Observed lending records
Car washes: SBA lending profile
Historical financing evidence to examine alongside your operating plan.
NAICS 811192 includes car washes across operating formats. It does not isolate four-bay self-service sites, leased retrofits or property purchases.
Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA files, snapshot 30 June 2026. Recomputed from original records on 1 October 2026. FY2025 is the most recent complete fiscal year in these files. Definitions and exclusions.
What stands out in this category
In the complete FY2025 snapshot cohort, 194 of 243 disbursed-status records are 7(a): 79.8%. The remaining 49 are 504 records. Read this program mix before comparing the combined median with a project budget.
The program-specific medians are $579,900 for the total approved 7(a) loan and $844,000 for the SBA/CDC portion of 504. Their difference is not a project-cost gap: the latter excludes the third-party financing and owner contribution.
FY2024 has 302 records with disbursed status in the same snapshot; FY2025 has 59 fewer. This compares approval-year cohorts at one cutoff, not disbursements made in each year or customer demand. Recent cohorts have had less time to fund.
For the narrower connected operating case: Separate equipment rehabilitation from property acquisition. Survey water, drainage and bay condition, then test paid use and downtime before adopting a financing comparison. Historical lending activity does not answer that operating question. Bring quotations, measured capacity and local demand evidence to the financing discussion.
Separate 7(a) and 504
| Program | Records | Median amount | Median term | Amount represented |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7(a) | 194 | $579,900 | 16.0 years | Total approved 7(a) loan |
| 504 | 49 | $844,000 | 25.0 years | SBA/CDC portion only |
The combined median is a description of this mix. A 504 amount excludes the third-party loan and owner equity; it is not the property or project purchase price. The rate headline uses 194 7(a) records and describes the initial rate when approved.
How the loan amounts are distributed
| Approval amount band | Records | Share | Median amount | Median term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $150,000 | 53 | 21.8% | $32,000 | 10.0 years |
| $150,000–$349,999 | 34 | 14.0% | $249,500 | 10.0 years |
| $350,000–$699,999 | 48 | 19.8% | $528,500 | 25.0 years |
| $700,000 and above | 108 | 44.4% | $2,002,000 | 25.0 years |
A single median hides small working-capital requests and larger asset-financing transactions. Use the bands and program split before deciding whether a comparison fits your project.
Annual activity and approval status
| Approval FY | All approvals | Disbursed status | Canceled | Undisbursed / other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 363 | 328 | 35 | 0 |
| 2019 | 393 | 338 | 55 | 0 |
| 2020 | 339 | 285 | 54 | 0 |
| 2021 | 502 | 416 | 83 | 3 |
| 2022 | 395 | 333 | 47 | 15 |
| 2023 | 326 | 281 | 23 | 22 |
| 2024 | 380 | 302 | 36 | 42 |
| 2025 | 342 | 243 | 39 | 60 |
Institutions appearing in the records
Ranked by record count only, with alphabetical tie-breaking. No paid placement, referral arrangement or recommendation. Names are those assigned in the snapshot; this does not establish current lending appetite or the original institution before any transfer.
| Institution | Records | Median amount | Median term | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | 43 | $50,000 | 10.0 years | 13 |
| TD Bank, National Association | 37 | $25,000 | 10.0 years | 11 |
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 35 | $24,000 | 5.0 years | 12 |
| Celtic Bank Corporation | 29 | $2,294,000 | 25.0 years | 15 |
| Readycap Lending, LLC | 22 | Not shown | Not shown | 12 |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 22 | Not shown | Not shown | 13 |
| Stearns Bank National Association | 15 | Not shown | Not shown | 12 |
| KeyBank National Association | 13 | Not shown | Not shown | 7 |
| Live Oak Banking Company | 13 | Not shown | Not shown | 10 |
| Metro City Bank | 12 | Not shown | Not shown | 4 |
| Institution | Records | Median amount | Median term | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Business Development Corporation | 19 | Not shown | Not shown | 3 |
| Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. | 18 | Not shown | Not shown | 2 |
| Mortgage Capital Development Corporation | 15 | Not shown | Not shown | 3 |
| Capital Certified Development Corporation | 11 | Not shown | Not shown | 1 |
| Mountain West Small Business Finance | 9 | Not shown | Not shown | 4 |
| Empire State Certified Development Corporation | 6 | Not shown | Not shown | 3 |
| SomerCor 504, Inc. | 6 | Not shown | Not shown | 1 |
| B:Side Capital | 5 | Not shown | Not shown | 2 |
| LiftFund, Inc. | 5 | Not shown | Not shown | 1 |
| New England Certified Development Corporation | 5 | Not shown | Not shown | 3 |
Where the lending records are located
| State | Records | Share of category | Median amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| TX | 33 | 13.6% | $1,812,000 |
| CA | 31 | 12.8% | $780,000 |
| FL | 18 | 7.4% | Not shown |
| CO | 13 | 5.3% | Not shown |
| IL | 12 | 4.9% | Not shown |
| NJ | 11 | 4.5% | Not shown |
| OH | 11 | 4.5% | Not shown |
| MI | 9 | 3.7% | Not shown |
| MO | 8 | 3.3% | Not shown |
| GA | 7 | 2.9% | Not shown |
Small state samples retain their counts but suppress the median. High lending volume can reflect the size of a state or its financing mix; it does not by itself establish demand for another location.
Who is represented in the recent pool?
| Business-age group | Records | Share of known labels | Median amount | Median term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change of ownership | 125 | 15.2% | $1,046,800 | 25.0 years |
| Other reported business-age labels | 296 | 35.9% | $285,000 | 10.0 years |
| Startup or new-business labels | 404 | 49.0% | $677,400 | 25.0 years |
The startup/new-business group combines startup and new-business labels, including businesses up to two years old. It is not a pure count of unopened businesses. Change-of-ownership records have different risks and evidence from a greenfield startup.
Historical charge-offs: inspect the denominator
204 disbursed records have EXEMPT status and are excluded from this denominator. The remaining unknown or non-disbursed statuses are also excluded. This selection can bias the result. It is not the probability that a new business fails, not an applicant approval rate and not the percentage of dollars lost.
Bring the evidence into your plan
Separate equipment rehabilitation from property acquisition. Survey water, drainage and bay condition, then test paid use and downtime before adopting a financing comparison.
Build your request from quotations, site scope, owner contribution and monthly cash need. Compare the same program, period and project type before using a sector figure. The worked financing case, startup budget and business plan example connect a narrower format to its assumptions.
Sources, scope and downloadable tables
Download this profile’s aggregate tables (CSV). Definitions and the original file links are on the data methodology page.
NAICS codes included: 811192. Descriptions appearing in the source: Car Washes.
Census NAICS definitions; SBA source dataset; SBA field dictionary.
CSV field definitions and denominator rules · Original source files and SHA-256 checksums. Blank financial medians mean insufficient valid observations, not zero. Profile annual-status downloads include partial FY2026; the comparison headlines exclude that partial year.