Why the bank's timeline does not work here
An HVAC or plumbing contractor with one van down is losing a tech's whole day, every day. A bank asking for two years of statements and a month to decide is asking you to lose twenty working days to save a few points of interest. Contractors in this position describe being funded by an alternative lender in two days, and one with two vans down at once used a $40,000 line to have a replacement on the road within 48 hours.
The bank is not wrong about the price. It is wrong about the timeline, and the timeline is the whole problem.
Replacement: finance the van as a van
A vehicle is the easiest thing in small business to finance, because the lender can value it, title it, and recover it. That is what equipment financing is. Terms run two to six years, a down payment of 10 to 20 percent is common for newer businesses or weaker credit, and used vehicles from a dealer are fine.
It is slower than working capital by a day or two because the lender wants the purchase invoice and the VIN. It is materially cheaper. Do not fund a $35,000 van with a six-month advance because the advance was faster. Rent for three days instead.
Approval rests on the vehicle and your deposits. A contractor at fourteen months in business with $25,000 a month coming in is a normal file for a van lender and an impossible one for a bank.
Repair and the rental: that is working capital
If the old van is worth fixing — a transmission on a vehicle with years left in it — the repair is labor and parts, not an asset, and nobody finances it as equipment. A working capital loan or cash advance on your deposit history covers it, along with the rental that keeps the tech working while it is in the shop.
Decision in about a day, money in one to three business days. Amounts run half to one and a half times one month's deposits, which for most one- to three-van contractors covers a major repair and a month of rental with room to spare.
Ask for weekly payments. Contractors are paid on completion and on invoices, not daily, and a daily debit fights that.
Before you sign either
Get the total cost in dollars, not the monthly or the daily figure. A rate quoted alone tells you nothing about what you will pay.
If you already carry an advance, say so up front. A second one stacked on the first is where contractors get into trouble, and a van lender will find it in the statements anyway.
And once the new van is on the road, set up a line of credit while the statements look good. The next van will break on a Friday too.