touchless or friction

[BobH]

I've been toying with the idea of going touchless for about a year now. There is a lot of friction machines in the area. No touchless that I am aware of.
I would appreciate thoughts from anyone that has made the switch .. Thanks in advance.

 

[New Washdog]

I've been toying with the idea of going touchless for about a year now. There is a lot of friction machines in the area. No touchless that I am aware of.
I would appreciate thoughts from anyone that has made the switch .. Thanks in advance.

The touchless customer tends to be a different one than the friction washer. That said, touchless washing has it's limitations on cleaning a car, depending on the cars finish and environmental factors. You'll find infrequent washers and ones with poorly maintained finishes will not come clean. Some of these customers will not be satisfied with the wash outcome, but that is the time for you to educate them about the realities and the need for different washing requirements and types for different kinds of dirty. Sometimes you just can't beat friction.

If your area is saturated with friction I'd definitely go touchless, as I said they're from a different customer base.

 

[soonermajic]

I think a Friction washer will sometimes use a touchless. But a touchless washer will usually NOT use a friction.

 

[carwashireland]

My market is all friction so when we replace friction with touchless, we always see a big increase in revenue.

 

[washnshine]

Touchless is also nice to combat the express exteriors that some operators have to contend with. Entirely different type of Wash than they offer, so you are automatically differentiating your product - even if you don’t offer memberships.


You won’t beat them in the volume game, but you can cater to those who don’t want that type or wash.

 

[Toms PTcarwash]

I personally believe a well-maintained friction does a better job.
I have a touchless. It does a pretty good job on over 95% of cars, depending on how well they take care of them (it won't perform miracles).
I have a bunch of regulars with high end cars that will not use a friction wash. Actually, the local Cadillac and BMW dealers, suggest touch free from what these customers tell me.

 

[traveler17]

My new wash has 2 markvii’s. One is friction and the other is a combo wash where it will do one or the other or both. I’ve only had touchless at my other wash and was really worried about the friction wash for damage reasons.
Sorry, back to your point. I am really impressed with the Combo wash markvii offers as it gives the customer a choice and the touchless option washes as well as I’ve seen against the others on the market. Just depends on your presoaks

 

[kkewashsystems]

It mostly depends upon the market where you are based. Is it that the soil contents are difficult to remove by touchless alone? When the silica levels are high in the dirt on the vehicles, you have to use more aggressive chemicals and of course that makes the costs of the chemicals go up.

If probably no one's having a touchless in your area, it would be rather prudent to find out why.