Disappointed in PDQ
- Thread starter Scrub Free
- Start date
I looked in to purchasing a used laserwash a few years back. I called PDQ to get a manual to get an idea of what I was in for as far as install. There were totally unwilling to give me any information at all. I ended up purchasing a new washworld razor instead. I wasn't impressed with all the proprietary parts. With washworld I can buy all the PLC parts and controls from anyone including ebay.
Ric
Cantree Member
Agree. I own a WashWorld and a PDQ.
It will be interesting to see where this thread goes. Since PDQ was acquired by Dover it's all about the numbers/bottom line in my opinion. Those numbers for them are coming from the petroleum industry. The gas station "carwash operators" don't compare to us here on the carwash forum. For them a machine gets installed and if it malfunctions a call is put in to the distributor/installer and a service call is made to make the repair. Pretty good business model actually for the manufacturer/installer. But if your one "us" you want to prevent this from happening again because that downtime costs money and if you damaged a vehicle it not only costs money but also goodwill towards your business (the gas station doesn't care). So we "carwash operators" monitor our incidents via reading error codes, observing video, listening to customer feedback, etc. We then relay this feedback to the manufacture in an effort to work with them to make improvements. From my 33 years of owning/operating carwashes I have found that they don't all respond in the same manner.
Waxman
Super Moderator
As has been pointed out by several posters PDQ's original business model was geared almost exclusively to C-stores/multiple site owners. As that business began to slow down to almost a trickle nowadays along with the renewed efforts of Ryko to compete for what that type of business is left, PDQ has not done a very good job to adapt to the new realities of automatic ownership. Subsequently they have lost a lot of that business and some distributors and have not made any real attempt to become more user-friendly to individual operators. Dover has been trying to sell PDQ for some time now but its value is on the decline due to the new realities of the automatic sector. Hopefully if they are successful in selling the new ownership will make the changes necessary to become a competitive option for operators.
Ric
Cantree Member
That has been my experience with them as well.
It was a different company when Red Lewis still owned it. Yes they sold a lot to C-stores and multi sites but even though individual sales were not a large part of the business Red always made sure they were taken care of. Things changed a lot when Dover bought the company. As you may know several PDQ employees started Washworld. They catered to the small operator and have done very well with that approach especially with the way PDQ changed. Hopefully if Dover manages to sell it is to a car wash guy that will work with those that have their equipment.
From what I have heard the asking price is out of line. I know one major full service manufacturer took a look at it and decided it wasn't worth the price. I would think that Washworld would only be interested at a much more reasonable price and it could create a lot of problems with their distributor network where there is a distributor for each in the same area. Coleman had a problem with that when they bought Hanna and it cost them some good distributors. Unless Dover comes down on the price which might make it attractive to another car wash company I would have to guess that an investment group would be the best bet as far as a buyer goes like what happened with Ryko but investor groups do not pay top dollar for a company unless there is a good profit to be had. The group that bought Mark VII took a pretty good beating on the deal when they sold it. While the PDQ's manufacturing facility is relatively new, sales have really taken a beating over the last decade with the decline of c-store/multi site market.
