Newbie - Buy a car wash?

[Vcpropertycorp]

Hi guys - I’m currently under contract to buy a car wash. My primary reason for buying the car wash is there are 14 storage units on the property that come with it. The storage units should cover the mortgage - whatever the car wash makes is profit.

here’s some pictures:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

I’ve never owned a car wash - so I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m a quick learner and I have a knack for business, I’m confident I can figure it out the hard way.

the biggest problem: I live 2.5 hours away from
this car wash. I have other businesses and responsibilities - I cannot be a slave to this place. How much time would I need a worker to handle this?

my initial thoughts are: convert the place to 100% credit/debit only. I know that will shrink my pool of users, but it will also eliminate the need to pick up cash and worry about theft. Thoughts about this?

this is a very much cash business - and the previous tax returns I don’t exactly believe. However, how much should a car wash like this bring in in a very busy resort town? (Year round)


what amount per month should I allocate for maintenance and soap?

I realize a lot of these questions are vague and depend on a number of factors individualized by this particular location - I’m just looking for ballparks.

what do you guys think - am I crazy? Or can I make this work?

 

[Rfreeman]

2.5 hours I would walk away and be done with this deal

 

[traveler17]

If it’s a busy site who is going to check it daily to pick up trash, empty trash cans, check to make sure all equipment is working. Then who’s going to field calls and take care of it when your automatic stops in the middle of a wash or you have a valve get stuck open and drains your chemicals. There is lots going on at these washes. Most importantly you have to have someone available to work on the equipment unless you know how. How often would you plan on going? Not being a downer just throwing out lots of things that happen. Lookin like a “walk away”

 

[Roz]

Place looks nice from the pics but in need of new equipment. Also, worst case you remove the carwash equipment and convert the rest of the land to a storage business model. If the price is inline with the cash flow go for it. It will be work at first but eventually you can make it work for you. Good luck

 

[Dan kamsickas]

One thing to realize is that Hydrospyray equipment most likely is going to be an issue. The PLC controls not just the automatic but all the self serves as well. I have helped a few customers over the last year with that system. They could not get help from the manufacturer so reached out to me. Unfortunately, they were left with two choices: remove all the controls and rewire everything -or- replace all the equipment. *If it's the same stuff internally as the customers who contacted me, all the controls are running on DC due to the PLC. Even upgrading the meterboxes to current levels of functionality becomes a pain in the butt. You may have just contracted to buy a nightmare. You did contact Hydrospray about the equipment, right?

 

[Car Wash Payment System]

Maybe you can pause for a moment and observe the automatic car washing machines and payment kiosks in China, which are easy to install and easy to use.

 

[Greg_T]

2.5 hours away would be a deal breaker for me. We clean our wash twice every day. I do the morning, and we have 2 staff that cover the afternoon / evening. You might be able to make this work, but personally I would want to be able to visit the wash very regularly.