A dealership service manager in southeast Iowa called us in the winter about outfitting a five-bay expansion with automotive two post lifts before the spring service rush. The conversation quickly moved past specs and into financing — because the difference between paying cash and taking a 0% APR twelve-month plan often decides whether a service manager can fit the equipment into the calendar-year capex budget. This piece is the technical and financial deep-dive we walked through with that manager, including real dimensional numbers, the financing options we currently offer, and the payment schedule that makes a five-lift install manageable across a fiscal year.
Dealership-grade Rotary and Challenger lifts with 0% APR financing available through First Business Bank.
Why dealerships standardize on automotive two post lifts
Franchise dealership service departments run a specific vehicle mix — the brand they sell, plus whatever comes in on trade. A Ford dealership sees F-150s, F-250s, Explorers, and Escapes as the daily bread. A Toyota store sees Tacomas, RAV4s, Camrys, and Highlanders. That mix decides the lift capacity: 10,000 lb is the sweet spot for most franchise dealerships in southeast Iowa. Automotive two post lifts in the 10K class fit every routine service the dealership performs, from oil changes to timing chain replacement, without over-spending on unused capacity.
Standardizing across the shop matters more than most managers admit. Every tech uses every bay. If bay one has a symmetric lift and bay two has asymmetric, technicians move slower because muscle memory does not transfer. Standardizing on one configuration — usually asymmetric for franchise stores — cuts training time and reduces the odds of a door-strike incident. When we quote a five-bay build-out, we quote five identical lifts on purpose.
0% APR financing through First Business Bank
Our current dealer-grade financing offer is 0% APR for twelve months with a 90-day payment deferral, administered through First Business Bank. That means a service manager can sign the paperwork in January, take delivery in February, and not make the first payment until May. For a five-lift install with all associated freight, install labor, and the anchor kit, the total is broken into twelve equal monthly payments after the deferral period. Automotive two post lifts on this program tend to fit cleanly inside a departmental capex line.
The application is a one-page form. Approval usually comes back within 48 hours. For dealerships with strong service revenue and a clean credit history — which describes most franchise stores — approval is routine. We do not add a finance markup to our lift pricing; the 0% is the actual rate. If you want to spread the payments across a longer term at a low fixed rate, our banker Lori quotes extended terms at six to nine percent depending on term length. We can get you a quote inside a business day.
Real dimensions for a five-bay dealership build-out
A typical dealership bay is 14 feet wide by 25 feet deep with a 14-foot clear ceiling. Automotive two post lifts fit that footprint with plenty of walkaround room. Column-to-column spacing on an asymmetric 10K is roughly 105 inches inside. That leaves 33 inches of walk-around on each side of the vehicle in a 14-foot-wide bay. Rise height at full extension is 74 to 76 inches, which clears every passenger vehicle and light truck in a standard franchise lineup.
Front three-stage arms retract to 25 inches and extend to 45 inches. Rear two-stage arms extend from 34 to 55 inches. That envelope fits every SUV and crew-cab truck a dealership regularly services. Bay-to-bay spacing between adjacent lifts should be at least 15 feet center-to-center to allow doors to open simultaneously without collision. In a five-bay run, that means an 80-foot minimum shop wall length. Confirm the dimensions on the architectural drawings before you commit to lift positioning — this is a survey we do at no cost before a quote.
Freight, delivery, and staging for multiple lifts
Shipping five lifts to a southeast Iowa dealership is a single freight load on a 53-foot dry van with lift-gate service. Total palletized weight is about 12,000 lbs. We coordinate delivery to a dock or drive-through overhead door and provide a forklift on site to unload if the dealership does not have one. Automotive two post lifts arrive strapped to skids, and each skid is roughly 8 feet long by 3 feet wide. Plan interior staging space accordingly during the install week.
We schedule install one bay per day, so a five-bay build-out is a full week. That means one bay is offline at a time — the other four keep producing revenue. We start early, finish before end of business, and hand each bay back to the service manager with a signed commissioning sheet. If the dealership needs faster turnaround, we can send two crews and cut the timeline to three days. The freight cost is the same either way; the labor cost changes.
Concrete and anchor prep in an existing dealership
Franchise dealership floors are usually six inches of 4,000 psi concrete or better — well above the four-inch, 3,000 psi minimum any 10K lift requires. That is one variable we rarely have to worry about in a franchise environment. What we do check is the location of expansion joints and floor drains. Lift anchors must sit at least six inches back from any joint, and the drain slope matters for oil containment. Automotive two post lifts installed near a floor drain need the anchor pattern reviewed against the drain layout before we drill.
Electrical is the other prep item. A 10K single-phase 220V lift needs a dedicated 30-amp circuit within reach of the column. Three-phase 208V or 460V options are available and often preferred in a commercial dealership with three-phase service. Coordinate with the shop’s electrician a week ahead of install so the circuits are pulled and ready. Delayed electrical is the single most common cause of an install-day slip.
Payment schedule and total cost of ownership
A five-lift dealership package including freight, install, anchor kit, adjustable pads, and commissioning typically falls in the mid to upper five-figure range depending on brand and capacity. On the 0% twelve-month plan with 90-day deferral, that breaks into predictable monthly payments after the deferral period. Automotive two post lifts of this class are twenty-year assets. Amortized across two decades of service, the cost per bay per year is small compared to the labor revenue a properly equipped bay generates.
Ongoing costs are lower than most managers expect. Cables need replacement every three to five years for a high-cycle bay. Annual ALI-standard inspection is a two-hour appointment per lift. Hydraulic fluid change is a five-year interval. Beyond that, arm restraints, safety locks, and adjustable pads are the wear items. We stock all of these in Ames and can ship or drive to your dealership on same-day notice. Total cost of ownership is predictable, which is why service managers keep coming back for the same brands.
How we support southeast Iowa dealerships year over year
After install day, we build a maintenance calendar for the dealership. Twelve-month ALI annual inspections. Three-year cable inspections. Five-year hydraulic service. Same-day parts on wear items. Same-day service calls for any lift down during business hours — we routinely drive to Ottumwa, Fairfield, Mount Pleasant, and Burlington to keep dealership bays running. Automotive two post lifts from our install list get priority scheduling because we know the equipment inside and out. That relationship is what we sell along with the lift.
If your dealership is planning a service expansion for the coming year, get us on a call in the previous quarter. We can survey the bays, quote the equipment, submit the financing paperwork, and have the lifts on site inside 60 days of purchase order. That timeline lets your service manager plan around the calendar-year budget cycle. Related pieces: our lift financing explainer and install guide. Call 800-674-9302.
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