Dealer touchless

[Roadglider]

Greetings!
I am from Northern Mi. and own a high production collision center. With wages and our work force off the charts to have someone dedicated
to washing our volume of units is becoming beyond challenging. My wife and i have been coming to Lake Havasu in the winters and have a favorite
carwash that i use that uses a Water Wizzard 2.0. They have a brush system along with self serves and rock out an amazing volume of units. Well managedand there is always someone there to watching over things.
The light came on and i am considering some sort of unit in a more private practice that would do the same kind of quality wash. Our units all get washed before repairs and of course the washing after repairs would have to be a tender wash with a no touch system with the freshness of a recent repair in mind.
Does anyone out there know of an application or system that has been installed that could give me some good question talking points?

 

[MEP001]

What's your budget?

 

[Roadglider]

What a loaded question. I suppose the budget is irrelevant if the program can fit the need and The ability to eliminate certain Human Resources. I am unsure what kind of improvements will be needed as far as facility alterations Ect. Ect. 80k.. 100k.. 130k..??

 

[MEP001]

What a loaded question. I suppose the budget is irrelevant if the program can fit the need and The ability to eliminate certain Human Resources. I am unsure what kind of improvements will be needed as far as facility alterations Ect. Ect. 80k.. 100k.. 130k..??

It wasn't a loaded question, it was a place to start.

How many people are you looking to eliminate from the workforce, and what is their annual salary?

How many cars per day are you looking to clean?

Are looking for a low budget alternative to a real unit like the Water Wizard 2.0 or are you prepared to sink $200k or more into this project?

Have you considered contracting with an existing nearby car wash, or maybe a detailer?

 

[Waxman]

Lots of people think having their own private carwash is a good idea until they see the costs involved. It's not that just the equipment will cost a lot. It's the plumbing and wiring and installation that add up.

 

[Roadglider]

It wasn't a loaded question, it was a place to start.

How many people are you looking to eliminate from the workforce, and what is their annual salary?

How many cars per day are you looking to clean?

Are looking for a low budget alternative to a real unit like the Water Wizard 2.0 or are you prepared to sink $200k or more into this project?

Have you considered contracting with an existing nearby car wash, or maybe a detailer?

 

[Roadglider]

Fair enough.. and a better question.
200k.. no
An alternative unit that can handle a job in LKQ fashion? yes
HR is a 35k per year for us with rising wage bases
Biggest concern being in N. Mich and the winters. It must be inside and even with a shop with a 20k sq ft footprint stall space is at a premium.
I have a 18’x30’ spot that I was hoping would work but that seems like it would be inefficient to me.

 

[washnshine]

Greetings!
Our units all get washed before repairs and of course the washing after repairs would have to be a tender wash with a no touch system with the freshness of a recent repair in mind.

Any collision center I have ever heard of or visited has explicitly said “no washing for 30 days - except a gentle solution and hand wash” and that is for fresh paint. You seem to want a touchless wash, but spraying uncured paint with a high pH and/or low pH chemical , followed by 1200psi of water might not be the best thing. I’m not a specialist on auto body repair and painting , but you are - would you really advise that on fresh, uncured paint - it is not what I would consider a “tender” process. Those Water Wizards and many touchless washes actually pack quite a punch on the paint - they have to in order to clean.

 

[Roadglider]

Any collision center I have ever heard of or visited has explicitly said “no washing for 30 days - except a gentle solution and hand wash” and that is for fresh paint. You seem to want a touchless wash, but spraying uncured paint with a high pH and/or low pH chemical , followed by 1200psi of water might not be the best thing. I’m not a specialist on auto body repair and painting , but you are - would you really advise that on fresh, uncured paint - it is not what I would consider a “tender” process. Those Water Wizards and many touchless washes actually pack quite a punch on the paint - they have to in order to clean.

 

[Roadglider]

We have a professional Kartcher that is set at 1600 and we wash 60 plus finished units a week average. Your caution is well taken but with todays paint products (we spray PPG water base) and @ 180degree cures we are assembling finished products within 3 hours.. I know.. hard to believe but all within spec.

 

[washnshine]

Any collision center I have ever heard of or visited has explicitly said “no washing for 30 days - except a gentle solution and hand wash” and that is for fresh paint. You seem to want a touchless wash, but spraying uncured paint with a high pH and/or low pH chemical , followed by 1200psi of water might not be the best thing. I’m not a specialist on auto body repair and painting , but you are - would you really advise that on fresh, uncured paint - it is not what I would consider a “tender” process. Those Water Wizards and many touchless washes actually pack quite a punch on the paint - they have to in order to clean.

We have a professional Kartcher that is set at 1600 and we wash 60 plus finished units a week average. Your caution is well taken but with todays paint products (we spray PPG water base) and @ 180degree cures we are assembling finished products within 3 hours.. I know.. hard to believe but all within spec.

like I said - you are the specialist!

 

[Greg Pack]

I own both the water wizards and cloth units. The water wizard does a great job, I'll put it up against any touch free but I'm afraid the touch free method won't consistently clean the wide variety of cars that you'll see. Touch free doesn't do a great job on cars that aren't washed frequently and could leave road film. A friction wash would do a much better job at providing a consistently clean surface. Istobal makes a unit designed for fleet and auto dealerships called the M-1. If you google "istobal and lamborghini" you'll see pictures of what I've been told a machine at the Lamborghini factory. I would use it on just about any car, even with light damage.

The best of both worlds would be whats referred to as a combination unit or hybrid unit that offer both touch free and soft cloth options. I would reserve touch free for post washing or heavily damaged pre-washing (but still with cleaning concerns). Use soft cloth for light damage pre-washing. I think with a little experimentation/experience you'll find you rely on the brushes more than you would the touch free and may even find a brush was preferred for post washing. All machines generally have several packages/recipes that you could set up. If properly configured the pre wash could use a stronger cleaning solution and the post wash could be almost just a good rinse and dry with no strong detergents.