Best equipment to add to my Wash?

[waterway]

I was looking at purchasing some new equipment for my wash so I made a list of items that are in my price range for adding. The first was a Matt Cleaner from J-ko, next was changing 2 of my 4 self-serve bay coin boxes to new Etowah Valley boxes with bill acceptors (currently I have some old Dilling Harris Coin acceptor boxes from 1989 their kinda ruff but still work), and finally replacing one of my two entry systems with a new Unitec Wash Select II and financing the additional $3000 more it would cost me to add this (currently I have two old Hamilton entry machines that have sporadic credit card problems and have horrible LED lighting and reading but they are hooked up to two new G-5's). So my question is what does everyone think would be the best to purchase in terms of return on investment and or increasing revenue for the wash? Thanks for the input in advance I am really having a hard time deciding and would really like to hear other people's thoughts and ideas.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

I think the coin boxes would give you the best ROI. Because of the acceptors and CC's
Next I really like the WS2 . The voice is a good option,and the camera is good for security as an option.
I like the mat cleaner , but not thrilled about customers using them and the things they would put in them. I probably wouldn't add them to my wash if free.
But each area is different. Remember it's just my opinion.
john

 

[waterway]

JKO offers a matt cleaner with a coin and dollar bill acceptor. It gives the customer a three minute count down. If I can do 25% of what my vacuums do my ROI would be about a year. I really am impressed with the machine I went to their factory and looked at it and it was very impressive. I really want it but I think you may be right. At one of our locations we had a 20% increase by adding bill acceptors to our bays. But that was in a better economy. Thanks for the input.

 

[pitzerwm]

When I was offered a trip to the factory, I declined, because I figured everything would work right at the factory. I was more interested in talking with an operator that has had it for a year or so. That is where you are going to find out the truth if you are ever going to get it.

A question that I ask people in hopes of getting the truth, is this: "If you were going to buy another piece of equipment like this would you buy the same thing"? What I am really looking at is how long does it take for him to say yes or no. Especially the yes, the longer that it takes, the more likely that he doesn't really like the equipment or service.

 

[ted mcmeekin]

We replaced our LED display on an old Hamilton and I was amazed at the improvement--the old was washed out with sun exposure but also the new display was much better than the original.

Ted

 

[Randy]

Ted that’s a good point. On the ACW4/5’s there is a UV filter on the back of the door in front of the display. This UV filter protects the display from the strong UV rays of the sun from degrading the florescent display. Over time the UV filter will get dark brown or black making the display hard to see. Most operators remove the darkened UV filter and don’t replace it, this is bad move it allows the UV rays of the sun to quickly degrade the display, making it even harder to see. The only thing you can do then is replace the display part #49-0500 $232.61 the UV filter is part #63-0426 $1.77. The ACW4/5 has a VFD type display and the Goldline has a LED display that doesn’t require a UV filter. I’ve also seen a lot of face panels that are clouded or scratched to the point that the display is hard to see, these are easily replaced.

 

[captain cw]

My automatics make the most money for me. So if it were me, I would upgrade the paystations. You might want to look at the Standard Changer GXP units. Cheaper than Unitec and allow you to program special discounts and give free vacuum codes. Nice looking units.

 

[Earl Weiss]

You mentioned changing 2 boxes to have bill acceptors. Don't know the expected cost or if you plan to ad credit cards as well.

You may be able to have your cake and eat it too. I simply added seperate Etowah Valley Bill acceptor boxes next to existing coin boxes. About $650.00 for the box and acceptor. Also installed heaters and thermostats from KR.

Very Pleased . Acceptance of Bills is currently tly about 1/3 in the bays and 2/3 in the changers, but it is realy more for the bays since there is a walk off factor of about 20% for the changers.

 

[Bill Manke]

I have the new GXP paystations from standard. They are very nice machines. I like that you select a wash and pay and your done. My paystations have 8 wash selections because our automatics are hybrids, Soft touch and Touchless. I also looked at ICS and Wash select II, finally chose the GXP's love them.

 

[waterway]

You mentioned changing 2 boxes to have bill acceptors. Don't know the expected cost or if you plan to ad credit cards as well.

You may be able to have your cake and eat it too. I simply added seperate Etowah Valley Bill acceptor boxes next to existing coin boxes. About $650.00 for the box and acceptor. Also installed heaters and thermostats from KR.

Very Pleased . Acceptance of Bills is currently tly about 1/3 in the bays and 2/3 in the changers, but it is realy more for the bays since there is a walk off factor of about 20% for the changers.

When you say a 20% walk off factor for the changers. What exactly do you mean? Also I am hesitant to add credit cards to my self-serve bays because of the transactions fees. With my automatics I average about 43 cents in fee's per a transaction and I just don't see how you can not lose money while charging $2 for 4 minutes. Just curious how it affects your business for people who have credit cards in your self-serve bays.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I would guess that he means that 20% of the change that is dispensed from the changers isn't spent at the wash, but leaves with the customer.

 

[MEP001]

Also I am hesitant to add credit cards to my self-serve bays because of the transactions fees. With my automatics I average about 43 cents in fee's per a transaction and I just don't see how you can not lose money while charging $2 for 4 minutes. Just curious how it affects your business for people who have credit cards in your self-serve bays.

First off, that's too high on the fees. You should be able to find someone much lower.

Second, the biggest benefit IMO with adding credit card acceptance to self-serve bays is when you run count-up mode. That lets the customer wash as long as they like without worrying about adding more money, and they tend to wash longer and spend more. Our customers spend about 20% more using CC vs. cash.

 

[Earl Weiss]

When you say a 20% walk off factor for the changers. What exactly do you mean? .

Example: Guy puts a $5.00 Billl in the changer but only spends $4.00 worth of quarters at the wash. That is just an example. Many spend 100% of the quarters they get from the Changer. Some spend extra quarters they bring, and some just get change and spend zero. Net result seems to be that I need to bring in 20% of amount of Billls in the changers to supplement quarters from vaults, vacs and vendors to keep changers at same level.

 

[MudMoney]

I have a rug beater by dralco at my ss and the pay back is going to take 18.5 years. I am constantly showing customers how to use it.Those that use it like it .I had a j-ko and sent it back. Reason was that when machine ran out of time the mat was stuck until more money was deposited.What happens if they ran out of money? They get really p-oed. good luck