SBA 7(a) Car Wash Feasibility Study in South Carolina

South Carolina car washes: large loans, a wide spread

Car washes in South Carolina borrow at a larger scale than their national peers under 7(a). The median of $1.1 million is 1.34x the nationwide figure, and half of the book falls between $173,500 and $2.6 million, one of the wider spreads among these cells, which suggests that small equipment loans and large site purchases sit in one class. SBA recorded 28 approvals worth $44.5 million. Franchising is 0.00%. South Carolina holds a rank of 25 among states by count, and car washes take slot 17 of 39 in South Carolina's own ranking. The margin test finds no standout figure.

Countybank and Greenville

Countybank shows 5 loans and $12.3 million, an outsized sum on a small count, as SBA lists current holders. Greenville County has 7 loans, ahead of Beaufort, Charleston and Richland at 3 each, and Anderson and Lexington at 2. Approvals peaked at 11 loans and $16.5 million in FY2019, fell away to a single loan in FY2021, none in FY2022, and none in FY2026, with 4 loans and $5.3 million in FY2024 between.

Cancellation and charge-off cannot be expressed as rates for this cell: too few loans stand behind them. The page offers no figure and does not suggest the rate is nil.

Testing a South Carolina car wash

Washing cars, trucks or vehicles on a mobile route all count as one trade in SBA's code, so the study must say whether the project is an express tunnel, a self-serve bay, an in-bay automatic, a full-service wash or a truck facility. Volume is the engine of a car wash, so traffic counts, visibility, access and the cars passing the site each day come first, with competing washes within the same corridor. Membership programs can stabilise revenue, but the study should model churn conservatively. Equipment is a major cost and so are water, sewer connections and local approvals, which can delay opening and add to carrying cost. Weather matters, since rainy weeks cut volume, so the model should show monthly revenue. Coverage must hold in a weak first year. Collateral comes down to land, structure and equipment, and the appraisal should be based on stabilised throughput, so the study should state how the site reaches it.

The $12.3 million behind Countybank's 5 loans shows that some South Carolina washes are very large projects, while the lower end of the range is far smaller. A borrower should state which end applies and give the land, building and equipment costs separately, so a reviewer can compare them with the revenue forecast.