Any experience in buying a car wash?

Question

Does anyone have any experience in owning a car wash? I am under contract on a car wash and wondering if there are any potential pitfalls we should be aware of?

Any advice is much appreciated, blessings to everyone!

Dave Carpenter · Answer

Elmer, if your financing, a bank or SBA will require an environmental survey which should look into those types of issues. If it’s a wash now, and going to continue to be a wash, there’s less to worry about. If you plant to RE-zone to residential or something else you will want to make sure that the phase 1 environmental survey is clear.

I feel like there’s so many things to consider when looking to purchase an asset your not as familiar with.

A few big things I’d recommend you’re clear on are:

1. demand-how many people live in the nearby area? Typically washes draw from the surrounding 3-5 miles.
2. State of the building-is the building and land in good shape? (This will include the environmental stuff as well.)

3. Equipment-the quality of the equipment can make or break you. I’d the equipment has been well maintained it can work for a long time and provide a quality wash every time. If the equipment hasn’t been maintained, it will nickel and dime you constantly. Which leads me to maybe the biggest piece:

4. Chemical Supplier-figure out right now who the current chemical supply company is and who your rep will be. That person will be your best friend. Most chemical companies along with selling chemicals also offer service. Between those 2 things, you have the large majority of your car washing expenses. If the rep is good, he will be able to help you sort out the smaller problems either over the phone or in person. The company could (and maybe should) be servicing your equipment and will be an important partner. My chemical rep (who is great and been in the industry for decades) had certainly saved me thousand, maybe tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

With car washes there’s building maintenance, but also plumbing, electrical, mechanical, sometimes air systems. Not to mention learning a brand specific operating system for your sash. It’s hard to be a master of all of it.

If there’s enough business, and the equipment and building have been relatively well maintained, you may be in a good position to build on what’s been developed. If the support companies (chemical and service) are lousy, I’d recommend finding new support companies before buying.

I hope that helps a bit.

Dave Carpenter · Answer

@Elmer Glick

Congrats on the purchase! I’m glad to hear it’s cash flowing well.

We have laser wash 4000 systems with Hamilton kiosks. Our systems are from 2002 and are getting a bit long in the tooth. However there so easy to work on, and everyone I talk to says they are solid machines (in my head I think Honda Civic or Toyota Camry).

We have a subscription service through coinless mobile which allows people to pay from their phone. It’s not been marketed a ton at this point, but we are seeing steady sign ups. There’s a few other companies that offer similar services.

Elmer Glick · Answer

Hi Dave, we ended up going through with the car wash in the end of January. So far it has been cash flowing well. its definitely more time consuming than we expected though not as bad since we figured out the logistics of it. Our IBA is a Ryko SoftGloss XS that was installed in 2008. Its definitely on the old side and will need replaced in a few years but other than that it hasnt been to bad. Definitely a learning experience though.

I would love to know more about your experience in the industry , what type of IBA equipment do you have, do you offer monthly subscriptions, etc.

Elmer Glick · Answer

@Matthew Krickeberg

Matthew,

We ended up going forward with the car wash that we had been looking at. It’s been a great investment except one thing you should be aware of is that it is not a passive investment. You will deal with people and maintenance issues. But as far as an ROI it has been great.

Also we upgraded to a credit card readers on everything and have definitely seen an upgrade in amount per wash in the SS bays. We did not do subscriptions but I personally feel like that will vary largely on your individual market.

Hope this helps

Matthew Krickeberg · Answer

@Dave Carpenter

This is a great thread as I’m considering a carwash as an investment.

Do you find that the cashless/mobile pay upgrades are adding value from the customers POV? The unit I’m considering is a dated cash/coin operation and I’m wondering if that and other tweaks in service (subscriptions, etc) are a reliable way to increase profitability.

Elmer Glick · Answer

@Dave Carpenter

Awesome, thanks I will look into them though at this point I think we would have to replace our machine before we offer memberships.

Dave Carpenter · Answer

@Elmer Glick yup, there a somewhat young, but very smart and kind company. I met them at the car wash show a couple years ago and was impressed with the tech and their drive.

Elmer Glick · Answer

@Dave Carpenter

Oh I see you said Coinless Mobile:)

Elmer Glick · Answer

@Dave Carpenter

Is your subscription system through Everwash ?

Elmer Glick · Answer

We are using financing. Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely be aware of it and look into it.

Any experience in buying a car wash?

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