What's best option for my potential site?

[Douglas54]

We have a 5 acre lot on a divided highway with 34k traffic count per day. Nearest competition is over 4 miles away in either direction, and they are small self serve washes. Growing area with lots of dirt roads near by. The catch, we have no city water or sewer and would need to run on well and septic. If I was committed to this location, what is the best possible setup in your professional opinion?

 

[johnny]

We have a 5 acre lot on a divided highway with 34k traffic count per day. Nearest competition is over 4 miles away in either direction, and they are small self serve washes. Growing area with lots of dirt roads near by. The catch, we have no city water or sewer and would need to run on well and septic. If I was committed to this location, what is the best possible setup in your professional opinion?

storage units

 

[Douglas54]

That is an option, but is any type of wash feasible?

 

[Kramerwv]

What is feasible is largely dependent on costs of the project. Too many unknowns to make a reasonable guess. No water/sewer for a car wash is not a good start though.

 

[MC3033]

For the right site it could be worth it. While 34k traffic is good a divided highway is not. How hard is access from the other side of the road? What’s the speed limit? Visibility of the site? Any nearby traffic lights ?

Does the income and density suggest an express wash is needed? With no competition I'm sure it is tempting. I would also look around town and ask myself if a better site is available that another operator may move into if the area is appealing

 

[Waxman]

In my own personal experience, customers will complain about reclaim. Whether it's the foul odor coming from your entire wash or spots on their car, they will complain and you will get so tired of the complaining you will wish you took the advice given to you.

Customers will discover that you recycle your water, then they will talk. Soon the whole target market will know and they will use that fact against you. Any time the wash fails to meet their expectations, they will cry about you using 'dirty water'.

I had one 2 days ago; customer washed in the self-serve, drove away, then came back later with spots. It looked to me like he left wet and drove through some stone dust or similar. It was a dry dusty day. I had personally washed 5 or 6 cars in the SS bays that day and things were 100% perfect in the bays. My point is that the customer repeatedly asked me if I used recycled water!!! I told him NO about 4 different ways, but he was slow to believe me.

So good luck building a brand new wash on reclaim. People will say it works, but I would not do it. All it takes is one problem with the system ( which will happen while you're away on vacation), and your wash will have the reputation as the place that washes the car with dirty, smelly water.

 

[Douglas54]

In my own personal experience, customers will complain about reclaim. Whether it's the foul odor coming from your entire wash or spots on their car, they will complain and you will get so tired of the complaining you will wish you took the advice given to you.

Customers will discover that you recycle your water, then they will talk. Soon the whole target market will know and they will use that fact against you. Any time the wash fails to meet their expectations, they will cry about you using 'dirty water'.

I had one 2 days ago; customer washed in the self-serve, drove away, then came back later with spots. It looked to me like he left wet and drove through some stone dust or similar. It was a dry dusty day. I had personally washed 5 or 6 cars in the SS bays that day and things were 100% perfect in the bays. My point is that the customer repeatedly asked me if I used recycled water!!! I told him NO about 4 different ways, but he was slow to believe me.

So good luck building a brand new wash on reclaim. People will say it works, but I would not do it. All it takes is one problem with the system ( which will happen while you're away on vacation), and your wash will have the reputation as the place that washes the car with dirty, smelly water.

But are we confusing "reclaim" with "restore?" We are proposing a 100% restored water treatment setup. We've been researching it through references recently with great feedback.

 

[Axxlrod]

What the heck is "restored" water?

 

[MEP001]

What the heck is "restored" water?

Reclaim. It doesn't matter what you call it though, if you don't produce a clean car without stinking water, you will get a bad reputation. The only real upside around here with using reclaim is that when the city limits commercial car washing the guys with reclaim systems are exempt and allowed to stay open full hours.