Hi all, family owned and operated car wash for 25+ years, looking at switching out our two hydrospray rainmaker to two razor double barrels, we are unsure whether we want to get the big shot option and only use it on top tier wash and or use it as a buy up. We are getting power towers to help knock snow and ice off the running boards in the winter. We are also upgrading cashiers to commanders and we are curious what others use as buy ups, especially if we skip the big shot. I've read in other threads that it's just another thing for customers not to be happy with and honestly it seems like an expensive addition that I might have trouble getting the money back out of. Thank you for any help/ suggestions
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Upgrading to ww razor double barrel, need advice plz
- Thread starter honorman
- Start date
Waxman
Super Moderator
if it were me I would keep it simple. At least at first. You could always add it later if you think you need it. I don't even have power towers I just have a regular underbody pipe that sprays underneath the car and then off at the sides via the ends of the pipe which have a separate pipe that is shorter and sprays up toward each rocker panel area of the car.
I think you will be able to considerably raise your prices with new equipment and then if you really want to add buy ups you could just facilitate that by adding extra chemical to the car. With the razor it's very easy to do because they offer several low pressure injector options for many chemicals. For example I use a salt neutralizer or bug remover depending upon the season.
I think you will be able to considerably raise your prices with new equipment and then if you really want to add buy ups you could just facilitate that by adding extra chemical to the car. With the razor it's very easy to do because they offer several low pressure injector options for many chemicals. For example I use a salt neutralizer or bug remover depending upon the season.
Thanks waxman, you are saying basically what I have been thinking in my head about this. We have underbody and rocker sprayers with our hydrospray stuff and I could count on one hand in 25 years how many people ask for a tire chemicals. At the moment we offer 10.00 basic up to 12.00 for our highest, which doesn't have nearly the chemicals or capabilities of what we will be able to do with the razor. We are thinking of eliminating a middle package and keeping pricing unchanged but adding a premier wash at 15.00 with ceramic which isn't offered within 20 miles in any direction. Right now our top wash is picked roughly 54% of the time so I'm not sure if I should bump that up to 13.00 to add a little more spacing between our choices.
Waxman
Super Moderator
I definitely think with a brand new car wash you should consider a more dramatic pricing increase. That's what I did and I've been very happy.
there is no way I would invest a quarter million dollars and keep my pricing the same but just add an extra top package. All the prices need to go up.
there is no way I would invest a quarter million dollars and keep my pricing the same but just add an extra top package. All the prices need to go up.
Thanks waxman. That is what I've been feeling especially with doing all of the upgrades we are making including new commanders for cashiers and new on demand hot water heaters etc etc. It does make me nervous raising prices too much but two years a year and a half ago when we raised prices 2.00 per wash with zero added value I only had one person complain. Would you recommend a bare bones basic wash at 10.00 to satisfy the people the people that are used to that price point? Only 9% of our customers choose that, but I could remove blowers and or underbody to stop people from choosing that option too often. I really appreciate all of your input so far
Waxman
Super Moderator
I wouldn't remove blowers from the bottom package I'd keep them on every wash. I used to have a bottom package with no blowers and people complained that the blowers didn't come on. I think you have to look at the price of things in other areas. What does a Starbucks cup of coffee cost? What is a gallon of gas? What is a gallon of milk? All these things have gone up considerably. Why should you still be charging $10 for an automatic car wash.? To me that's a price from the 90s. Maybe keep the bottom wash at $12 and make the top wash $18. you could do 12, 14, 16, 18, or 12, 15, 18, 20. I just don't think it's all that expensive. Look at the people with the big pick up trucks. They're spending between $750 and $1000 a month for their new truck payment. For this customer, $20 to keep the truck nice and clean is no big deal to them. Wait till you see what a good job that razor does cleaning and shining the car. once you see the quality you will understand that you can command a premium price. Just get your chemistry right and you'll be all set.
Waxman is on point with this one. Blowers on all washes or people willl complain. Raise your prices significantly. I have tire cleaner on all my machines and TBH it's just another item to put on the menu. Does not do a great job. Id stick with just the power towers and entrance underbody. I have buy ups at all locations and they do not bring in the revenue you may think. My best seller is all hot water wash, next is rain x, then armor all wax, and finally UB rust inhibitor. I just looked up my last month revenue from one location and buy ups were 0.7% of total revenue. Dont put too much hope in them.
Thanks you guys I appreciate the help, I was leaning against the big shot before hearing this. And honestly as far as pricing goes I think any car wash is more valuable than a 14.00 combo at a fast food restaurant, and they are paying for the convenience if it's too steep for them we have self serve bays they can use. The only buy ups that I thought about was the bug assault and maybe a 3.00 up charge for a ceramic on only my second highest wash package to make them take the leap. Again I thank you guys, the full upgrade is looking like 500k so I want to do it right but at the same time charge enough that I'm not buried in a payment.
You are doing it right and part of that is you need to charge more. The price increase will pay your payment, the equipment will bring you more customers, and the headaches of taking care of old machines will be gone. Good look and keep us updated on your progress. It's always nice to see photos of new installs and the process.
With our old rainmaker we are getting pretty good results/very few complaints and I've driven and gone through a few razors but there aren't any double barrels near me and I will say I was impressed with how clean my truck was after the wash. I am looking forward to the upgrade and having something I can market as being different and new
The main difference between a standard razor and a double barrel is that the wand on the double barrel has turbo nozzles and separate wand for presoak. The main advantage is the impingement of the turbo nozzles and no check valves. Both machines titrated properly would produce almost the identical same results. The turbo nozzles will create the WOW factor for customers. Even though turbo and regular nozzles run basically same PSI the sound of the turbo nozzles hitting the vehicle is completely different in a good way. Only down side is when a turbo fails it cost $130 to replace. The main reason they go bad is because of a rubber cone in them. Ive had the rubber cones custom made out of plastic and have never had to change one since. Cost me about $30 a piece.
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Blanco, thanks for the heads up. That's the main reason we decided on the double barrel hoping for that wow factor. The rainmakers we have with the spinning wands sound really impressive in the car and didn't want to lose that sound and feel of being blasted. I'm glad to hear the double barrel sounds like that too. Closest one our distributor knows of is 4 hours away and we didn't feel like an 8 hour car trip was worth it. What type of place did you find to make the custom plastic cone? Seems like something i should try to do too
