So I am thinking about the car wash business
 

since there is no more money in porn :winkwink: I am thinking of setting up a car wash business. I am completely new to this, so I can only guess...

are there people here who have experience in this field, or know certain facts that could help..

Are self service wash boxes good money makers, or should you go for full auto car wash systems?

Obviously the investment of a self service box is not so much.... a full auto car wash is big investment I guess... What kind of money are we talking about?

Please share your thoughts...

Thanks...

As long as you are not in a city or town, that has banned the use of water to wash cars!

My old business partner had gotten into them around 3 years ago or more and loves them. Prior to that, he was all about rental properties and had between 40-50. Most of them were single family homes, and an apartment building or two.

An opportunity came along to purchase a handful or car washes from a retired cop who had gotten in over his head and needed to sell out quickly. He picked them up for a song. In no time he was looking, and purchased, more of them. Even ones that were completely burned up or had bums sleeping in them the next town over.

He said that he wish he knew about them sooner, because the return compared to real estate was like night and day. Now he is basically trying to get his hands on as many as he can afford. The hardest part is keeping up with the cash, and finding people who will not rip you off he said.

@ Barefootsies

thanks for sharing... your business partner, is he operating simple self service boxes, or full automatic "roll over" systems... Or perhaps both?

Do you also happen to know which of these systems has the best ROI?

I think pimpdogg was active in that area at some point, he might have dropped some wisdom here or on a certain other adult board a few years back if you do a search.

But I could be mistaken, not sure.

you better be able to service them yourself cause they break often and repairs are costly, +a good lot in a high traffic area is gonna cost you a lot of $ +crooks are going to hookup your cash changer and tow it with a pickup

I can't speak to all of his car wash properties because I have not seen them all. He owns a number over in the next town, Battle Creek, which is 20-30 minutes away and I do not get over there a lot. Those I have seen, or know of, are all the self service type.

I do remember him saying this above many times over. His kitchen island having a ton of machines he was fixing and shit like that. He did most of the repairs himself, but did have some sort of handyman buddy help him from time to time.

He also had to install surveillance systems in all of them as he used to get people breaking into the machines, or jamming them up. He also had to keep on top of the bill scanner things as some had tried the shams his first year with fake dollars.

yeah I guess repairing a high tech massive machine can be a bitch if you are new to this, and are also on a (remote) Island like me... so getting a mechanic here will cost me double...

the more reason I think it would be better for me to think about "simple" self service boxes with not too much tech involved... and yes, I can imagine the cash changer is really attractive to thief's... I remember the boxes in Holland had a big sign saying "all boxes are empty at night!!! "

Like with anything you're not familiar with, there is a learning curve. This business has it's own unique problems, I would check it out 10 ways from centre, before investing a nickel:2 cents:

Have you considered hand wash, using low paid labour? Depends on what the market is like where you are but hand wash is the preferred method locally.

Low initial outlay with site fees, a handful of pressure washers and associated wash kit, portacabin etc.

well, that is exactly what they have here now, meaning if you want your car washed... you have to wait a few hours before it is ready...you cannot do it yourself... that is why I was thinking about self service boxes...where people can wash their cars quickly and you can be on their way within 10 minutes... You can still hire 1 or 2 employees who will wash your car for you if you pay a little extra in case you're too lazy to do it yourself...

Hand wash should take less than 10 mins generally. Waiting time before you get the wash started is very low. It operates like a drive through system.

The key is finding a prime site for it with lots of passing traffic.

i was also interested in these businesses would love to chat with someone about it.
i have seen kits you can buy online...basic construction, cinder blocks, and it all just plugs in

there is a car wash in my area that has the amenities of a luxury car dealership...& it always has big lines. Its a great angle given most car washes are shitholes.

http://danbury.patch.com/listings/westend-panache

Sadly there's not many that look like that here. We did have a cute little Estonian for a few months but she moved on to other things :)

yeah that pic shows that if there is something we have learned from adult

come up with a good idea... than add a little sex -> you have an even better idea ;-)

Yup that'S some clean advice :thumbsup

looks good and I can imagine the big lines... I can also imagine something like this requires a pretty big investment

I was in the detailing biz for a number of years. Managing Car Washes, Mobile Detailing and Auto Shows for dealerships all over the country.

There's a lot of maint. on the equipment.

You're getting labor from the lower end of the gene pool. So that brings the drama too.

The do it yourselfers are the way to go IMO. Less people to manage less headache.

Also the liability. The not so bright laborers easily scratch peoples car and what not.

My brother went into the car wash business about 12 years ago. He did the whole shabang with the conveyer belts and the cars going through, all the machines... all the people working for him to detail the cars after it went through the machine.

In 2005 Katrina said no thanks and totally destroyed it.

I think he was very relieved that it happened, it seemed like a TON of work and STRESS. machines breaking (lots of moving parts), hiring and firing high school kids (probably like 20 kids worked there at one time). People quitting... Yeah it made money, but not worth the stress if you ask me. I'd go for the self serve car washes any day. Thats what I use.

EDIT: and not to mention angry customers when something on their car is broken by the machine, or something is missing from inside their car.