Mark VII AquaJet GT500

[Mike_B]

All,

Newbie here! Currently in the process of evaluating how much it is going to take to get a closed car wash up and running (3 self-service bays & 1 IBA). One of the pieces of equipment is an AquaJet GT500.

I understand the piece of equipment is 20 years old. Long term strategy would be to replace it in 2-3 years.

One of my concerns is that the quality is comparable to newer IBA, if the servicing is done correctly. The last thing I would want is to spend money on servicing instead of just replacing it in the first place.

Any info would be helpful with cost, insights, to try to make an educated decision.

 

[Waxman]

The first logical step is to find a distributor for Mark seven or a qualified repair technician who can evaluate the machine and give you an estimated cost for repairs. Is a 20 year old Mark seven machine still factory supported? Are parts readily available? These are things to get you started. An upgrade of your automatic car wash will be $200,000 plus.

 

[Keno]

Where are you located? We did similar to a gto300 a few years back, there are positives and negatives to doing such a project. As waxman said, a new iba will run you north of $200k, so it's important to know if your site will be able to earn a decent roi on that type of investment

 

[OurTown]

All,

Newbie here! Currently in the process of evaluating how much it is going to take to get a closed car wash up and running (3 self-service bays & 1 IBA). One of the pieces of equipment is an AquaJet GT500.

I understand the piece of equipment is 20 years old. Long term strategy would be to replace it in 2-3 years.

One of my concerns is that the quality is comparable to newer IBA, if the servicing is done correctly. The last thing I would want is to spend money on servicing instead of just replacing it in the first place.

Any info would be helpful with cost, insights, to try to make an educated decision.

How long has it been closed?

 

[AnalyticWash]

The last thing I would want is to spend money on servicing instead of just replacing it in the first place.

Any info would be helpful with cost, insights, to try to make an educated decision.

20 year old IBA equipment is end of life. There is a reason this car wash is not running. If you manage to bring it back to a running state, you will be spending serious money (and time) to keep it running.

With no industry experience, I would walk away from this project.

 

[Mike_B]

Where are you located? We did similar to a gto300 a few years back, there are positives and negatives to doing such a project. As waxman said, a new iba will run you north of $200k, so it's important to know if your site will be able to earn a decent roi on that type of investment

Clemson, South Carolina. Location itself shares a lot with valvoline oil change business. 30k in population with another 20k of students. Mostly apartment complexes with limited single family homes. The owner of the property was the one to build/start the property and was profitable with significantly less traffic.

 

[Mike_B]

How long has it been closed?

May 2024 but from what I gather it had been having problems years before that and the servicing had not been kept up with. As the last owners were very absentee (lived 2hrs away). Thought they could just show up and collect the money.

 

[Mike_B]

The first logical step is to find a distributor for Mark seven or a qualified repair technician who can evaluate the machine and give you an estimated cost for repairs. Is a 20 year old Mark seven machine still factory supported? Are parts readily available? These are things to get you started. An upgrade of your automatic car wash will be $200,000 plus.

How viable an option is used equipment vs. Brand new, clearly there is a market for it. For example, I'm looking thru Carwash consignment's IBA and PDQ Laserwash at 25k. If delivery, install, servicing is double that original price, it's still 75k/all in.

But please correct me if I'm way off the mark as I don't know what I don't know yet.

 

[Waxman]

I'm sure used equipment could be OK. But you have to think about things like distributor support as well as your own ability to maintain and service the unit. I wouldn't get anything that old because the newer technology seems a lot better to me. I'd go with the tried and true. Some thing like a WashWorld razor.

 

[Keno]

Mark 7 cleans way better than a laserwash. How many washes on your machine? Mark 7s are built like tanks, they will last with a little maintenance. Some parts for those machines are getting hard to find new, but mainly everything is still available on the secondary market

 

[M7T]

As everyone said, if you have no experience on this market, your local distribuitor or service company will be very important on your desicion. Probably He knows already the history of that machine, turn it ON, run a wash, evaluate if that equipment is already scrap or could be repair. Definetly, you need an experienced technician there before making any offer.

 

[Dan kamsickas]

As everyone said, if you have no experience on this market, your local distribuitor or service company will be very important on your desicion. Probably He knows already the history of that machine, turn it ON, run a wash, evaluate if that equipment is already scrap or could be repair. Definetly, you need an experienced technician there before making any offer.

Simple rule: If you wouldn't buy a house without a professional inspection, don't buy a wash without one.