SBA 7(a) Car Wash Feasibility Study in Utah

A Wasatch Front business

Utah car wash loans cluster in three counties. Salt Lake County has 18 of the loans, Weber 7 and Davis 6, while Iron, Millard, Summit, Utah and Washington have 2 each, and Beaver and Cache 1 each. Over FY2017 to FY2026 the program approved 45 loans, adding up to $43.7 million in gross dollars, placing the state 15 among states for car washes, and the class lands at 14 of 39 inside Utah. Loan size is the number to note: a median of $520,000 is only 0.66x the national 7(a) median for car washes, and the middle half runs from $303,100 to $1.5 million.

Credit unions and a bank group among the holders

America First Federal Credit Union holds 8 loans with $7.7 million, Zions Bancorporation, National Association holds 5 with $6.3 million, and First Utah Bank holds 5 with $4.6 million. SBA reports the current holder, so these figures show where loans sit today and not how any institution makes decisions. Franchise affiliation is rare, at 2.2% of loans, which leaves almost every borrower an independent who cannot lean on a brand's site-selection rules or volume data.

Volume by year and outcome floors

FY2018 was the high-water mark, with 12 loans and $12.3 million. FY2021 recorded only 2 loans and $80,000, which looks like a trough, then 5 loans in FY2022 brought $5.9 million. Counts have settled at 3 in FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025, although FY2024 carried $5.2 million against $1.6 million in FY2023. The latest year shows 2 loans and $612,000. For Utah washes the cancellation floor reaches 10.0% by FY2024, and so does the ceiling. Because too few early loans funded, no loss rate is shown, and none should be inferred. The code groups passenger, truck and mobile washes, so truck-wash lending is mixed in.

The study a Utah wash borrower needs

The core of the study is throughput. It should translate traffic counts at the corner, nearby housing and the competing tunnels and self-serve bays into vehicles per day, and then into revenue under single-wash pricing and monthly memberships. Water is a real constraint in Utah, so supply, reclamation equipment and local rules on discharge belong in the cost plan. The study needs a seasonal cash-flow table. With loans spread as widely as the data shows, the study should say which end of the range the project sits on. Lenders will want the payment covered with a soft opening and an appraisal that separates real estate from the business.