Call (319) 422-3298 or send the request form, and Sprucehollow Financial gets the shop's request to funding partners, who decide.
Equipment financing for lifts and aligners, working capital for parts and payroll, a term loan for buying a shop: each repair-bay cost on this page is matched to one of them.
At a glance
- Automotive repair and maintenance, Des Moines County, IA
29 employer establishments (CBP 2023)
- Repair shops with fewer than 5 employees, Des Moines County, IA
20 employer establishments (CBP 2023)
- Automotive repair and maintenance with a ZIP 52601 address
17 employer establishments (ZBP 2023)
- Owner-only automotive repair and maintenance, Des Moines County, IA
35 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024)
Auto shop financing in Burlington, IA: scan tools, battery testers and software licenses
Modern repair work starts at the scan tool. The tool itself is equipment, but the software subscription and OEM repair-information licenses that keep it current are annual costs, not collateral. A battery tester and charger station sits in between: cheap enough to buy outright, useful enough to bundle with a larger order.
| Measure | Value | Area | Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer establishments | 29 | Des Moines County, IA | CBP 2023 |
| Fewer than 5 employees | 20 (69.0%) | Des Moines County, IA | CBP 2023 |
| Paid employees, March 2023 pay period | 128 | Des Moines County, IA | CBP 2023 |
| Annual payroll | $5.4 million | Des Moines County, IA | CBP 2023 |
| Employer establishments | 17 | ZIP 52601 | ZBP 2023 |
With 20 of 29 county repair shops under five employees, the owner may also be one of the technicians, and a request can say plainly which jobs the new tool lets the shop keep in-house instead of sending out.
Auto repair business loans in Burlington, IA: wheel aligners, brake lathes and tech training
A wheel aligner and a brake lathe are the kind of purchase that pays back in jobs a shop no longer turns away. Both have serial numbers and resale value, which makes them straightforward collateral for equipment financing. Technician training is different: a course has no resale value, so it fits working capital rather than an equipment agreement.
Illustration only, invented figures: a shop buys an aligner at $39,000 and a brake lathe at $8,500, $47,500 in total, on a 72-month agreement at 9.75% a year. Each payment is $874.00. Seventy-two of them total $62,928.00, leaving $15,428.00 as the interest cost of spreading the purchase out.
Auto shop equipment financing in Burlington, IA: two-post lifts, a tire changer and parts shelving
A two-post lift is the center of a bay, and its quote should include anchors, installation and the check that the slab is thick enough to hold it. A tire changer and balancer can come as a pair from one vendor. Parts shelving keeps stock in order once the shop carries more of it.
A fourth bay pulls the rest of the shop along: a larger compressor and new air lines to the bay, an oil drain and waste-oil storage, a lift and lighting. Equipment such as the lift and compressor fits an equipment agreement; cutting a door or pouring a floor in a leased building is building work that needs the landlord's approval first.
Mechanic shop business loan in Burlington, IA: buying an existing garage and its equipment
Buying a running garage means buying its equipment list, its customer records and its name. When the building is part of the sale, that real estate is outside what Sprucehollow Financial arranges; the business side can go to a funding partner on its own.
- The equipment list with makes, models, serial numbers and ages
- The seller's last two or three years of sales and parts costs
- The shop lease and whether it transfers to the buyer
- Whether the seller will spend a few weeks at the counter introducing regulars to the new owner
- Cash for the first weeks of parts and payroll, which working capital can carry
The purchase price for the business itself can sit on a term loan, with the equipment either inside that loan or on its own agreement.
Collision repair financing in Burlington, IA: frame racks, welders and insurer payment waits
Collision shops buy different machines: a frame rack with measuring equipment, and welders for modern steel and aluminum panels. Supplier quotes itemize movable equipment and fittings; a paint booth and its ductwork are property work outside this site.
The cash problem in collision work is the wait. Illustration only, invented figures: a shop buys $6,400 of parts for an insured repair and waits 30 days for the insurer's check after the car leaves. Two such jobs at once tie up $12,800 that a working capital line can cover until the checks arrive.
Separately, Nonemployer Statistics counted 35 automotive repair and maintenance businesses (NAICS 8111) in Des Moines County, IA in 2024 with no paid employees. Local counts for other trades are on the Burlington, IA page.
The blog post on garage equipment and shop loans prices a lift, an alignment rack and movable second-bay equipment with invented figures.
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