How many cars do you wash per month in your IBA?

[Andy]

For those of you with IBAs (Rollovers), on an average, how many cars do you wash per month? For those with multiple locations, select your best performing wash.

I?m sure results will vary based on location, traffic count, etc., but it might be neat to see what the average works out to be.

 

[bigleo48]

Andy,

Various carwash associations publish this sort of stuff. I would look the most local one you can find and get their info. The random and small input you would get here would be meaningless as there are to many variables.

BigLeo

 

[Andy]

Andy,

Various carwash associations publish this sort of stuff. I would look the most local one you can find and get their info. The random and small input you would get here would be meaningless as there are to many variables.

BigLeo

Can I find this online? Where can I find this data? Thanks.

 

[bigleo48]

Andy

Not to be a jerk, but I just googled 'Car Wash Associations" and within 2 seconds found every association known to man kind.
http://www.carwashloans.com/Car_Wash_Association_Links.html

From this list, find the one that best represents you and your area and contact them about your questions.

Gotta learn to help yourself dude.

Happy Hunting BigLeo

 

[Andy]

Google is my friend too. I’m already familiar with that page, but thank you. I was hoping to find the actual data, but thanks anyway.

 

[Waxman]

What you're asking is a very personal question that many operators keep close to the vest for several reasons.

Auto Laundry News is a magazine that publishes annual surveys just like what you are looking for. Remember, though, that surveys are just that; a small pool of data from those who respond as honestly as they choose to.

 

[soapy]

Maybe you could get Bill to do a poll on this. I think more people would be comfortable this way. From the surveys I have read they usally range from 10k to 24K per year with an average around 18,000 per year. Those figure were for the good years when the economy was booming.

 

[Jim Caudill]

In 2000 I did just under 10,000 washes with my Powerain IBA. In 2001 I did 12,000, 2002 it fell to 7,600, in 2003 it was down to 7,300, for 2004 the number was 5,600, 2005 was similar at 5,900, and for 2006 it had fallen to 4,100. I shutdown the automatic in the spring of 2007 after only doing about 900 washes for the winter. Years ago PC&D was listing the average at around 14,000 per year. I cited an article in PC&D that was looking at how many IBA's would not be replaced when they wore out. You can do an "advanced search" and look for posts under my name to find out more. It may have been under the old forum software, in which case you won't be able to access it. I'm not sure if all the old info is accessible or if it is lost to the ages.

 

[Waxman]

Wow! I can't imagine tearing out my auto. I love that thing!

 

[Jim Caudill]

I never said I tore it out, I shut it down. If it is ever economically feasible to operate it, I will start it back up. I may consider shutting down the self-serve bays in the winter and only operating the automatic. One "busy saturday afternoon" in the wintertime for the automatic will double my electric rate for the entire month, even if that is the only time the automatic runs. It only takes 1/2 hour of continuous automatic operation to set my electric "sky-high". Then each Halogen light goes from costing $15 per month to $30 per month. Same for everything else that uses electricity. After doing some careful data recording and analysis, I discovered that I was actually losing money by having one of those busy days that you seem to get a few times each winter. To try and express it simply, if you're going to have a "busy day" you better have a bunch of them - not just one or two per billing cycle. If it is going to be the only one, then you're better off not even having it open (just the IBA we're talking here).

 

[New Investor]

Andy i've been open about 6 week's with my inbay, and seemed to be washing about 45 to 55 car's per day. I'm hoping i can grow it to about 1500 per month from one Vector inbay.

 

[soapy]

Jim, you bring up a good point about electicity demand. Some operators who are running autos may want to do the following to lower their peak demand. If you have stand alone dryers you can probably set your auto up so that it won't start the next wash until the dry cycle is done. That way you don't have the large pump motor and 2 or 3 dryer motors running at the smae time. Your throughput will go down a little but it may save you in the lang run.

 

[Waxman]

Soapy

My distributor set my IBA up this way. The enter light only flashes green when the blowers have shut off.