What would u do?

[karzmax]

2 good acres located in a New England community with heavy seasonal tourism traffic. Off season (winter) shows 12,000 cars a day and 25,000 a day in season. Very strict town bylaws with no sewer. Currently there are 2 car washes with-in 3-5 miles. The first is a small tunnel with 3 self serves that is very old and very run down and secondly a well maintained older tunnel ONLY that is 3 miles away off the main road.
What kind of wash/services would you build/offer and what is the cost of your build-out?
Thanks

 

[I.B. Washincars]

No sewer = car wash, IMO. Most will agree. You don't give much info about the property other than traffic counts, which is nice to know, but the types of traffic are what is most important. Why did you pick this particular piece of property? Frankly, I would look elsewhere.

 

[MEP001]

You definitely can run a wash without a sewer, especially a friction tunnel with reclaim, but 2 acres may not yield enough leech field. Besides, car washes aren't the most profitable use for land and never have been.

You seem like the type of person who comes up to me on a busy day and says something like "You must make ALL the money!"

 

[karzmax]

This piece of land is for sale. The broker claims the owner has plans for a car wash and access building which he planned for a coffee house. Familiar with this site and knowing that some seasoned Car Wash veterans reside hear, I'm looking for some opinions. Thank you.
PS- ME001 are you saying its hard to be profitable?

 

[MEP001]

It's not hard to make a profit with a car wash, but it's difficult to make a living off one especially if you build with today's economy.

What I said is that a car wash isn't the most profitable use for land. Almost anything else you could do with it would be a better ROI.

 

[car washing systems inc]

You definitely can run a wash without a sewer, especially a friction tunnel with reclaim, but 2 acres may not yield enough leech field. Besides, car washes aren't the most profitable use for land and never have been.

You seem like the type of person who comes up to me on a busy day and says something like "You must make ALL the money!"

In CT they will not allow any leech fields and i think MA is the same, it would be 100% reclaim and if you did not have enough loss of water you would have to pump your tanks when full.

 

[rph9168]

You can run a car wash without a sewer or leech field with the right reclaim system. I have seen it being done is several locations. It is very expensive but can be done. The question is whether that expense makes the project worth it.

 

[Waxman]

I am in MA.

I built a detail shop in 1996 and the town said I could put the water into a leech field. Then the town changed their mind.

Later on, I built my carwash and new detail shop on land next door and the plans included a 720' sewer extension.

Being conncted to city sewer is, IMHO, the ONLY way to do a carwash project. Sure, total reclaim can work. There are many costs involved and many hurdles in a closed-loop system.

Sewer costs are a part of carwashing, but having ZERO concerns with effluent disposal is pretty priceless to me. I mean, come on; aren't there enough things to fix, maintain, twiddle, tweak and twist in owning and operating a successful wash without the ever-present need to clean and re-use ALL your wash water then PAY to dispose of it through a certified waste hauler?

No Sewer= No Carwash. Period. End of story. Waxman out.

 

[bigleo48]

I tend to agree with Waxman. I would not want to own a carwash without city sewer or water.

 

[MEP001]

I just remembered one local wash that was built with reclaim and no sewer. The city gave them a HUGE break on fees to not run sewer, but it's a self-serve/auto with no bathroom.

 

[robert roman]

I would not try to answer these questions with such a limited amount of information.

For example, someone said you should consider passing on the site because it has no sewer connection. However, there are two existing washes in the area. How did these owners overcome this obstacle?

So, you may want to consider methods that are commonly used in the industry to solve the location problem.

Most people new-to-the-industry begin with benchmarking and best practices review to identify the type of wash that suits their personality and meets their financial goals and objectives.

Then an area is examined to determine if the market can support another wash.

If it can, then forecast future volumes to determine what site-specific assets are needed.

Then determine cost of the build-out.

If you follow the link below, it provides an overview of the process.

http://www.carwashplan.com/new_to_industry

 

[mac]

I like what RPH said. You can do this but it's really going to cost you. If you don't have real working experience with a zero discharge wash, AND this is going to be your first wash, AND during the off season you only get 12,000 cars per day, take several shots of tequila and lay down till that thought goes away. There are some good investment advisors out there that can give you a good return on the money you have to build this, and there aill be no issues with employees, equipment, weather, and you get the picture.