim a somewhat smaller part of Missouri approvals than of those nationwide. The class ranks 16 of 39 in Missouri, and the state stands 19 of 53 on volume. Our test did not isolate a distinctive metric, though a median ratio this low is one a lender will notice.

How the loans are made

Half of loans fall between $144,000 and $824,100. The 7(a) programme made 44 loans and 504 made 8. Franchise brands appear on 1.9% of loans, so almost all washes are independent. OakStar Bank is the only lender named in the table, with exactly 5 loans worth $820,100, which shows how widely the lending is spread across banks. Jackson and Saint Charles counties each have 8 loans, Saint Louis 6, Lawrence 5 and Jasper 4, so the activity covers both metropolitan areas and the southwest of the state.

Cancellations, losses and swings in volume

Missouri cancellations among FY2017 to FY2024 approvals ran at a floor of 7.3%, and the ceiling is the same 7.3%. Missouri's loss rate goes unpublished because the disbursed cohort is too thin, so no number is shown, and we do not describe losses as nil. Annual volume is erratic, from 1 loan in FY2018 to 8 loans and $12.1 million in FY2019, then 3 loans and $842,000 in FY2026.

What a Missouri study has to show

Because the median is small, a Missouri study should be explicit about the format: an express tunnel, an in-bay automatic, a self-serve bay or a mix. Each has a different build cost and throughput, and a ticket near $321,500 typically points to the smaller formats or to older sites. The study should test traffic, local competition and membership uptake, then show debt service coverage if wash counts fall in poor weather. The appraisal will value land, building and equipment together, so the study should separate real estate from the business. Mixed codes mean mobile and truck washing are grouped with this class, so confirm the plan fits the loans described here.