Fragrance Station Only or Combo Fragrance/Vac/Shampoo

[Bandit]

Trying to decide:
1) Get a fragrance station only and mount it in my vacuum area with a nice wall marketing display to encourage use.
2) Get some type of fragrance station plus vacuum or shampoo unit.
3) Do customers mostly use just the Frangrance feature and not so much the shampoo feature ?

My observations visiting other carwashes - I have only seen the Frangrance Combo units out there - it seems the dry shampoo feature is not used much or non-functioning - are people using mostly for fragrance.

Any ideas advice appreciated. Thanks

 

[MEP001]

IMO the shampoo side gets neglected more by the wash owner, possibly because of abuse, whereas the fragrance tends to be almost maintenance free. Maybe it's because the fragrance units make so much more than the shampoo ones. Something about the shampoo units has the owners worry less when they aren't working right.

I like the multi-combo units, but if you plan to be completely unattended I might have to recommend against them. I'm constantly untangling the fragrance and shampoo hoses. Other than that, I wouldn't do it any other way. I see customers spend $10 at a time. Each unit makes close to $4,000 a year.

 

[soonermajic]

Agree with MEP

 

[Earl Weiss]

Combos seem to do better as far as extra sales compared to stand alone units . (I have both) I even have a fragrance machine I mounted directly to the side of the Shampoo n Vacuum. In fact i will do an experiment this year. It seems I need to replace the fragrance hose every 2 years. I don't know if the Fragrnce alone takes in $100 / year. If it's not taking in a lot more than that I will convert it to tire inflator. My shampoo combos work and take in more $ than the fragrance units for 2 reasons. The shampoo function is $3.00 vs $1.00 for fragrance and you really need to vacuum well before and after the shampoo. Last combos I bought have bill accepters. I think it was a $1000 upgrade for the acceptor and extra security bar and better locks. Wasn't sure if it was worth it. It was.

 

[MEP001]

I make the fragrance hoses by taking all the parts for a Fragramatics hose assembly except for the hose itself and pull the wire/tubing through a length of blue pressure washer hose, the kind that looks like it's wrapped with a layer of cloth. It lasts at least five years and costs a few dollars less for the parts than the assembly.