Advice

[zepher]

I have the opportunity to purchase a Car & Truck Wash in a town of about 2,500 people. The location is off of a highway that sees a lot of truck traffic. The wash was built somewhere around 2004 or so and was taken back from the bank due to the owner not being able to keep it. It was purchased in 2005 and has had the current owner since. There is a self serve bay for smaller vehicles, a Mark VII Automatic and a Truck/RV Wash Bay. Currently, the paint is falling off the building, weeds are growing, the concretes cracks have grass coming up through them, there’s poor lighting at night, etc. Along with all of that, the truck bay has been out of service for a couple of years now and there is also one of two vacuums that has been out of service for the same amount of time.

The Automatic still seems to work well, but the chemicals in both the Automatic and Self-Serve bay aren’t that strong (you can’t really seem them that well on vehicles). There currently isn’t any hot water being used either (everything is cold washed). The credit card acceptor on the automatic wash isn’t hooked up. There is an old Wash Card system on the facility but it’s not hooked up either. There is room for a detail shop or space that could be rented.

There is another 3 bay self-serve car wash located centrally in town which is currently higher priced. I guess my question is; would this be a good investment? I know the wash needs a paint job and the truck bay needs fixed. It would also be the only truck wash in the area. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[I.B. Washincars]

This wash is a loser, don't walk, run away...fast!!! A town of that size won't support two washes and the other wash has location and reputation on this one. Price means little, this wash has already proven that. Having the only truck bay in town is like having the only RV dump in town, neither will make you money and both will attract lots of $h!t. This is a bad wash in a bad location in an overbuilt town. It will never make money, end of story.

 

[zepher]

It's not even worth it for the right price?? lol

 

[DiamondWash]

Have any pictures you can post of it? and where is it does it have a name?

 

[zepher]

I don't really want to give out the current name of the business. If purchased, the name would be changed.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

Alot of the items you mention can be fixed fairly cheap, so what is considered cheap to buy. Lets look at what it will cost per month to own and what is possible with revenue. Also is part of the lot gravel road?(Clean cars don't like dust)The truck bay if you have soil like ours -a clay type gumbo--will test your mental stability and back muscles. Any idea of the car count past the location, and any idea what the competition in town has for car counts or revenue. Also the road its on, does that bring cars in and out of town.

 

[kentadel]

I think I would run from that one. It often is too difficult and costly to turn around a wash that the customer has turned away from, and hard to make an attractive and profitable business out of a very average looking sight. Keep looking, and you may find a quality wash with a good customer base and an owner ready to retire.

 

[zepher]

The average daily traffic count is probably around 2500 to 2700 with about 750 of that being heavy commercial traffic. Those figures were from 2010. This is the main highway that you have to travel on to get into town. The speed limit however is 65.
It is probably doing about 300 cars a month (very low I know). The owner only visits once weekly and is not local (which is what's hurting the business).

As far as the competitor in town, it’s a three bay self-serve with no foam brushes and doesn’t provide a very good wash at all. The competitor does however have fleet accounts with the county and some other businesses. The competitor doesn’t accept any credit cards or wash cards (only quarters). He’s usually fairly busy.

Yes, part of the lot is asphalt millings. That was one of the things that would be fixed. The millings don’t seem to kick up any dust when you leave the lot though.

We don’t have any clay type dirt in our state so washing vehicles is not as tough as it is in other states. As mentioned previously, this is the only automatic in the town. The town is full of older people who don’t like to get out and wash their vehicles.

If purchased, I would be painting it white and blue and adding some eye catching signage and banners and also getting the truck bay back up and running and definitely accepting credit cards and wash cards. The Automatic is pretty dated (I think anyway) but washes and dries car fairly decent. Current wash prices are $5, $6, $7 and $8. The self serve bay is set at $1.50 and offers 8 selections and also has a foam brush. I would also plan to be on site every day (m-f) and offer a Senior Discount in the middle of the week (maybe a couple dollars off each Automatic Wash) and also scrubbing their windshield and bumper down with Bug Remover prior to entry into the Automatic.

As far as cheap goes, very low $100k range. I’m not sure how much it would cost to paint and get the truck bay back up and running. I think a new paint job would bring wonders. When it first opened it was probably doing about 800 cars a month….just a guess….it was always busy and the owner was there almost every day and greeted customers, etc.

 

[Kevin James]

So the city and location is a big secret because someone is going to run down and buy out from under you, I don’t think you need to worry about that. How much do they want for this mystery carwash? It looks to me like it worth about 20% or 25% less than tax value.

 

[zepher]

I just don’t want to give out the City and State in case the current owner is on this site and comes across this, lol. I’m not worried about anyone buying it out from under me, lol. You say 20-25% less than the tax value that would put it at $75k to $85k. I know it looks horrible, lol. They didn't paint the metal right when they did it as it's falling off.

 

[briteauto]

This is one of those washes that if I drove by on a road trip, I'd say to myself: "I'm sure glad I don't own that!"

As someone else pointed out - gravel/dirt lots around a car wash - not a good scenario. Add to your cost of paint, fixing the truck wash bays, new signage, etc. - the cost of paving up to all of your concrete work. I would think that would cost more than you should even pay for the wash, considering the condition it is in. It may not even have any hot water plumbed in.

It looks very dated for being build within the last 6-7 years. Not only form a neglect standpoint, but also in its basic design and layout. It does not seem like it would be very inviting for a customer to use.

This wash is off a highway? Do people stop off a highway for a wash?

You said there were lots of trucks and you have a truck bay. If you can do only one at a time - that probably doesn't do much good and this could become a hang out.

One think I like about this forum as that we look out for each other - at least as best we can for never really meeting most people we post to. Weather it is advising a fellow washer to beware of a distributor, or maybe telling one of our online colleagues that it might not be a good idea to camp out in their equipment room over night with a gun, waiting for the return of the idiot who jacked their ACW.

We are looking out for you on this one - let it go!

 

[Greg Pack]

It's not even worth it for the right price?? lol

Sometimes "FREE" is not cheap enough. There are closed down washes in this town that had no debt service, they are owned free & clear. Yet the owner still shut them down.

You can relax a little about the location. When a wash first goes belly up, who is the first to notice? Answer:the other car wash operators in the area. They have already evaluated this wash and passed on it. Furthermore, I can assure you no experienced operator from Georgia or Texas wants to run up there and buy it out from under you.

I know some of these posts sounds harsh, but many of us have owned losers before, and believe it or not, we're trying to do you a favor in giving an honest evaluation. This is not some undiscovered gem . At the least it's going to take patience and hard work to get it to turn around, if that is possible. If you want a cheerleader, go talk to the people trying to sell it to you. I'm sure they will tell you what a great deal it is.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

FYI, that automatic is a model called the Merchandiser Plus. The GT series (2 HP pumps) came out in April of '02. That M+ was built earlier than that.

 

[rph9168]

Don't talk yourself into this one. It was and is a loser.

 

[zepher]

Wow, thanks everyone for your “professional” opinion. It’s funny how all of the Economic Developers around here think it’s a great idea. I don’t think anyone on this Forum said it was a good idea, haha. Everyone here would probably be the ones to know with your industry experience and all. I guess even if the price is right, it’s still a bad idea. I was just looking for something to get my foot into the car wash business and thought this would be a good start, I guess not. I will keep my eyes open for other washes (which are hard to find), lol. Heck if this thing was only making me $200 profit a month that would be fine with me, haha.

 

[MEP001]

Wow, thanks everyone for your “professional” opinion.

A "professional" by definition is someone who earns a living in their occupation. All the advice you've gotten here has come from professionals. You may get advice from a professional in another field (the Economic Developer you mentioned) who may be able to look up numbers and calculate that the wash in theory can be profitable, but he has no real-world experience in the car wash industry.

I've operated an old, run-down wash, and yes it's absolutely possible to turn something bad like what you're looking at into a nicely profitable business, but it will take years and lots of work. If you're green to the industry you won't be able to jump right in and fix everything, and your first service bill will eat up your hoped-for $200 a month profit and then some. The paint it needs now will need it again in a year.

If someone gave me this wash for free I still wouldn't do it.

 

[Washmee]

I just passed up the chance to buy a rundown 6 bay wash near my tunnel. It only sold for $56k at auction, which seems like a good deal. I knew better, that it would cost me many $$$ to get it up to par, so I could be OK with having my name on the front door. You say you would be happy making $200 a month, but I think that would grow old when you tallied up all the hours you would have to spend working there.

 

[zepher]

Yeah, I know the Economic Developer isn’t in this line of work so that’s why I came here for advice. I do have a family member who is a tech and works on car wash equipment. He said the equipment isn’t in too bad of shape but could use some minor adjustments. He too advised me to be leery of this location. Having him in the family would save me a little bit of money, lol. I got a quote today for painting all of the buildings and it was about $12k and then I’m looking at another $6k to get the Truck Bay back up and running and probably another $6k for the Credit Card system through Wash Gear. It’s getting to be pretty costly, lol. But on a lighter note, the garage portion could be used for my Sign & Printing business that I have, haha.

 

[seattleguy]

Wha tis the land worth by itself?

 

[zepher]

I just passed up the chance to buy a rundown 6 bay wash near my tunnel. It only sold for $56k at auction, which seems like a good deal.

Whoever purchased it....are they going to fix it up are tear it down for new development?