What would you do?

[Cool Wash]

Hello Experts,

I have a big decision to make and would love to have your thoughts on this issue. Here’s the situation:

I have 7 bay and 9 vaccuam SS wash. It is a very busy wash. I average monthly around $3000 per bay and $250 for each vacuum. I have an option to add a touch free automatic but I will lose 2 bays and 4 vacuums.
competition: 2 tunnels in 1 mile, couple of gas station brush/cloths. No touch free in 3 miles radius.
Traffic: 32,000. 4 lanes street (2 lanes each way) and a center lane to turn. 40 MPH.
Demographics: 16000 in 1 mile and 105000 in 3 miles.
Med HH income: 59k in 1 mile and 62k in 3 mile.

Does it make sense to invest in a touch free (and lose 2 bays and 4 vacuums) or keep as it is?

Thank you in advance for your comments.

Thanks

 

[Greg Pack]

The math would probably favor the conversion to the IBA.

However:
A SS only wash grossing 300K/year? I would get that site paid for and net 200K working a few hours a week. Life would be pretty sweet.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I agree with Greg...BUT
With that volume there will most likely be another wash coming to your neighborhood.
If you put in an IBA you won’t lose all those customers, they’ll wait for another bay or become your IBA customer at a higher ticket average and still use your vacs.
Plus you’ll gain new customers.
If you don’t put in an IBA someone else will.

 

[MC3033]

That is a tough one. Based on your SS numbers, demographics and traffic you can do pretty well with a touch free. That being said my biggest concern is that you would only have 1 unit!

personally I think I would opt for the lower stress and lower risk of keeping the current setup. No downtime or large investment. IMO the touch less customer is a bit closer to the tunnel customer then a SS customer is. The SS insulates better

 

[Kar B Kleen]

I would leave that alone. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. You have a customer base that prefers to manually wash their own vehicles.

 

[Waxman]

I guess it would depend on your age, the term of your loan, your personal goals and mechanical abilities and the capability / reliability of your staffing .

 

[Cool Wash]

THANK YOU all for your comments and insights. I am leaning toward keeping current set up. However, I would still love to hear thoughts from others.

 

[MEP001]

You can stand to make more from an auto bay, but given your current numbers I doubt it would be worth the headache. An IBA unit will be a lot more maintenance, a lot more upfront cost, and it's something you'll have to replace every so often. It would be much more profitable if you find a decent, reliable, used unit, but then you might turn your wash into a part-time job. I wouldn't do it, and I'm a 39-year experienced service tech. Mostly because I'm old and tired, and I wouldn't convert bays just to give someone else work. I can keep my 6-bay SS going forever by myself, but there's no way I'll be replacing an IBA gearbox or dryer motor when I'm 70, not the way my back is degenerating.

FWIW your costs will be much lower and therefore profits much higher if you go with a friction unit over a touch-free.

 

[AnalyticWash]

Do you have the space to queue cars if you put in an IBA? How many cars could queue at any given time? Will it impede any SS bays?

 

[soonermajic]

All that glitters is not always Gold.

 

[Cool Wash]

Yes, I had an architect drawing and it gives 3 cars stacking only after losing 2 SS bays.

 

[Waxman]

3 cars stacking is not enough at my wash.

 

[Roz]

Depends on your overall cost to install an IBA. The IBA (say a Razor) is about $120K, plus cost of dryers, then you might have electrical upgrade required, and construction to convert the 2 bays to an IBA plus a larger equipment room? See your total cost and then decide. IBA combined with your current SS volume could help you grow the biz to the next level. The work (maintenance) is not overwhelming. 3 car stacking is not much. See how the IBA stack might impact access to the SS bays.

 

[MEP001]

IMO you won't achieve max throughput if you can't stack at least six cars. In theory it works, but in practice you'll have a lot of idle time. If people can't get in line, they'll leave and wash somewhere else.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

The math would probably favor the conversion to the IBA.

However:
A SS only wash grossing 300K/year? I would get that site paid for and net 200K working a few hours a week. Life would be pretty sweet.

Exactly what I was thinking before I scrolled down to your comment.

 

[Cool Wash]

Thank you all again for your great insights. I have decided to keep current setting. I wil continue to focus on up-kipping and all equipment running. I am also taking Greg’s advice seriously to pay off my mortgage early instead of investing on an IBA.

 

[Carwashmafia]

I have a very busy 9 bay car wash I converted 2 of the bays 1 to an automatic and one to a dogwash best decision I have ever made I would definitely convert 2 bays into an Automatic. Carwashing is like a pie the more slices you can offer customers the more revenue you can generate an automatic will bring customers you would not normally get with just self-serve my Automatic generates about 40% of my revenue.