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Need advice on a 3 bay car wash

N

newbe

New member
Hey Guys,

I have an opportunity to buy this car wash. It has been closed for around 2 years now and the current owner is selling it as-is. The equipment may or may not work. They guy that is selling it said when it was operational it was making around 40K to 60K gross but believes it could have been scaled to 120 to 140K. It was operated by his dad but he no longer has the energy to work on it. It is listed for $240K

Any feedback greatly appreciated!
 

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Agree 100%. Honestly I don't even trust those numbers. I going into this from what is the max potential of a carwash like this if I put the time and money to revamp it.
 
what kind of automatic? Take some better pictures of everything and post them here. What are the demographics. What is the daily traffic count? Where is the wash located? What is the competition? What do they charge? Does the permit transfer if a new owner takes over? are the utilities in place? Is the land included in the purchase price?
 
I'll take some additional pics later this week. The Annual Average Daily Traffic is 14700. This is in the suburbs of Chicago and in more of business district with neighboring single family homes. The area has a very low crime rate in a mid to upper class. No direct competition. The closest self serve carwash is 2 to 3 miles away. There is an old sicker showing $2.50 I'm assuming that is for 2 minutes. The permit does transfer over but there is a 30 to 60 day processing timeline with the city. Yes, all utilities are included. Yes, this includes the land. They guy wants to sell this ASAP and as stated before it hasn't been operational for 2 years.
 
It looks good to have been closed for 2 years. I wish I could find one that looks like that near me for 240k. I’ve repaired my share of equipment and it’s pretty easy unless it’s totally destroyed. I don’t know what anything cost in Chicago but a good wash that size in a good location could easily gross 120k.
 
I.B. Washincars said:
Didn't you say that you will need to get it rezoned before it can be reopened?
Click to expand...
Yes, looking into the details now but that doesn't seem to be a big issue to get it done. My biggest question is once everything is all done can this make a profit 60 to 70k net year of year. What is realistic on a car wash like this?
 
Etowah
A lot of the revenue Potential has to do with your automatic. Once you know the condition of that you can predict your level of through put Capabilities.
 
What’s the tax value on the land. Obviously you know the area real estate better than we do but you are buying dirt and a shell of a building. That’s the only value here, what he says as far as numbers mean nothing. Traffic count is great.
 
traveler17 said:
What’s the tax value on the land. Obviously you know the area real estate better than we do but you are buying dirt and a shell of a building. That’s the only value here, what he says as far as numbers mean nothing. Traffic count is great.
Click to expand...

The annual property taxes are $18k. What is an average cost to renovate a single self serve bay? Also, what is average cost for a new touch less automatic machine?

Any other questions I should ask the seller or things to look at that are expensive to replace?
 
How is this progressing for you.

As stated this car wash looks to be in better shape then half the operating car washes in my area. Definitely does not appear to be closed for two years. Thats a good indicator that the owner maintained it just as well or better when it was operating. These are all assumptions.

Based on area and traffic count it does have good potential. You are not buying potential though you are buying an as-is property. If the seller is motivated give him an uncomfortably low number and/or ask for some seller financing.
 
I think I'll pass on this one. It does look like it has potential but I'm not sure if they seller is telling me the full story of why it was shutdown. If it was cash positive when shut it down why shut it down. All the equipment sold as is. I'm a newbie to carwash business so this would be a learning curve for me.
 
I'm fairly certain this has been on the market for a long time, if it's the one in thinking of, it's near Chicago and can't be reopened as a car wash. Zoning or something has changed that won't allow the new owner to use as car wash. For redevelopment
 
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