Car Wash Feasibility Study in Oregon

Tiny tickets in Oregon

Oregon car wash loans are small. Across FY2017 to FY2026, SBA approved 27 car wash loans in the state, worth $15.0 million, and the median is $150,000, which is 0.16x of the national median for car washes. The middle half of loans starts at $27,500 and ends at $663,300. A reader should not assume the figures below describe the cost of building a new wash, because the loans in this record span a wide range of sizes.

Where the class sits

Among states Oregon sits at 34 of 53 for car washes, and the class takes 21 of 39 among Oregon's asset classes. The location quotient of 0.48x says car washes make up roughly half the share of Oregon lending that they hold nationally. Franchise loans amount to 3.7% of the record, and 22 loans went through SBA 7(a) with 5 through SBA 504.

Geography, lenders and years

Marion County leads with 5 loans, Lane has 4, Hood River and Josephine have 3 each, and Clackamas and Umatilla have 2. Only one lender is named in the record: U.S. Bank, National Association holds 7 SBA 7(a) loans worth $165,000. SBA lists loans under whoever holds or held them now, so the table shows where loans sit today and carries no judgment about the lender. Annual approvals run from none in FY2021 to 5 in FY2026, which brought $6.4 million. FY2026 is a complete fiscal year, with the data as of 2026-09-30, so that count is the full year.

Floors and the shared code

Oregon gets no published cancellation or charge-off rate. Under Loan Analytics' own presentation rule, no rate prints for a group of fewer than 30 loans, and both Oregon groups fall below that mark. A blank here is not a zero and not a clean bill either. The coding also blurs the picture: the classification lumps car washes together with truck and mobile washes, and the cell cannot isolate any one type.

What an Oregon wash plan must prove

Any study of a car wash in Oregon should test the wash type being proposed, the traffic count at the specific site, the water, sewer and reclaim permitting the site needs, and the unit economics of memberships against single washes. The loan record shows modest loan sizes, so a plan that needs a far larger check should explain the equipment, land and lender fit. The repayment cushion must be tested against rainy-week volumes at the Oregon site, and the appraisal should treat equipment and land separately. A reader should also keep in mind that the 27 loans here are too few to settle any firm benchmark, and that the study itself, not this page, must carry the case for the specific site.