Franchise funding
For independent collision repairers who operate under CARSTAR: insurance claims that pay on their own schedule, paint booths, frame equipment and certified technicians.
✓ Merchant Fund Express starts with a soft credit pull. Terms depend on your location's revenue and history.
Updated October 21, 2026 · Merchant Fund Express
Already operating a CARSTAR collision center? Merchant Fund Express funds existing CARSTAR owners with business loans, merchant cash advances, revenue-based financing, lines of credit, equipment financing and working capital, from $25,000 to $5,000,000, and invoice factoring where insurer or fleet receivables are slow. We read how much of your revenue comes from insurance payments versus customer cards, then size payments after the franchisor's drafts, paint and parts suppliers and any existing positions. A complete file gets a same-day decision, and funding often follows the next business day.
Owners of open CARSTAR collision repair facilities, including multi-store operators and dealership-based collision centers. CARSTAR describes its network as independently owned collision shops whose owners keep their independence when they franchise, so many owners ran the shop before joining. Parent company Driven Brands reports that its collision locations serve retail, commercial and insurance customers, which is the heart of the cash question: a lot of a collision shop's revenue arrives as insurer payments after the repair, not at the counter.
Read this with the automotive franchise funding sector guide and our auto repair industry page.
Checked Oct 2026 against official sources: the franchisor's own franchising site, its FDD or SEC filings, or the SBA Franchise Directory. Figures change; confirm current numbers in the latest Franchise Disclosure Document. Figures we could not confirm from an official source are left out.
Already running a CARSTAR location and need capital? Merchant Fund Express funds existing franchise owners with every product below. Terms depend on the business's revenue and history.
Parts, paint and labor are spent while the car is in the shop; the insurer pays after the claim closes. For business receivables, invoice factoring turns open invoices into cash now.
Modern collision work calls for structural measuring, specialized welding and sensor calibration; see auto repair equipment funding.
Driven Brands notes collision demand is lower outside the winter months. Owners staff for winter and carry payroll through warmer months; see slow-season funding.
| Need | Product | Published requirement it leans on | What to send |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open insurer or fleet invoices | Invoice factoring | Invoices to business customers | Aging report, invoices |
| Paint booth, frame or calibration equipment | Equipment financing | Vendor quote and useful life | Quote, 3 months of statements |
| Parts and paint materials for open repair orders | Line of credit | Tier 1: 3+ years, FICO 650+, 8+ deposits a month | Statements, supplier invoices |
| Payroll through the summer lull | Working capital | Tier 2: 6+ months, FICO 600+, $60K verifiable revenue | Statements, payroll register |
| Deposits that track claim settlements | Revenue-based financing | Tier 2: minimum daily balance $800, up to 2 current advances | Statements, list of current advances |
Merchant Fund Express accepts ITIN applicants and offers Spanish-speaking support.
Take a shop depositing $160,000 a month: parts and paint $62,000, payroll $48,000, franchisor drafts $9,000, rent $11,000, a booth lease $4,000. The owner wants a frame and measuring system quoted at $72,000.
Figures in this example are illustrations of the arithmetic, not an offer, quote or approval. Real terms depend on the file and the funder.
Merchant Fund Express reads operating history. A shop that has not opened needs that history first; see buying a franchise. An independent shop with its own deposit history that joins the network is read on those deposits. Taking over an operating CARSTAR follows franchise transfer financing, and owners adding a shop can read funding a second location.
Invoice factoring is built for invoices owed by business customers, such as insurers and fleets. We look at the aging report and who owes the invoices.
Yes. Equipment financing is reviewed against a vendor quote and the equipment's useful life. Booths and frame systems suit longer terms.
No. We read about three months of deposits and expect seasonality.
Each shop or entity is read on its own deposits, suppliers and existing payments. Terms depend on each shop's revenue and history.
No. Merchant Fund Express is independent. We use the CARSTAR name only to identify the owners this page is for; it does not mean the franchisor endorses or works with us.
Merchant Fund Express is independent. Not affiliated with or endorsed by CARSTAR or its franchisor. Brand names identify the owner audience only.
Merchant Fund Express reviews your location's revenue, deposits and existing payments. Same-day decision on a complete file; funding often the next business day. About five minutes to apply.
