Hello everyone, I am new to the car wash industry and have been reading the forum threads for couple weeks now. I was not able to find help on deciding the equipment needed for car wash. I am looking to get the conveyor system (tunnel system) and have looked into Sonny's system. I was wondering what are good brands of car wash equipment are out there to consider. I live in Texas in a remote town and wanted to know what would work best for me in the long run... as far as dependability and parts ordering goes. Any help would be highly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Looking to buy new equipment... Need Help!
- Thread starter kalya
- Start date
Depending on where you are WET in Austin might be a good choice as a distributor. You are wise to also be considering the ability of the distributor as well as the brand of equipment. The major brands you should consider are Belanger, MacNeil, Peco, Motor City Wash Works and Coleman Hanna as well as Sonny's.
Thanks for the reply. Are there companies known with equipment which has user friendly troubleshooting? I have not head of the companies you have mentioned other than Sonny's. Maybe because I am just new to this. But could you please elaborate on what brand is widely used and known to be more reliable.
Washmee
Fullservice Tunnel
I would suggest you read every thread in this section of the forum before you make any decisions about entering the car wash business.
http://www.autocareforum.com/forumdisplay.php?48-I-want-to-build-buy-a-wash
http://www.autocareforum.com/forumdisplay.php?48-I-want-to-build-buy-a-wash
mcvee
New member
You may want to first consider your location selection before going any further. We use Steve Gaudreau (Brinks) as a consultant and could not have been more pleased. Never accept revenue projections from a carwash equipment manufacturer, hire an independent consultant who has your best interest as his only goal. The industry is full of underperforming washes because of bad locations. You can fix just about anything in this business except a bad location. I recommend Steve's book "So you want to own a carwash". You can read it in a weekend and if it keeps you from building on a bad site it is priceless. Building a conveyor wash on a piece of property because a) you already own it or b) because it was cheap are two of the worse reasons to build a carwash on that site. My son and I traveled all over the US studying carwashes before we built ours. We learned more from the bad ones than we did from the good ones. We will start on our second location in November. We used two different consultants separately on that site selection. Steve Gaudreau and Harvey Miller. When they both approved the site then we moved forward. We have Tommy's equipment in our present wash and will use it in our new wash. The stainless equipment is more expensive but it is easy to fix, has a simple design and cleans the vehicle very well. Look up tommycarwash.com
washnshine
Well-known member
All of these brands are widely used, and all have large distribution networks, therefore each can be found pretty much nationwide. There might be specific components or or pieces of equipment that wear better on one manufacturer than the other, but generally, a quality install, by a reputable distributor - one who has several installs of whatever brand you are looking at, will work well. Don't forget, the maintenance you and your staff provide to whatever machinery you buy is also essential for keeping it up and running without incident.
Please find several of these installations to visit and watch in person, talk to operators and distributors before you even consider purchasing anything. Also, please feel free to check back here on the forum and ask the many knowledgeable people questions. It has helped me.
