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Water usage newer IBAs

B

Bricks

Active member
Tuesday I will own my second wash. It has a hydro spray rainmaker. Does anyone know how much water those use per wash? Are the new razors and petits worth the money in water savings alone? It looks like my Futura uses about 85 gallons on an suv. I think it was a Toyota four runner.
The reason I ask is I’m thinking about putting a Futura in the extra bay that’s currently used for storage. They used to rent VHS tapes out of it lol…kinda good old days IMO.

I have pretty much everything needed to install it. But if a new one will pay for itself in water and chemical conservation, maybe I should look into it. It’s a slow area now, but that could all change in the near future. So I guess I’m asking if anyone thinks the water consumption is much different between machines. Thanks for any help.
 
I replaced 2 rainmakers last year. They did a great job of cleaning and used an average of 62gal per car each month. That also included bay wash downs and the prep barrel.
 
I don't think I would buy a new unit based strictly on water savings. I would opt for a friction unit, which will use less water and offer customers a consistently cleaner car.
 
IMO...there are many factors to consider. Touch free IBAs are very successful in an market that people WANT touch free, not people that will compare the level of clean and nothing else. Those people will complain AND fight you on cost. Touch free is much more expensive to operate per car... Water and soap. In my town, I assume I wash 3:1 the cars compared to the friction in town. However, my profit margin is far smaller than his I'm sure. I have to charge $2-4 more , so he gets the people who don't care about touch free. Simple
 
Friction vs TF varies by area, significantly. We have New Razor V4 next to an Istobal M22. Our split is 65:35 favoring the TF. Now the Razor has a better show and more bells/whistles but many people chose that machine since it does not touch the car. The older the car the more likely the customer uses the soft cloth. And everyone can thank Elan for putting a note in the Tesla manual to only use a TF carwash - even if he is bit kooky for wanting to purchase Twitter. I see a lot of Teslas and have been told by several that the manual drove them to find my place.
 
Roz said:
Friction vs TF varies by area, significantly. We have New Razor V4 next to an Istobal M22. Our split is 65:35 favoring the TF. Now the Razor has a better show and more bells/whistles but many people chose that machine since it does not touch the car. The older the car the more likely the customer uses the soft cloth. And everyone can thank Elan for putting a note in the Tesla manual to only use a TF carwash - even if he is bit kooky for wanting to purchase Twitter. I see a lot of Teslas and have been told by several that the manual drove them to find my place.
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Roz, that’s pretty cool! I didn’t know that about Tesla. A very high maintenance old woman was wiping off her Mercedes after she went through the TF. She started complaining about some soap that was oozing out of her door jamb. I asked her what she thought about me installing a soft touch. She said she’d never be back if I did. Then continued complaining about the soap that was left behind. I asked her which package she bought, she said the Ultimate. Her trunk lid was up and I tossed in her $9 refund.
 
Bricks said:
Roz, that’s pretty cool! I didn’t know that about Tesla. A very high maintenance old woman was wiping off her Mercedes after she went through the TF. She started complaining about some soap that was oozing out of her door jamb. I asked her what she thought about me installing a soft touch. She said she’d never be back if I did. Then continued complaining about the soap that was left behind. I asked her which package she bought, she said the Ultimate. Her trunk lid was up and I tossed in her $9 refund.
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You and I must be related somehow.
 
Bricks said:
Roz, that’s pretty cool! I didn’t know that about Tesla. A very high maintenance old woman was wiping off her Mercedes after she went through the TF. She started complaining about some soap that was oozing out of her door jamb. I asked her what she thought about me installing a soft touch. She said she’d never be back if I did. Then continued complaining about the soap that was left behind. I asked her which package she bought, she said the Ultimate. Her trunk lid was up and I tossed in her $9 refund.
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I bet she is doing more damage to her paint wiping off the film the TF left behind than what a new friction machine would do.
 
OurTown said:
I bet she is doing more damage to her paint wiping off the film the TF left behind than what a new friction machine would do.
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I think I had the TFW turned up too much. I backed it off and added another low pressure pass. Haven’t seen it since.
 
Roz said:
And everyone can thank Elan for putting a note in the Tesla manual to only use a TF carwash -
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I’m sure that statement in the manual will help TF operators, but it just shows you how uninformed broad statements like that can be. He could be sending some Tesla owner to a place that uses hydrofluoric or ABF or even to a wash that is just running their chemistry way too hot. Elan is probably not aware that all of this occurs in some TF environments. Not to mention the locations that leave enough film where the car owner needs to towel it off. That’s not exactly babying your paint either.
 
I personally believe a friction wash does a better job of cleaning a vehicle if it is properly maintained and operated. I have a Ryko high impact touch free. The local BMW, Mercedes and Cadillac dealers tell their customers to only use touch free washes. I used to visit these dealers every couple months and give them token notes to hand out when they sold cars. I still have customers from 10 years ago because of this. If the dealers ever stock cars again, I believe I will start handing out token notes again.
 
Bricks said:
Roz, that’s pretty cool! I didn’t know that about Tesla. A very high maintenance old woman was wiping off her Mercedes after she went through the TF. She started complaining about some soap that was oozing out of her door jamb. I asked her what she thought about me installing a soft touch. She said she’d never be back if I did. Then continued complaining about the soap that was left behind. I asked her which package she bought, she said the Ultimate. Her trunk lid was up and I tossed in her $9 refund.
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Told that bich!
I tell complaining customers, of vacs & SS bays, "go to the other wash" when they are stupid belligerent.
I own the other wash to.
 
Etowah
CheetahExpress said:
We are in the process of installing a Razor in a new wash bay next to our Profile; but we are also installing a reclaim system to help save water.
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so before you have been using non reclaim water? how much water were you using before the reclaim system and how much do you think you savings will be with the reclaim system? I am still planning out my IBA system and am thinking about putting in a reclaim system but at the $20k+ price tag I am wondering if the savings will outweigh the initial reclaim system cost.
 
If you do the math the break even is probably at 35,000 cars washed assuming a sewer and water cost of 3 cents a gallon and a reclaimed water usage of 30 gal per car. For some that is one year or less of business, for others it represents multiple years of business.
 
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