Superior
- Thread starter joep
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Dean Taylor
Dean Taylor, CATEC.com
I have nothing to do with this other than reading the posts however, I did feel compelled to reply.
First off, I am glad to hear Superior is doing better than ever. It's always nice to know companies are prosperous, especially with the slow economy.
As for Joe P's post- I would refer to the first amendment, freedom of speech. He has a right to inquire or ask questions and speak openly and freely. Now, if there is an underlying agenda to his post, then it is very unethical and shame on him. However, he still has the right to speak freely.
As for your reply, it's disturbing to me that you would threaten legal ramifications over something so trivial. One can make a statement in their own defense without these kinds of threats. I completely understand how this type thing can upset you but firing off threats of legal action isn't what I'd call a proper response.
What if he is a prospective customer that was simply looking into a rumor he heard from one of your competitors? If this is the case, I'd venture to say you probably blew it.
Just food for thought....
First off, I am glad to hear Superior is doing better than ever. It's always nice to know companies are prosperous, especially with the slow economy.
As for Joe P's post- I would refer to the first amendment, freedom of speech. He has a right to inquire or ask questions and speak openly and freely. Now, if there is an underlying agenda to his post, then it is very unethical and shame on him. However, he still has the right to speak freely.
As for your reply, it's disturbing to me that you would threaten legal ramifications over something so trivial. One can make a statement in their own defense without these kinds of threats. I completely understand how this type thing can upset you but firing off threats of legal action isn't what I'd call a proper response.
What if he is a prospective customer that was simply looking into a rumor he heard from one of your competitors? If this is the case, I'd venture to say you probably blew it.
Just food for thought....
pitzerwm
Active member
Many of you think that I just lay around some beach and collect my money, now you can see why I usually sit in front of the computer monitoring what is being said.
First thing this morning I talked with Archie Johnson, President of Superior, he assured me that even though business is slow they are not anywhere near needing to go BK. Unfortunately, someone from his company got a little excited and over reacted. I have deleted his post, but feel that Dean's response need to stay.
Also, I emailed joep and received an immediate response; I feel comfortable that he didn't have any agenda in his original post.
A good reminder that when one is angry, you should wait a few hours before you respond.
First thing this morning I talked with Archie Johnson, President of Superior, he assured me that even though business is slow they are not anywhere near needing to go BK. Unfortunately, someone from his company got a little excited and over reacted. I have deleted his post, but feel that Dean's response need to stay.
Also, I emailed joep and received an immediate response; I feel comfortable that he didn't have any agenda in his original post.
A good reminder that when one is angry, you should wait a few hours before you respond.
I've heard similar rumors about Superior going bankrupt or being for sale for many years. A few years ago I was looking to buy an IBA and I decided that I can't depend on such rumors and should not act based on them. I bought an IBA from them in the face of such rumors. Not that I relied on the statements by the company or it's employees to the contrary (that would be more rediculous than basing my decisions on the rumors). Over the last 20 years there have been many key personel who have left, many assets which have been sold or refied. Every time such an event occurs, rumors about the companys future are in the same discussion. Superior recently announced they were withdrawing their touchless IBA product line from the market (the claim was that the industry has decided that touchless IBA's are not effective after all). While that statement is too silly to respond to and not on topic re your post, it could be what is creating the rumor.
I also happen to have a background in securities. Long ago I realized if everytime I heard a rumor so and so was going out of business, filing bankruptcy, being acquired by XYZ, etc I would have lost alot of people alot of money.
This industry is no different than any other. Take everything with a grain of salt. Investigate to the degree that you can (I assume that is what you are doing with this post). Unless you can come up with some facts that back up the rumor I don't think the rumor is worth much.
I also happen to have a background in securities. Long ago I realized if everytime I heard a rumor so and so was going out of business, filing bankruptcy, being acquired by XYZ, etc I would have lost alot of people alot of money.
This industry is no different than any other. Take everything with a grain of salt. Investigate to the degree that you can (I assume that is what you are doing with this post). Unless you can come up with some facts that back up the rumor I don't think the rumor is worth much.
I just wanted to update this post to clarify the status of the rumors. A few weeks ago I heard that Superior had been sold so I called to verify today and was told yes that the owner has sold the company. I didn't know if anyone had posted this info yet on the forum.
Well, so far I can say that yes I had heard the rumor, now I know they are doing very well even in a bad economic climate, but now it appears the owner has sold the company. So what is the real story, inquiring minds want to know. I can't think that it is a bad thing to ask the question.
pitzerwm
Active member
I thought that I had covered this in another post. I met the 2 new owners in Orlando. As I recall they didn't have a lot of car wash experience, but they had done their research and figured that they had a handle on the business.
Waxman
Super Moderator
Yes Superior has new owners. Yes, they are now focusing on their mini tunnel.
They have assured me that they will continue to support the Sidetrac 700, which I run. I was a little perplexed at first, but not anymore. Why? It's a simple machine featuring non-proprietary parts. I can and do maintain and repair it myself. Also, my distributor is the best. He runs a new 700 and kept parts off the old one, which fit my machine.
I think Superior made a big mistake discontinuing this great, little machine. Its low-cost and effectiveness at cleaning a car make it great for me. Downtime? Nope. Clean cars? Yep.
They have assured me that they will continue to support the Sidetrac 700, which I run. I was a little perplexed at first, but not anymore. Why? It's a simple machine featuring non-proprietary parts. I can and do maintain and repair it myself. Also, my distributor is the best. He runs a new 700 and kept parts off the old one, which fit my machine.
I think Superior made a big mistake discontinuing this great, little machine. Its low-cost and effectiveness at cleaning a car make it great for me. Downtime? Nope. Clean cars? Yep.
Jeez Gator you sure are skeptical (probably a 9/11 truther). What more do you want to know, two new owners bought it. Last time I checked people didn't usually pay loads of money for a business they intend to close.
Waxman-I think you're all alone in your support of that machine. There are VERY few of them out there and they were discontinued IMO due to the problems with them. Also, I suspect that Superior was not doing well and in difficult times it is wise to pull back to your core competency. The claim was that the general public (ie customers) have decided that touchless isn't the way they want to wash their cars so Superior decided to stop producing the machine.
Waxman-I think you're all alone in your support of that machine. There are VERY few of them out there and they were discontinued IMO due to the problems with them. Also, I suspect that Superior was not doing well and in difficult times it is wise to pull back to your core competency. The claim was that the general public (ie customers) have decided that touchless isn't the way they want to wash their cars so Superior decided to stop producing the machine.
Well SCS, I may be skeptical, but I sure do know a lot more now than when I was told the first and original closing rumor. Hurray for them, hope they do great, don't own one, have seen them, didn't know they were discontinuing the OHD, glad they are doing well with the Mini, and hope they put them somewhere else.
Waxman
Super Moderator
I may be alone in my support of the 700 as far as people on this forum, but I know others personally who are as happy as I am with theirs. My distributor is a long-time carwasher with many many years of experience. He has owned all types of carwash formats. He goes head to head with PDQ, Mark VII and other big boys and is very competitive.
No one has told my customers that touch free is not what they want.
I talk like I do about my machine because of my experience and not for any blind allegiance to my distributor or to Superior. The thing cleans and dries the heck out of cars!
I had plans years ago for a much different wash than I built, complete with equipment from a manufacturer I will not name. However, I have learned that nearly everyone with one of their machines has had a littany of problems and it drove one new owner I knew quite well to sell his wash after one year in business.
No one has told my customers that touch free is not what they want.
I talk like I do about my machine because of my experience and not for any blind allegiance to my distributor or to Superior. The thing cleans and dries the heck out of cars!
I had plans years ago for a much different wash than I built, complete with equipment from a manufacturer I will not name. However, I have learned that nearly everyone with one of their machines has had a littany of problems and it drove one new owner I knew quite well to sell his wash after one year in business.
bigleo48
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I certainly can't speak about all the manufacturers out there, but I visit a lot of carwashes and can look at them with a critical eye. Many of them are simply poor installs and using subpar parts (I'm talking about the parts that don't come with the machine). Waxman, it sounds like you have a good distributor who likes and knows the machine and that's the trick!
As far as cleaning cars properly, well that takes good chemistry, time and a properly setup machine. Case in point, a Vector in an adjacent town was put up last year by a big oil company. I think if you put a clean car through it, it would come out dirty (if that's possible). They also added a Fragramatics shampoo vac they have yet to get to work a year later. I drive by there daily, at one point the scum on the windows got so bad, you couln't see in or out. They washed a lot of cars at first but have steadily dropped since, to the point now that it's rarely busy. But hey...I'm told the Vector is a very good machine!
BigLeo
As far as cleaning cars properly, well that takes good chemistry, time and a properly setup machine. Case in point, a Vector in an adjacent town was put up last year by a big oil company. I think if you put a clean car through it, it would come out dirty (if that's possible). They also added a Fragramatics shampoo vac they have yet to get to work a year later. I drive by there daily, at one point the scum on the windows got so bad, you couln't see in or out. They washed a lot of cars at first but have steadily dropped since, to the point now that it's rarely busy. But hey...I'm told the Vector is a very good machine!
BigLeo
MEP001
Well-known member
It's very possible if they're using reclaim on a system that's not maintained properly. The Vector is a very good machine. I get maybe one complaint a year that it didn't clean well, almost always someone with a seriously dirty car who got the basic wash. It's been down a total of maybe ten days in five years, mostly my fault for not remembering to keep a spare hose on hand.bigleo48 said:
Waxman, you have discovered something that I have said for years. That is that the manufacturer of the machine is not as important as the person who installs it and sets up the chemicals. Every single touchless out there cleans necause of the chemistry. So long as the machine can deliver it evenly and then rinse it, it will clean just as good as machines costing two to three times as much. I know a guy on the Florida east coast that has one I never heard of. It's really an antiquated and rudimentary looking thing. I would be embarrased to sell it. Yet he averages 50 to 70 cars per day, beating the pants off every other unit in the area. Sometimes we get too smart by half in this stuff. Continued good luck to you.
Waxman
Super Moderator
