Refinance your car wash property loan

Ardent Capital Group brings the same method to every client: execution and strategy, clear advice for smart lending, and long-term growth. That means the right lender, structure and timing, straight advice so you borrow with confidence, and today's deal built toward where you want to be tomorrow. On a wash refinance the argument is the site rather than the gear, because the land and the location carry more weight than the improvements and the improvements have been depreciating since you commissioned them. We get the valuation framed that way, place the file with lenders who genuinely write these, and stay with it past drawdown. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

We refinance commercial facilities from $50K up to $30M, from a self-serve bay array to an automatic tunnel with detailing and vacuums. The new limit is set by the current valuation and by servicing, not by what you originally borrowed.

Because your bank can only tell you what your bank will do, and appetite varies more on a purpose-built wash site than on almost any other automotive property. We do the legwork: we run the comparison across more than 40 lenders, work out which are genuinely writing wash sites right now and how each weighs the land against the improvements, and present to one at a time so your credit file does not collect an enquiry for every conversation. We also model the break costs, valuation and legals against what moving actually gains you.

Ordinary commercial premises typically gear to around 80% of value, and where a car wash sits against that depends on the site, the location and the lender. We will not quote you a car wash maximum, because nobody can honour one. We will tell you which lenders write these and what each is likely to say about your site.

Less than most operators expect. On a wash site the land and the location carry more weight than the improvements, so the corner does more of the work in the valuation than the tunnel does. The equipment has been depreciating since it was commissioned and the land generally has not, which means the longer you have held the site, the more of the number is the ground. An ageing wash on a strong corner can revalue well, so test it rather than assume.

From the land and the location, and from the principal you have paid down since settlement. That is a straightforward thing to test, and we will give you a view on what a valuation is likely to return before you order one. Where it does not support what you want to do, we will say so before you spend anything on it.

Yes, where the current valuation supports it. Cash out on a commercial refinance is assessed on the purpose of the funds, so the lender wants to know what it is for. A conversion to automatic, replacing plant that has run its life, a reseal and line-marking program, a payment or membership system, vacuums, or the deposit on a second site are all ordinary purposes. We evidence the purpose properly at the outset.

No, and keeping it off is deliberate. A tunnel, a conveyor, dryers, pumps and a recycling plant go on equipment finance over a term that matches the working life of the equipment, which is a very different number to the life of the land. Rolling them into a 25 year mortgage means paying for them long after they have been replaced. The property refinance can release equity toward the program without the plant ending up on the property facility.

Yes, and as an owner you are in a much better position with it than a buyer is. The consent from the water authority is what allows the site to discharge and therefore to trade, the oil and water separation system is part of meeting it, and both are now in your name with a servicing and compliance history behind them. We put that record forward with the application rather than waiting to be asked, and the water and trade waste charges go into the serviceability numbers as the real cost lines they are.

It should not, and we raise it in advance. Bays, gantries, conveyors and dryers are designed for one use, so where a property is purpose-designed for a single occupier a valuer may report both an existing-use value and an alternative-use value, giving the lender the full picture. That is normal process on purpose-built property rather than a mark against your site. It is also why the location matters so much here: the stronger the corner, the closer those two figures tend to sit.

Often not. Appetite for purpose-built automotive property varies more between lenders than almost anything else in this program, and a facility written when your lender was comfortable can sit awkwardly a few years later after a policy change nobody told you about. That is a position about the lender rather than about your site. We look at why the answer was no, then place the file with a credit team that reads a wash site the way it should be read.

Four to six weeks from application to settlement for a straightforward file. Where an SMSF or a second site is involved it takes longer. We give you a realistic timeline at the start so you can plan the expiry date around it.

The existing loan statements, two to three years of financial statements and tax returns, personal tax returns and notices of assessment for the guarantors, a statement of assets and liabilities, and the schedules for the wash plant facilities. For this niche we also want the trade waste consent and discharge agreement, the servicing record on the separator and the recycling plant, and your water and trade waste accounts, because those are the cost lines that sit behind the trading figures.

The costs are a valuation, legal and settlement fees, any lender establishment fee, discharge costs from your current lender, and break costs where you are leaving a fixed rate. Break costs are an economic cost, so they are calculated on the day and vary with how much fixed term is left. We put the real numbers against the benefit before you commit to anything.

Yes, it is possible, and we arrange these. It is also one of the more intricate refinances in commercial finance, and the detail is what decides whether it works. From 10 August 2026 a new arrangement can only be used for business real property. A car wash trading wholly as a business qualifies, and it does not matter whether you or a tenant runs it, while a site with a residence on the same title generally does not. It has to stay the same single property. It is limited to the balance outstanding plus accrued interest, so there is no top up, no redraw and no cash out inside the fund, and borrowed money cannot fund an improvement, which means the arrangement cannot pay for a conversion to automatic. The plant is financed outside the fund in any case. The holding trust is reassigned to the incoming lender rather than dissolved, which carries a legal cost worth weighing against the gain. Your operating company leases the site back in writing, at market rent supported by an independent appraisal, and the rent has to actually be paid. Cross-collateralisation is not available inside super. SMSF lending on standard commercial security generally runs between 65% and 80%, and the lender list is narrower on a purpose-built site, so placement decides a great deal. The major banks have exited SMSF lending and lenders want a liquidity buffer left in the fund after settlement. We know this sounds complicated, and we can assist to make things clearer. Reach out to our team and we will guide you through the entire process. We structure the finance, tell you which lenders will take a car wash as SMSF security and on what terms, and bring in the SMSF specialists and licensed advisers who set the fund side up. You will not be working it out on your own.

Most of the time, no. Where a refinance requires significant preparation due to its complexity, a small mandate fee may apply, and we will always be upfront about this before any work begins.

Although we are based in Sydney, we service clients across all major Australian cities, including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart, along with their surrounding regional areas. Wherever your site is located, we can arrange your finance.

Beyond refinancing the site, we also assist with asset finance and working capital. On asset finance, that covers the wash tunnel, conveyors, gantries, dryers, pumps, the water recycling plant, vacuum arrays and payment or membership systems. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding to carry chemicals and wages through a run of wet weeks, and we can fold these into the refinance where it makes sense.

Yes, and it is more common than you would think, because the loan is set up at settlement and then simply runs while the plant ages and the area around the site changes. That is our core ethos, helping you understand the right strategy, structure and clear advice from the very first conversation. Our main borrower profiles are established business owners and commercial property investors with facilities from $50,000 upwards. We will start by telling you what the site is likely to value at now, how much of that is the land, what sits on your current facility, what moving costs, and whether it is worth making. If it is not, we will say so and you can stay where you are.