Restaurant equipment
A dead cooler costs you product every hour and covers every night it is out. Here is a quote-to-funding workflow, the repair versus replace math, and which product fits each answer.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
Updated October 13, 2026 · Merchant Fund Express
The price on the technician’s quote is only part of the bill. Write down what each day without the equipment costs: spoiled product, menu items you cannot sell, overtime to work around it and rental units. That daily number decides how fast you need money and how much a slower but cheaper option really costs.
For a walk-in cooler, a quick tally might be $1,400 of product lost in the first failure, plus about $600 a day in menu items pulled and a $180 a day reefer trailer rental.
| Repair | Replace | |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | $3,200 compressor and labor | $14,800 new condensing unit and box work |
| Time to working | 2 days (part in stock) | 6 days (order and install) |
| Downtime cost at $780 a day | $1,560 | $4,680 |
| Expected life from today | 2 to 3 years, unit is 11 years old | 12+ years |
| Energy and service, next 3 years | About $5,400 | About $2,700 |
| Three-year total | About $10,160 | About $22,180, with 9+ years of life left |
On three-year cost alone, the repair wins. Spread the replacement over its life, though, and it is cheaper per year, and you stop paying for the next failure on an 11-year-old unit. The usual rule of thumb: when a repair costs more than about a third of replacement on equipment past the middle of its life, get the replacement quote.
All figures in worked examples are illustrations of the arithmetic, not offers or quotes. Real terms depend on your file and the funder.
The new unit itself secures the financing, so the payment spreads across years of use. It needs a vendor quote or invoice, and timing follows the vendor. See equipment financing for restaurants.
A $3,200 repair is too small and too urgent for equipment financing. Cash on hand or working capital fits, and the decision can move the same day on a complete file.
If the old unit has to come out today, some owners cover the deposit and rental from working capital, then finance the new unit once the invoice is final.
For a restaurant with several aging units, a line of credit keeps a reserve ready for the next failure. It needs our first-tier file.
| When | Step | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Get a written quote with model, parts, labor and lead time | Photo of the failed unit and the data plate |
| Day 0 | Write the downtime cost per day | Your last two weeks of sales for that station |
| Day 0 to 1 | Apply with the amount and the use of funds | Three months of business bank statements as PDFs |
| Day 1 | Review the offer: amount received, total payback, payment rhythm | Any existing advance balances |
| Day 1 to 2 | Sign; funds in as little as 24 hours for qualified businesses | Vendor invoice for the deposit |
When not to borrow: if the equipment serves a menu line that was already losing money, or if the restaurant is closing within the life of the financing, take the cheapest repair or retire the station instead.
Have the quote and your statements ready, then check what you qualify for. Checking does not affect your credit score. For a single urgent cold-storage failure, the shorter read is replacing a broken walk-in fast. Restaurant products in general are on the restaurant funding page.
Compare total cost over the next three years including downtime and energy, then look at remaining life. If a repair costs more than about a third of replacement on an older unit, price the replacement.
Usually not for a small repair. Equipment financing is secured by the equipment purchased, so it fits a replacement. Repairs fit working capital or cash.
Same-day decisions on complete files, with funding in as little as 24 hours for qualified businesses. A replacement unit also depends on the vendor’s lead time.
A vendor quote or invoice for a replacement, plus three months of business bank statements as PDFs and details of any existing advances.
It can, depending on the funder, age and vendor. A written quote with model and serial number is the starting point.
Same-day decision. Applying takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.
