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Building the Ideal Car Wash?
- Thread starter MrC
- Start date
I would have the 3 bay self service washes. This way you avoid having any employees to deal with. Granted you have to make sure that the change machines and the vaccums are always working plus always ordering enough supplies and up keep of your location but it can be a 1 person job.
Probably the best information your friend could get would be from people that are presently in the business. They can usually tell you what systems work and what systems don't.
I used to deal with a company that had car washes and they swore by the Laser Wash. It controls the location of the nozzles in the drive-thru by laser. Another guy I know manages a Splash system that controls the drive-thru spray distance from the car by sonar. The DIY spray systems seem to be about the same anywhere I have been. Not too great. I think that if the soap is strong enough to do a good job, it's tough on wax.
One thing I have noticed at the DIY place I go. It seems to be a high maintenance business. Lots of things to take care of regularly and more repairs needed than you might think. Remember that many of the customers treat the equipment like it is disposable. In our area, even the DIY systems usually have an attendant to keep the damage/vandalism in control.
It won't be quite as simple/easy as the sales people make it sound. He will earn his money.
Sorry about the doom & gloom tone of the post, but it is the way I see the business. (Had a Laundromat, worked my fanny off and still went broke.)
Charles
I used to deal with a company that had car washes and they swore by the Laser Wash. It controls the location of the nozzles in the drive-thru by laser. Another guy I know manages a Splash system that controls the drive-thru spray distance from the car by sonar. The DIY spray systems seem to be about the same anywhere I have been. Not too great. I think that if the soap is strong enough to do a good job, it's tough on wax.
One thing I have noticed at the DIY place I go. It seems to be a high maintenance business. Lots of things to take care of regularly and more repairs needed than you might think. Remember that many of the customers treat the equipment like it is disposable. In our area, even the DIY systems usually have an attendant to keep the damage/vandalism in control.
It won't be quite as simple/easy as the sales people make it sound. He will earn his money.
Sorry about the doom & gloom tone of the post, but it is the way I see the business. (Had a Laundromat, worked my fanny off and still went broke.)
Charles
Thanks for the input. When we read the percentage of businesses failing within the 1st year and after 5 yrs it really put things to a halt. We did some research and found that there is a demand in a developing town. We're leaning more towards a full service machine carwash with a possible hand wash bay. We thought about the touchless washes but they just don't clean your car. Possibly an add on once the business becomes profitable.
hpracing007
New member
If you have self service, have a sink that is deep enough to fill a bucket would help.
00GREENMACHINE
New member
mu uncle has a 3 bay car wash and 6 vaccums and 1 air freashner machine. He has 1 drink machine, and 6 little vending machine for armour-all, towels, etc. He does pretty well.
IMO I would do atleast 1 touchless car wash. Because you will always have plenty of people out there esp in the winter that don't want to wash there car and will pay 5-7 bucks to get it washed.
*** this is very important if he can afford it tell him to get a water heater. My uncle looked at one and it was around 1,000-2,000 bucks. People avtuall notice that. It does a awesome job in the automatic car wash. If my car is not really dirty I can go to my uncles car wash that does not have hot water and spray my car off and it will still be dirty, but if i go down the road and use the hot car wash ( self service bay) I can spray the car off and it will look way better.
IMO I would do atleast 1 touchless car wash. Because you will always have plenty of people out there esp in the winter that don't want to wash there car and will pay 5-7 bucks to get it washed.
*** this is very important if he can afford it tell him to get a water heater. My uncle looked at one and it was around 1,000-2,000 bucks. People avtuall notice that. It does a awesome job in the automatic car wash. If my car is not really dirty I can go to my uncles car wash that does not have hot water and spray my car off and it will still be dirty, but if i go down the road and use the hot car wash ( self service bay) I can spray the car off and it will look way better.