Pretty tough question to answer

[Dustinw]

I am closing on a rundown car wash. In fact I can't believe its still open. It has a High Velocity and a Ryko Velvet touch both from the 1990s and neither maintained. Anyways I am going to rebuild the high velocity just to get by while I rip out the Velvet touch and replace with a Petit.

I have currently have a wash with a Petit on a road without a ton of traffic but this new wash has a traffic count of 15k a day. How are you guessing at how many cars per day you will wash. I have seen proformas from the equipment guys and they are way off IMO.

As far as what this site is doing with these 2 machines that are down most of the time, it seems to wash about 400 cars a month, granted the top wash is 7 bucks and all washes are $5 on Tuesday.

I am thinking I can wash 800 a month through the Petit without breaking a sweat. Currently wash pass with old machines avg about 7 min. My Petit runs a 5 pass in 2:40

 

[Keno]

I've seen anywhere from 0.4% down to 0.1% used as capture rate on proforma. Depends on how aggressive you want to be with it

 

[Waxman]

When I built my wash I used 3/10 of a percent daily traffic flow as my goal. So you take the daily traffic count and multiply it times .003. 20 years later I finally reached my number!

 

[Keno]

When I built my wash I used 3/10 of a percent daily traffic flow as my goal. So you take the daily traffic count and multiply it times .003. 20 years later I finally reached my number!

Did you hit the number because traffic counts went up in front of your wash or because you are actually now at 0.3% of the current traffic count?

 

[Waxman]

I hit the number because I installed a new WashWorld razor in place of my original superior side track. The razor is much faster and loads the car while the car in the bay is pulling out underneath my blowers which are outside. I haven't remeasured the traffic count or looked into it recently. Doesn't really matter to me at this point.

A more reasonable capture rate for my original business plan would've been 2/10 of a percent. But I was brand new at everything and just guessing. It was an educated guess because I did my homework before I was able to get financing. But it was still just a guess.

 

[washnshine]

The velvet touch is a conveyorized system. Is the conveyor still installed and functioning?

 

[Blanco]

I am thinking I can wash 800 a month through the Petit without breaking a sweat. Currently wash pass with old machines avg about 7 min. My Petit runs a 5 pass in 2:40

At the 400 cars a month it’s doing and even at your projected 800 speed is not even relevant.

You also certainly do not need two automatics.

I’d look into a wash world razor if I were you. A little bit slower maybe around 5 min top wash but that’s a good thing. Customers will feel like there really getting there moneys worth, it’s a great machine, and you will save money.

 

[Keno]

I hit the number because I installed a new WashWorld razor in place of my original superior side track. The razor is much faster and loads the car while the car in the bay is pulling out underneath my blowers which are outside. I haven't remeasured the traffic count or looked into it recently. Doesn't really matter to me at this point.

A more reasonable capture rate for my original business plan would've been 2/10 of a percent. But I was brand new at everything and just guessing. It was an educated guess because I did my homework before I was able to get financing. But it was still just a guess.

Gotcha, I was asking mainly for my own projections. We are considering adding 1 or maybe 2 petits with membership at one of our washes.

 

[Waxman]

I did three sets of cash flow projections 20 years ago when I was planning my wash. Worst case scenario, best case scenario, and hopeful average.