No Obligation, Pre-Qualification
Auto Repair and Car Sales Business Loans for Parts, Tools and Vehicle Inventory
Fast Approvals Made Simple
Most of the owners we arrange funding for here run both sides of the trade. The repair bay ties money up in lifts, scan tools and a parts inventory that has to be on the shelf before the job comes in. The lot ties it up in vehicles waiting for a buyer. One application covers either or both, and it reaches our extensive network of funders rather than a single bank.
Funding a Repair Bay and a Sales Lot Together
- Stock Fast-Moving Parts
- Fund a Wholesale Auction Run
- Advertise Your Business
- Free Up Cash Flow
Two Businesses, Two Different Cash Flow Problems
A repair shop’s costs arrive ahead of its tickets. Diagnostic equipment for late-model vehicles is neither optional nor cheap, lifts and alignment racks need servicing, and a shop that wants to turn work around in a day has to carry the common parts rather than order them in. Add a technician shortage that keeps wages climbing, and one long job that ties up a bay for a week, and the operating account is thinner than the schedule board suggests. It is the same shape of problem construction and contracting crews live with, where an excavator or a skid steer has to be bought and kept running well ahead of the work it earns on.
A dealership has the same money tied up in a different form. Every unit on the lot is capital sitting still, and a trade-in that needs reconditioning is capital sitting still with more money going into it. Meanwhile the carrying costs, the dealer fees, the advertising and the discounts it takes to move an aging unit all run whether or not anything sold this week.
One Application Covers the Shop and the Lot
Sterling Street Financial sends your file to an extensive network of funders, which is what makes the combined shop-and-lot picture workable. A funder writing against card volume will price your service revenue well but has little to say about vehicle inventory, while an inventory funder is the other way round. Rather than making you pick one story, we put the file where each part of it is understood and bring back offers you can compare on amount, cost and repayment schedule.
Business loans designed for repair bays, service counters and dealer lots can be categorized as:
Picking a Product for Parts, Payroll or Vehicle Inventory
Here is how the products get used on each side of the business.
Take the off-season parts buy. Your distributor discounts winter tires in August, months before anyone in your market wants a set, and the same thing happens with brake and filter stock at the end of a model year. The parts distributors on the other side of those deals are buying ahead on exactly the same logic, one step further up the chain. A Merchant Cash Advance carries that purchase with payments taken out of your card sales, so the deduction stays small until the tires start moving. A short-term Working Capital Loan does it on a fixed schedule instead, which suits a shop that would rather know the exact payment than have it float with the week.
Then there are the gaps that have nothing to do with buying anything. Payroll comes due on Friday whether or not the insurance carrier has paid on the three collision jobs you finished last month. A Business Line of Credit is built for that. You draw what the gap needs, pay interest only on what you drew, and the limit refreshes when the checks arrive. Clear it inside a couple of months and it costs very little.
On the sales side, inventory is the whole game, and it is harder for an independent used-car lot than for a franchise dealer because there is no factory floor plan behind you. An auction run has to be paid for the same week it is bought, and a Working Capital Loan is usually what covers it. The same money can go into reconditioning or into advertising the units already on the lot, which is often the faster route to turning inventory over.
See what your business qualifies for.
One application, compared across our extensive network of funders. On average, funding is received within 2-4 business days.
Shop and Lot Funding Questions
It is funding shaped around two very different working-capital problems under one owner. The repair side needs tools, lifts, and a deep parts inventory; the sales side needs vehicles sitting on the lot. The same application can cover either, or both.
Demand fluctuates and the equipment does not wait. Shops invest in expensive diagnostic and repair equipment, add staff through peak seasons, and stock parts ahead of the jobs that use them. Funding lets a shop absorb those costs and hold service levels steady.
A dealership’s capital sits in new vehicles and trade-ins. Add dealership fees, marketing, and the discounts needed to move units, and the cash is committed long before a sale closes. Funding covers the inventory and the carrying costs so the lot stays full.
Merchant Cash Advances, Working Capital Loans, and Business Lines of Credit, among the products listed on this page. The right choice depends on the specific needs and financial health of the business — and owners running both a shop and a lot often use different products for each.
By where the revenue comes from. A Merchant Cash Advance is based on future credit card sales, which suits a repair shop with strong card transactions. A Working Capital Loan provides a lump sum that can be used for any business purpose, including a block of vehicle inventory.
Flexibility to meet unexpected expenses, take a distributor’s off-season discount, and cover payroll while insurance payments are outstanding. Approval is also relatively quick compared to traditional bank loans, which matters when a wholesale vehicle lot is available this week.
Speed and flexibility cost something. Rates on these products generally run higher than a bank term loan, and the faster the funding the more that tends to be true. Read the repayment schedule as carefully as the rate, particularly on daily-remittance products, and check what the payment does to a slow week rather than to an average one.
Purchasing equipment means the business owns it outright, while leasing involves paying a monthly fee to use the equipment. The choice depends on the business’s financial situation, the equipment’s lifespan, and tax considerations — a distinction that matters most for the heavy diagnostic gear a repair bay runs on.
It changes by product and by funder. Most look at revenue, credit history, time in business and cash flow. What is worth knowing here is that funders in our network can read repair-bay ticket volume and lot turnover as two separate strengths, so a shop with strong service revenue is not marked down for a slow month of vehicle sales.
Yes. Every credit profile gets looked at here, prior bankruptcies and tax liens included. For an auto business the card volume through the service department is often the strongest thing in the file, and several programs in our network underwrite on that rather than on the personal credit report.
We ask what the reason was. It is often the product or the amount rather than the business. A request sized to a whole auction run may clear at a smaller number, or come back as an advance against service revenue instead. From there the same file goes to other funders in our network, or we work on the financial position and try again.
Steps to Secure Business Funding with Sterling Street Financial
Submit Your Online Application
Fill out the online form. It asks what your business does, what the money is for, and what your revenue looks like. Call, chat or email if a question comes up.
Talk to Our Experts
A funding specialist reads your file and calls you with what the funders in our network sent back — the amounts, the costs and the repayment schedules.
Get Funded!
Choose the offer you want. Approved funds reach your account in as little as 24 hours, and most requests fund within 2-4 business days.
A Few Minutes to Apply
Fill out our online form and get approved quickly.
Compare Options
Both secured and unsecured loans with no personal guarantee.
Customize Terms
Choose what best suits you and your company’s needs.
Get Funded
Funds in as little as 24 hours, directly to your account.
Take your business to new heights.
Tell us the amount you are after and what your business takes in each month, and we will point your application at the programs that fit. No application fees, no obligation, and no impact on your credit score.