Equipment Financing in Livonia, MI: Loans, Finance Agreements and Leases on Shop-Floor Machines

A funding partner may accept a used machine as collateral after checking its age and condition, and it may ask for the serial number, the hours and a photo. Illustration only, invented figures: a Livonia, MI machine shop finds a used rotary screw air compressor for $14,620 and a used surface grinder for $9,830 from a dealer, $24,450 together in this invented example.

In this invented example the shop picks 42 months at an 11.6% annual rate: $711.06 leaves the account monthly, $29,864.52 by the final debit, $5,414.52 of it interest. The invented term is kept short so the payments end while the two used machines still have years of work left. Term length matters away from the shop floor too, in the blog's cases on cycling bikes and power racks, manicure stations and a hotel's laundry machines.

The compressor needs air lines and a dedicated circuit, and the grinder needs power at its spot on the floor. Running that piping and wiring is building work this site leaves out; the request in this invented example names only the two machines and their delivery.

An equipment loan lends the money to buy the machine; the shop owns it from day one, and the funding partner holds a lien until the last payment. An equipment finance agreement (EFA) is a financing contract rather than a loan: the funding source pays the seller, and the shop owes a fixed payment for a set term. On paper the two look alike, so the way to compare them is the total.

Illustration only, invented figures: a Wayne County, MI machine shop gets a $118,740 quote for a press brake. Financed with a loan at a 9.35% annual rate for five years in this invented example, the brake costs $2,485.07 a month, or $149,104.20 across all 60 months. The same shop is offered an EFA at $2,495 a month for 60 months in this invented example, $149,700.00 in all.

In this invented example the EFA costs $595.80 more over five years, about $9.93 a month. A shop might still take it if the EFA comes with fewer conditions or a closing date that fits the delivery; the totals show what that convenience costs.

Under a $1 buyout lease the business makes every scheduled lease payment and then takes title for a single dollar. Ownership passes only at that last step, but because the buyout is a token, the business plans to keep the machine from the start.

Illustration only, invented figures: a Livonia, MI machine shop leases a $67,380 coordinate measuring machine at $1,745 a month for 48 months. With the $1 buyout, the invented lease totals $83,761.00. An equipment loan for the same $67,380 over 48 months at a 10.4% annual rate comes to $1,721.90 a month and $82,651.20 in all in this invented example.

Counting the $1 buyout, the invented lease runs $1,109.80 above the invented loan. Lease payments that run higher than a loan for the same machine are worth asking about before signing, along with any end-of-term fees the lease papers name.

An FMV lease, short for fair market value, rents the rig’s working years rather than selling the rig: the payments cover its use during the term. At the end the business can return it, renew the lease or buy it at what it is worth then, a price set at that point rather than at signing. That fits equipment whose software and targets can change with each new model year of cars.

Illustration only, invented figures: a Livonia, MI auto repair shop leases an ADAS calibration rig, with its frame, targets and software, listed at $31,860, for $742 a month over 36 months. The invented payments total $26,712.00, before any purchase at the end.

The rig is portable and rolls into a bay, so it is equipment, and a diagnostic scan tool can sit in the same request. Floor markings or a dedicated calibration bay would be property work outside this site.

1. The molder gets a written quote for the press, with delivery and rigging listed.
2. The molder phones (734) 704-6913 or uses the short form, and Lakebridge Finance forwards the press request to funding partners.
3. A funding partner may ask for bank statements, the quote and details on the machine, and it decides whether to make an offer.
4. If an offer comes and the molder signs, the partner pays the seller, and a lien on the press may be recorded.
5. Monthly payments begin, and the lien is released after the last one.

Illustration only, invented figures: a Wayne County, MI injection molder buys a $139,850 molding press, puts $20,000 down and finances $119,850 over 66 months at a 9.15% annual rate. Each invented debit comes to $2,317.77. Month one sends $913.86 to interest and $1,403.91 to principal in this invented example, and by month 66 the molder has paid $152,972.82.

Manufacturing carries the largest payroll of any sector in Wayne County, MI, about $7.09 billion across 1,386 establishments in 2023 (County Business Patterns).

Yes. An equipment loan or an EFA is money the business owes until the last payment, the same as any other loan. Illustration only, invented figures: a Livonia, MI food packaging plant finances a $96,340 robotic palletizer over 60 months at a 10.05% annual rate, a payment of $2,049.31 in this invented example. After 12 payments the invented balance still owed is $80,724.14, and the 60 payments total $122,958.60.

Two other things travel with that debt. A lien filing on the palletizer may be recorded, so selling it would mean clearing the lien first. On top of the lien, a funding partner may want the owner’s personal guarantee. The plant’s accountant, not this page, says how the debt is recorded.

Anchored safety fencing and a new power drop for the palletizer are property work outside this site. The robot arm, its gripper and the infeed conveyor are the equipment a request can name; welding gear for a fabrication shop is priced in a machine tools article.