Yeah online.
Looking to get into the business
- Thread starter AJ519
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traveler17
Well-known member
That is so high !! That’s an express wash price. Place better be rollin some good numbers!!
MEP001
Well-known member
Yeah, because there's about a half million in equipment just in those two bays.
So having bays like that drastically increases income?
Waxman
Super Moderator
Wow you really need to do more research on the business! Questions like this illuminate the fact that you know very little. I appreciate you being on this form to learn more about the business but I think some independent research is necessary as well.
Well one of the first questions I asked was guidance on where to look. I spent many hours watching YouTube channels on the topic to have you guys tell me it’s all bullshit. Been googling it at work, but I have never worked outside of medical or military so it’s an entire new world for me.
I know all about that car wash. They want $299,000 for it https://www.crexi.com/properties/1105732/washington-18313-old-sumner-buckley-hwy It's on leased land. The person who was remodeling it passed away before it could be opened. It still needs about another $250,000 in work to get it open. There's been a lot of interest in it.
This last spring 2 really dump car washes were sold for $850,000 each. One is currently closed, don't know what's going on with that one, they did try to run it for a short while but it's closed now with concrete blocks in the driveway. The other one is fenced off and slowly being remodeled.
Update: I went for a ride this morning and drove by both of these car washes. The one with the concrete blocks in the driveway looks worse now than it did 2 months ago when it was open. It's sad because this car wash is only about 15 years old and at one time it looked nice. The other one that is fenced they started to remodel it, put new paneling on the walls and now it also looks pretty bad, trash everywhere, coin boxes & vacuums are gone, equipment room door is gone and 3 foot weeds growing out of the cracks in the lot. 4 years ago this car wash was one of the best income producers around.
This last spring 2 really dump car washes were sold for $850,000 each. One is currently closed, don't know what's going on with that one, they did try to run it for a short while but it's closed now with concrete blocks in the driveway. The other one is fenced off and slowly being remodeled.
Update: I went for a ride this morning and drove by both of these car washes. The one with the concrete blocks in the driveway looks worse now than it did 2 months ago when it was open. It's sad because this car wash is only about 15 years old and at one time it looked nice. The other one that is fenced they started to remodel it, put new paneling on the walls and now it also looks pretty bad, trash everywhere, coin boxes & vacuums are gone, equipment room door is gone and 3 foot weeds growing out of the cracks in the lot. 4 years ago this car wash was one of the best income producers around.
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Feels a little scary to own such an expensive facility on leased land.
traveler17
Well-known member
Do you own a wash ?
MEP001
Well-known member
I'm really not trying to be rude, but you wasted your time there. This forum is 99% experienced owners/operators with some vendors mixed in. You won't find better real-world advice anywhere else. Car Wash Chronicles and InvestmentJoy are mainly interested in building their channels. The former isn't too bad, he sees the value of finding a run-down wash in a good location and improving it, but he's more about slapping makeup on a pig than truly making a 20-year investment. He doesn't mention it much, but he doesn't own any of his washes. He's trying to get as much money as he can as quick as he can, including off his channel.
Yeah that’s why I’m asking you guys. Because I respect the knowledge that you have. I look online for advice but it’s like drinking out of a firehose, I’m just asking for good resources to start with. Books, websites, etc.
MEP001
Well-known member
I don't know of any publications that cover self-serves well, except maybe SS Car Wash News. You can read some back issues online or order copies. There are a lot of in-depth interviews with owners/operators along with regular articles and even discussions copied from this forum.
Pretty much anything you could think to ask has most likely been answered already here, and you can always ask. Someone will have the answer.
Pretty much anything you could think to ask has most likely been answered already here, and you can always ask. Someone will have the answer.
I’m mostly wanting to understand the ins and outs of how self serves function and how to fix common issues. I would like to work park time at a car wash, but my concern is I don’t know if owners would want to hire me because I feel like it’s pretty obvious I’m not going to be around that long, only long enough to learn what I want to learn. I could see them not wanting to bother with hiring for such a short period.
MEP001
Well-known member
I'd be one that would hire someone and be willing to teach them. I assume there are others that would do the same. I mentioned before that there's really not a lot of things that go wrong that are complicated. The basics you'll pick up being hands-on. Rebuilding a pump is pretty straightforward with the data sheet and service manual. An in-bay automatic will be a different story. In some cases you can get a service contract and never or rarely have to mess with it yourself.
I'll also say again that this might not be for you, given your hours at work and desire to make a profit. It's a lot of hard work, and it may take years to get it really successful.
I'll also say again that this might not be for you, given your hours at work and desire to make a profit. It's a lot of hard work, and it may take years to get it really successful.
You aren't in Houston by chance?
Question- what desire would cause someone to have a careash period other than profit? I mean don’t get me wrong, the car wash itself looks like it would be fun to manage but if not for money would anyone do it?
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