Newbie Owner 6 Bay SS Looking For Advice

[Jgilch2320]

Currently a real estate owner/developer and have never owned a wash but recently purchased a few acres of land in a high traffic location in South Carolina which included a 6 bay SS and includes a Laserwash toucheless.

Deciding whether or not to keep this or tear it down and redevelop it since the equipment is old and the facade is looking tired for the community it is in. I can keep it and develop the rest of the land if its worth saving or possibly overhauling it. I did recently have a car wash builder come for a site visit to give their thoughts and quotes on upgrading what is there or doing a major remodel and am awaiting their ideas/quotes. The direct competition is mainly newer tunnel washes but there are a few self serves within a few miles but not in as good of a location as this one sits and has 6 lanes of traffic with over 60k cars a day going by it. It currently generates decent revenue but with the older equipment I am not sure how much longer it will be worth repairing items as they break or possibly have parts availability issues at some point. The SS equipment is over 20 years old and not sure on the laser but nowhere near as old as the SS bays. It is currently set up with swipe and contactless readers for SS bays as well both and bills for the laser wash touchless so that helps. Anyone out there running older equipment seeing repair costs outweighing the benefits of replacing with new?

I am sure there are a lot of variables but as stated i know absolutely nothing about this type of business and trying to gain some knowledge from all of you in the industry. Anything information anyone can help with is very much appreciated, thanks.

 

[Roz]

I would probably renovate and operate the wash unless you have a better plan for the entire lot. You probably could make good revenue based on the location. You may need to invest $300k-$500k but can get that back in a few years.

 

[Bigmatthew86]

I too am new to the car wash game in South Carolina. We bought ours last May. It ‘s still running the original equipment from 98 mostly. If it’s still working I would keep using it personally. I would change lines & guns, etc if they have some age on them. Add credit card swipes if you don’t have them & clean every up. Where in South Carolina are you located?

 

[Jgilch2320]

I would probably renovate and operate the wash unless you have a better plan for the entire lot. You probably could make good revenue based on the location. You may need to invest $300k-$500k but can get that back in a few years.

The land is prime for redevelopment but can also be a good investment either way, its just tough to tear down a business with decent revenues which I know if cleaned up can generate much better returns. Going to wait and see the numbers the guys down here throw at me for refurb then decide from there. I appreciate your insight.

 

[Jgilch2320]

I too am new to the car wash game in South Carolina. We bought ours last May. It ‘s still running the original equipment from 98 mostly. If it’s still working I would keep using it personally. I would change lines & guns, etc if they have some age on them. Add credit card swipes if you don’t have them & clean every up. Where in South Carolina are you located?

I am a proactive person and like to maintain things before they break and have kept the maintenance guys around inspecting equipment fixing stuff here and there also trying to learn a little but do not want to go down the rabbit hole when something major happens having to make the decision whether to replace one piece of equipment or just gut it all and start fresh if its going to snowball. Everything is running good but not sure for how long the equipment can last being the age it is and maintenance guy feels the same way. Cost is obviously the biggest concern especially in the area I am in. I am originally from Pennsylvania, recently moved here 8 months ago so costs down here are significantly more for anything construction/repair wise or anything for that matter which I have a hard time coming to terms with. I am in the Charleston market, more specifically Mount Pleasant. I do have card readers which are swipe or contactless for all bays. Eliminated bill changers, coin acceptance, give free vacuuming, no more vending, all due to the fact there was too much theft causing damage to the equipment. I am starting to research safer alternatives for vending, vacuums, etc but thieves are breaking open the vacuums to steal the coins out of the waste people suck from of their cars so not sure how everyone else is dealing with this. Appreciate your response as well.

 

[Randy]

I’ll keep my equipment that was built in 1982 because it runs just as well today as it did when it was first installed because it’s maintained, the biggest problem with car wash equipment is neglect. Do I have problems with it, yes now and then. But all car wash equipment is going to have problems with it now and then. There are a number of car washes up here in the Pacific Northwest that are going cashless or token only because of vandalism. We leave our vacuums unlocked and clean out of vacuums every day to help keep the $hit birds from getting into them.

 

[Bigmatthew86]

You should strongly consider going to dollar tokens. I did a few months ago & it’s the best thing I’ve done. It might cost you a little to begin with but it really doesn’t have a down side. My bays take cc, quarters, & tokens. Vacs & vending are token only. My change machine only gives out tokens. Less money on site & deters people from trying to break in. Also encourages spending whole dollars. You also make money on selling tokens so money in the box is money made period. Tokens for me are roughly .20 cents & I sell them for $1. Maybe just zip tie your vacuum doors so if they’re going to break in they aren’t actually causing damage. I had a repeat offender doing the same but I finally caught him. Definitely have plenty of cameras. Tape their pictures up if you get them on camera. If you are mechanically inclined you should be good to go. The wealth of knowledge here is impressive. A lot of these guys have forgotten more than I’ll ever know.

 

[Rfreeman]

I was in a similar situation with my first wash. Foreclosure sitting on an acre of land with frontage on a busy road but not as busy as yours. Long story short and 5 car washes later, yes I bought more after the first one, I found them to be very profitable if managed and run correctly.

Although my first wash wasn't old just foreclosed, so I repair it all and business picked back up. Since then I have gutted washes and remodeled them with used equipment I have rebuilt and have good success with it. My last wash two projects like this I doubled revenue. About to start my third rehab.

Personally, if it has good revenue I think it will have great revenue if actively managed and taken care of. Best of luck keep us posted.

 

[Jgilch2320]

I’ll keep my equipment that was built in 1982 because it runs just as well today as it did when it was first installed because it’s maintained, the biggest problem with car wash equipment is neglect. Do I have problems with it, yes now and then. But all car wash equipment is going to have problems with it now and then. There are a number of car washes up here in the Pacific Northwest that are going cashless or token only because of vandalism. We leave our vacuums unlocked and clean out of vacuums every day to help keep the $hit birds from getting into them.

Nice to hear your equipment is going strong and agree new equipment does not mean it will never go down. My maintenance guy just chirping in my ear that parts availability going to get hard etc. had me on edge. Good advice on the vacuums that actually makes sense to just keep them unlocked.

 

[Jgilch2320]

I was in a similar situation with my first wash. Foreclosure sitting on an acre of land with frontage on a busy road but not as busy as yours. Long story short and 5 car washes later, yes I bought more after the first one, I found them to be very profitable if managed and run correctly.

Although my first wash wasn't old just foreclosed, so I repair it all and business picked back up. Since then I have gutted washes and remodeled them with used equipment I have rebuilt and have good success with it. My last wash two projects like this I doubled revenue. About to start my third rehab.

Personally, if it has good revenue I think it will have great revenue if actively managed and taken care of. Best of luck keep us posted.

Congrats on your success that’s great to hear and best of luck with your third rehab. You make a good point about the revenue stream. I agree it can be much more profitable, just need to figure the best course of action. Responses here have been helpful already so appreciate it.

 

[MEP001]

Laserwash has been around long enough that there will be no shortage of parts for quite some time. There are no critical parts on the self serve side that will ever be discontinued or won't have an alternative replacement.

 

[Jgilch2320]

Laserwash has been around long enough that there will be no shortage of parts for quite some time. There are no critical parts on the self serve side that will ever be discontinued or won't have an alternative replacement.

Good to know, appreciate the response.