Good Help?

[Elliott]

Hello,

I have just acquired a 4 bay SS in somewhat bad condition. WHOA! It was quite a wreck before a few days of cleaning and shoveling. Many days to go also! It has not operated for atleast 5 years and was built in the 80's by my father. He leased it out to someone who has let it die. With alot of hard work and patience I plan to rebuild this place to what it once was. A piece at a time I will get it done.

So lets get to the dirty stuff.
Two of the four motor/pumps have been "misplaced", most hose needs replacing, all ER rigid plumbing needs to be redone, new vac parts, coin acceptors look bad, Rowe changer needs update and cleaning of guts, wands, guns, air compressor, water heater, dang near everything, ect ect. Basically I am looking for some(one) to help me. I am thinking of calling a couple of Service Repair company's to come take a look as a few are within 1 1/2 hours of the wash. I plan to open two bays and work out from there.

This is located in Central California and the pumps are Cat with Lafert Motors Type 100 s4 ,4.8 horse power in a Futura stand. Besides that I am at a loss for what I have or need to replace or can just be rebuilt. I am a handy guy with basics, have many friends and access to most tools or equipment. So I figure it would be best at least to get some one out there to see what I have and what it will take to get it going. I am just scared to get "taken" since I am new and vulnurable. Thats why I figure I will get a couple quotes and go from there. Alot of the work I figure I can do myself I just need the kick start and initial setup to get some quarters on the way. I dont want to cut corners though and want a solid well running wash.

Does anyone know an HONEST service company in the Central California area? Anything would be great and I thank you very much for your time.

 

[Waxman]

Why don't you just find a carwash friend who has experience? Someone 4+ miles away might not consider you a competitor and may be willing to help you for a nice hourly wage.

Pay them for a couple days to help you determine what needs to be done. Then sub out the plumbing and wiring you cannot do and have your handy friends help with the rest. I bet you can order all you need on line or from catalogs (Kleen Rite, Sonny's, Dultmeier, etc).

I mean, you could go thru a distributor, but sometimes they aren't as handy or practical or looking out for your best interests as a veteran carwasher might be.

Just a thought.

 

[Elliott]

Thanks for the tip waxman. I do have someone I can talk to in a nearby town that owned a SS a couple years back so I will see what he says. He should have some great tips also.

 

[Elliott]

Ok a quick long update.....

I had a local company from Fresno come out to do an assessment of my run down SS property.The company specializes in Futura which is what is in my ER already from the 80's. The Futura flyer has Specialty Equipment Company on the bottom so I figure that these people are a distributor for them.

So I told them I want to use any existing equipment that may be repairable. That is when they explained that my system is pretty old and that I may encounter a lot of headaches trying to keep things running smooth. Of course their suggestion is to replace all equipment and keep the two pumps I have as backups or use to clean the whole facility. Hmmmm. Sounded great at first since they said I will have little problems with this new equipment and should be almost no problems.

Well I know better than that since I have read everyones experience here and its not just collect the quarters and hit the road. So here is my situation I live a little over an hour away from the wash so I want everything to work well and be as trouble free as possible. I will try to visit the wash everyday and when I cant someone will "check" on it for me. They are going to quote me a new 4 bay SS with a new LP system and 4 lids with multi coin bi-lingual. Population is 85% Hispanic hence the bi-lingual coin acceptors.

 

[Elliott]

Well heck do I need all new equipment to keep from hating myself and wasting my money on troubleshooting repairs on an outdated system? Should I bite the bullet and buy new equipment? Or just get up and running. I am in this for the long haul and want as few regrets as possible. The company will be giving me two quotes. One quote is them doing all the work, the other is a breakdown so if I do most of the install and they finish up and fine tune. The company seems really nice and helpful like most at first. The gentleman I spoke with was very personable, no pressure to buy, he didn't try to sell me on alot of stuff I dont need it seemed and was overall pleasant to talk with. He said keep it basic and go from there. I told him I would be over his shoulder during the install to learn and he encouraged that. Says he actually anwsers the phone and will walk you through most problems. They are 40 years in the biz and was smaller family operation I suppose. The do auto's and other cw equipment too.

I have another company coming out to give an assessment as I feel at least two quotes are appropriate for comparison. I feel I should try to get the two existing pumps and motors running and just buy a two bays HP system. But then I gotta figure out the LP. Do I replace it or fix it? Wow this is tough and dont want to make a bad decision.

Any price range I should expect for a new 4 bay SS with LP system. They claim I dont need hot water too. I think I will plumb for it just in case. My competition is a 2 bay SS that looks beat and had alteast 6 cars waiting to wash last weekend. Thank you anyone and everyone for your help. This site has really opened my eyes to the CW world and will help me throughout my experience.

 

[soapy]

IMO now is a great time to buy new equipment. I have seen prices running almost half of what they did 2 years ago. The car wash companies are very hungry right now. Try Kleenrite and Dultmeier sales for prices as well as the big guys. I would get all the bids you could in this tough market.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

I just rebuilt the low pressure (foam brush, tire cleaner, and presoak) at a 7 bay. Purchased the parts from mail order house and built it myself. I did not buy their pre-assempled low pressure systems. Totally rebuilt from the chemical pail to the manifold above the bay; hoses, tanks, flojets, multiplexer, and everything. I believe I spent less than $4000.

High pressere stands new should run $1500 each. Find them used a lot less.

If you are hands on you should be able to do it yourself for not a lot of money.

I vote get what you got running and see what kind of money starts coming in and then decide if you need new equipment.

Remember the distributor you called is in the business of selling equipment.

 

[Waxman]

I say if the equipment works, run it while you do some upgrades and buy equipment in stages.

Dultmeier had a bargain SS setup (pump stand, bay equipment complete) for $3k.

Things I have found key in SS; hot water, rich soaps waxs and foamy brush solution, spot free rinse, good pressure.

Customers will know if the psi is adequate but will not know if you have new pumps or strong, old or rebuilt models.

I'd focus more on providing a quality wash and then decide if the current equipment can accomplish that task.

The fact that you are 1 hour away may limit your ability to tweak the old systems as much as necessary but heck even new installs have glitches and bugs to work thru. Being 1 hour away is going to be tough at times so do not kid yourself. You will be making that drive unplanned more than you will like I guarantee you that! So go in eyes wide open.

 

[Earl Weiss]

FWIW, IMNSHO if you are planning on overssing day to day operations yourself a one way trip of over an hour is a deal killer.

 

[Louise]

A one hour drive one way. Wow. Okay, plan to install a good surveillance camera system that you can watch on your cell phone and from a home computer. Include one in the eq. room as well.

 

[Elliott]

Wow great response as I hoped! Thank you folks for all the input and help. I have been pricing a few different units to get familiar with them so when Im hit with a quote I will have a good idea of what it should cost. I think I will try to get the existing LP system and two pump/motors going then get a two pump setup. I would like to upload some pics of the place but the file is too big and I am not too savy with a computer.

 

[Kool Wash]

My 2 cents. Im a new operator (3mos) who lives 30 min away. If money permits to buy new, buy new. That will give you a few years (lets hope) to deal with all the other small little things that will go wrong with the other equipment. If you were a vet at this than that would be different, you would know everything about all the components and will have fixed them many times over in the past. Im learning everyday as it seems something small is not functioning properly on a daily basis.