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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:04:38 AM EDT
[#1]
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:08:02 AM EDT
[#2]
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:09:38 AM EDT
[#3]
Had a long conversation with an Indian fella on a flight last year.
He was a grad of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology- their backup schools when they get accepted are Harvard, Yale, etc.) Came here and was an exec at a big co. Now owns three car washes in my area with his son. They’re all the single lane drive thru type with attendants. When told me what the margins were I was floored. Like 40+ %. His son talked him into the subscription model and it was working like a charm. That’s all,I know about car washes. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:13:27 AM EDT
[#4]
I know touchless suck!!!
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:15:04 AM EDT
[#5]
My great uncle made a TON of money in them back in the 60's. I ran both of ours through a car wash this week. People like a clean car.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:20:11 AM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My great uncle made a TON of money in them back in the 60's. I ran both of ours through a car wash this week.People like a clean car. This, winter is when I think you’d see the most profit, if you don’t freeze up. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:46:19 AM EDT
[#7]
Find out what kind of Car Wash equipment they install at the Buccee's in Houston Texas or the big son of a bitch at their store in Katy Texas and get it. That drive thru cleans a vehicle like no other I've ever gone through.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:47:44 AM EDT
[#8]
I can't believe the touchless models make any money. They're pretty universally shitty. All the ones I've seen seldom have any traffic.
But, you do you. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:04:51 AM EDT
[#9]
There’s several car wash places here, all have busy self service bays and a two bay drive thru with both touch less and regular car wash. There’s a line for the regular, not so much for the touch less. They just don’t get anything clean.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:08:11 AM EDT
[#10]
whatever you do please dont use bristle brooms to scrub down the cars exterior
my local car wash does this, and i will never go back to them |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:09:09 AM EDT
[#11]
Your doing it wrong on the no self serve bays.
They are what makes the money, no one to pay, makes money 24 hours a day. The drive thrus are pricey to build as the equipment is very propitiatory and they will try to get you to use only their chems. Plus these days you need grease and oil traps for the enviro weanies, esp on septic, and you will want it esp on septic. The drive thru style, actually the drag thru style are pricey to insure, due to idiots not putting their cars in neutral. I used to do a lot of work for a large car wash owner, at least once a year he would get 10 to 15 k of damage from an idiot, it was cheaper to pay out of pocket to fix it then have ins for that. He started only building self serves, and closing the drive thrus as they needed major work. Yes he made lots of money on drive thrus but he said it was not worth the head ache. One of his drive thrus is located about 10 mins from the county lockup, 90% of the people who work there are on work release. I could tell you how he got "fudged" the numbers for income vs real income for tax purposes. And it worked as everytime he was audited he got away with it. Dont even think about trying that, as they look at power and water use and know what you should make. Thats why he got audited every year, but the slim 5% or so he skimmed was so low he could do it. He never got greedy enough to be provable. But that 5% or so was probably 100k combined from all his car washes. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:38:56 AM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Your doing it wrong on the no self serve bays. They are what makes the money, no one to pay, makes money 24 hours a day. The drive thrus are pricey to build as the equipment is very propitiatory and they will try to get you to use only their chems. Plus these days you need grease and oil traps for the enviro weanies, esp on septic, and you will want it esp on septic. The drive thru style, actually the drag thru style are pricey to insure, due to idiots not putting their cars in neutral. I used to do a lot of work for a large car wash owner, at least once a year he would get 10 to 15 k of damage from an idiot, it was cheaper to pay out of pocket to fix it then have ins for that. He started only building self serves, and closing the drive thrus as they needed major work. Yes he made lots of money on drive thrus but he said it was not worth the head ache. One of his drive thrus is located about 10 mins from the county lockup, 90% of the people who work there are on work release. I could tell you how he got "fudged" the numbers for income vs real income for tax purposes. And it worked as everytime he was audited he got away with it. Dont even think about trying that, as they look at power and water use and know what you should make. Thats why he got audited every year, but the slim 5% or so he skimmed was so low he could do it. He never got greedy enough to be provable. But that 5% or so was probably 100k combined from all his car washes. Totally depends on the area. My family used to run a self-service car wash facility and the amount of jackasses who would use it to dump debris out of their vehicle (concrete, dirt, etc.) causing damage was astronomical. Even with a gazillion cameras and signs and clear license plates captured on camera it was hard to recoup the damage. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:51:04 AM EDT
[#13]
Right about the same time I started my business I had an opportunity to buy a carwash that was under construction but being liquidated by the bankruptcy court. I couldn't swing it at the time but let a friend know about it, he bought it cheap and got it operational. He kept it for about 20 years, said it was an absolute cash cow. It was/is a standard self service with about 10 bays, it is busy every time I drive by there - especially on the weekends.
There is a member here in the business, carwashguy or something like that |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 1:37:02 PM EDT
[#14]
If the area around my office wasn't inundated with them I'd build one in a heartbeat! If they're located correctly they just make money. Skip on the touchless, they suck and hardly anyone ever uses them. Yes, the initial investment for the drag thru wash is much more, but it will make money 3 to 1 over the touch free.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 1:42:29 PM EDT
[#15]
Watch yer hose, Bro.
 
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:29:11 PM EDT
[#16]
The self service ones around here get a ton of offroaders the hose off their mud and weeds and degrease the small block Chevy in the back
Then the mud freezes and the drains are plugged. That's why I said no self service. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 4:51:25 PM EDT
[#17]
Had a buddy years back that cleaned out the outhouse pit on his property. Shoveled it into 5-gallon buckets and loaded them up in his truck. Went to the town car wash, unloaded the buckets, washed down the truck, drove off.
If you have a buddy to run overwatch when you collect the money, put one in a ghetto area. Money printer. Around here a nice day during the winter and they are all jam-packed. Even the drive thru ones will have lines down the street. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:13:13 PM EDT
[#18]
There's a drag-through in CDA called The Metro that has an absolute license to print money. The place is always crowded. Big lot next to the wash with free vacuums and floor mat cleaners. One of the kids working there told me they take about 50 pounds of sand and dirt a day out of the traps.
If I was going to do a franchise it would be this one. Their daily haul must be staggering. Metro, CDA |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:17:11 PM EDT
[#19]
Quoted: Considering building a car wash. I already own the land Busy road, 400' frontage, 7 acres with sewer and water I'd want touch less only. No self service bays Any brands of equipment to stay away from? Any web sources to learn more ? I can calculate the building and land improvement prices but no clue on cost per bay for the wash equipment What's the traffic count and amount of rooftops in a 3-5 mile radius? ETA: Touchless.....There's Petit 360 and there is everyone else way far behind. You're looking at about $300K for the machine, dryers and teller. Maybe consider WashWorld. There are a few Facebook Pages as well as carwashforum \ |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:22:33 PM EDT
[#20]
My buddy works for these guys, they are legit. not sure if they build in CT though.
http://autowashservices.com/ |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:43:18 PM EDT
[#21]
I’ve financed about a dozen washes new and dozens of refurb, equipment loans.
Lately washworld Lazer wash is what my guy is using but he has used others over the years. A basic but nice freestanding touchless will run about $1 million turn key. Midwest $$ Tunnel wash about $1.5-2 million. The rocket wash types are around $3+million. Lots of SBA 504 loans done for new ones. Depending on use, the equipment lasts 7-10 years with good maintenance. Self serve bays are quite a bit less, you go through a lot of hoses and wands. All said about stuff getting dumped in them is true. Part of the business. He runs stand alone and also partners with some regional gas stations. Also pushing for credit/debit card and app payment methods. Less hassle, average spent increases about 20% and no safety issues. Yes he has been robbed once. He didn’t really start making a real living until he had 6 so he could become a distributor and decrease his costs. Also economies of scale started working at that point. Up til then he made money but also had to work. He had 3 then bought another 6 and sold off 3 low performers. Started to be able to live off the washes. Over the years he probably has owned 30, but would buy a group and then keep the best performers and sell off the ones that just broke even or worse. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:45:54 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryHoly shit. 
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:49:52 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I’ve financed about a dozen washes new and dozens of refurb, equipment loans. Lately washworld Lazer wash is what my guy is using but he has used others over the years. A basic but nice freestanding touchless will run about $1 million turn key. Midwest $$ Tunnel wash about $1.5-2 million. The rocket wash types are around $3 million. Lots of SBA 504 loans done for new ones. Depending on use, the equipment lasts 7-10 years with good maintenance. Self serve bays are quite a bit less, you go through a lot of hoses and wands. All said about stuff getting dumped in them is true. Part of the business. He runs stand alone and also partners with some regional gas stations. Also pushing for credit/debit card and app payment methods. Less hassle, average spent hours but about 20% and no safety issues. Yes he has been robbed once. Are you talking mini tunnels (80' or less) or In Bay expresses? Tunnels are costing $3-5mil+. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 6:46:24 PM EDT
[#24]
The local car wash I use has 2 automated touchless, pull in, stop, the garage door closes and the sprayer moves around your vehicle. It used to have one touch and one touchless but they removed the touch as I assume the maintenance was high. It also has a few self serve bays.
I like the touchless after a snow storm to wash off the road salt and use the self serve to blast off the bugs in the summer. They do have a subscription for the touchless and recently added a credit card reader at the self serve. The car wash needs to be clean, modern, self serve and have card readers for me to use it. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 6:49:08 PM EDT
[#25]
What's your competition look like?
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Posted: 1/22/2021 8:00:39 PM EDT
[#26]
This country is full of idiots who who actually pay to have spinning plastic brushes destroy their vehicles and make them actually look worse.
1. If you're unfortunate enough to live in a filthy gray snow/ice and corroding salt infested area: A) You have a driveway: invest in a quality ELECTRIC pressure washer. If you can hook the intake to a hot water source, even better. Normal hand wash in non-freezing months. B) You unfortunately live in a sardine can mass housing structure: an enclosed well lit wash bay with heated pressure washer would be a great option. Just spraying water. Caustic and protectant stripping soaps used by car wash facilities cause paint and plastic degradation. Ability to bring your own buckets and wash mit a plus in the non-freezing months. 2. If you live in an area that people travel to escape from area #1, the same applies except the wash bay in option B need not be enclosed or water heated. Insert fans instead. 3. If you're lazy or inept, do option #1 (water spray only) in-between paying a skilled person to hand-wash your vehicle. Much less expensive in the long run by preventing needed paint correction, repaint, and decreased overall value. |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:18:57 AM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I’ve financed about a dozen washes new and dozens of refurb, equipment loans. Lately washworld Lazer wash is what my guy is using but he has used others over the years. A basic but nice freestanding touchless will run about $1 million turn key. Midwest $$ Tunnel wash about $1.5-2 million. The rocket wash types are around $3+million. Lots of SBA 504 loans done for new ones. Depending on use, the equipment lasts 7-10 years with good maintenance. Self serve bays are quite a bit less, you go through a lot of hoses and wands. All said about stuff getting dumped in them is true. Part of the business. He runs stand alone and also partners with some regional gas stations. Also pushing for credit/debit card and app payment methods. Less hassle, average spent increases about 20% and no safety issues. Yes he has been robbed once. He didn’t really start making a real living until he had 6 so he could become a distributor and decrease his costs. Also economies of scale started working at that point. Up til then he made money but also had to work. He had 3 then bought another 6 and sold off 3 low performers. Started to be able to live off the washes. Over the years he probably has owned 30, but would buy a group and then keep the best performers and sell off the ones that just broke even or worse. Are those prices including land, building, paving etc? |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:19:36 AM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's the traffic count and amount of rooftops in a 3-5 mile radius? ETA: Touchless.....There's Petit 360 and there is everyone else way far behind. You're looking at about $300K for the machine, dryers and teller. Maybe consider WashWorld. There are a few Facebook Pages as well as carwashforum \ Thanks |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:23:55 AM EDT
[#29]
the people that wash their cars frequently give a shit about them. people who give a shit about their cars don't use automated washes because it's never near as clean as doing it yourself either at home or in a bay.
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:24:31 AM EDT
[#30]
If it's unmanned it will be trashed
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:28:27 AM EDT
[#31]
What about self storage instead? That's another good option if you have land not doing anything.
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:32:35 AM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I know touchless suck!!! |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:34:08 AM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I can't believe the touchless models make any money. They're pretty universally shitty. All the ones I've seen seldom have any traffic. But, you do you. |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:36:46 AM EDT
[#34]
Well if you can get suckers like me to subscribe for $20 a month and use it once every other month you'll be filthy rich in no time.
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:39:22 AM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: If the area around my office wasn't inundated with them I'd build one in a heartbeat! If they're located correctly they just make money. Skip on the touchless, they suck and hardly anyone ever uses them. Yes, the initial investment for the drag thru wash is much more, but it will make money 3 to 1 over the touch free. Nothing is going to clean a car as good as a decent handwash and detail. If you value your paint, and are just looking for a quick clean, touchless is the better option. Even they can do some damage depending on how the water is filtered, and whether the blowers are kept clean of debris. LaserWash beats any generic system with brushes... |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:48:21 AM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: This country is full of idiots who who actually pay to have spinning plastic brushes destroy their vehicles and make them actually look worse. 1. If you're unfortunate enough to live in a filthy gray snow/ice and corroding salt infested area: A) You have a driveway: invest in a quality ELECTRIC pressure washer. If you can hook the intake to a hot water source, even better. Normal hand wash in non-freezing months. B) You unfortunately live in a sardine can mass housing structure: an enclosed well lit wash bay with heated pressure washer would be a great option. Just spraying water. Caustic and protectant stripping soaps used by car wash facilities cause paint and plastic degradation. Ability to bring your own buckets and wash mit a plus in the non-freezing months. 2. If you live in an area that people travel to escape from area #1, the same applies except the wash bay in option B need not be enclosed or water heated. Insert fans instead. 3. If you're lazy or inept, do option #1 (water spray only) in-between paying a skilled person to hand-wash your vehicle. Much less expensive in the long run by preventing needed paint correction, repaint, and decreased overall value. If I were approached by somebody and their business plan started with "I am going to cater to stupid and lazy people", I would probably listen closely because it is probably the start of a good plan |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:49:57 AM EDT
[#37]
Been 15 years, but I built one on existing property.
Short version of advice is to pass. Slightly longer version is to relay to you it will be much more work than you expect and with gas prices going up, your profits are going to go down. Maintenance is time consuming and expensive. Build a small storage complex with a couple of rental buildings with bay doors instead. You won't see the immediate income potential you would have with a wash, but once you get them leased it is much less of a headache. Edit: Just read you wanted web sources. There is a car wash based web community, but I can't remember the name. It was an invaluable resource. It shouldn't be hard to find. I relied on them heavily, especially for maintenance advice. I was able to fix a ton of stuff based on the helpful people there. |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:56:38 AM EDT
[#38]
There's a chain of drive throughs here, kids pressure wash the wheel wells, get bugs off the front and windshield, get the mud off the lower side of the car. You go through the wash, and then you can vacuum yourself for free.
They are ALWAYS busy it seems. 6 kids working full time maybe. |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 11:59:07 AM EDT
[#39]
Quoted: If it's unmanned it will be trashed The property that I own also has a garage on it that I rent. The tenant there will also keep an eye on the car wash and deal with any issues for a reduction in his rent Quoted: What about self storage instead? That's another good option if you have land not doing anything. I already have one (40,000 sq feet) in the same town 2 miles away from this property |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 5:59:32 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What about self storage instead? That's another good option if you have land not doing anything. University of Texas Car Wash Study: Hand Washing Harmful to your Car’s Finish |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 6:03:09 PM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryQuote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: What about self storage instead? That's another good option if you have land not doing anything. University of Texas Car Wash Study: Hand Washing Harmful to your Car's Finish  |
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