robr said:
Thanks for the link. That is some good info.
Anyone own a coin-op Car Wash?
- Thread starter NetViper
- Start date
Thanks for the link. That is some good info.
Ok, here is my post. I have owned Car washes (self serve bay) and coin laundries for about 7 years now. Buying new locally for an average laundry will cost you $250-300K not including the building and land. This is a decent sized air-conditioned store whichs is 35-40 washers and 30 dryer pockets (many dryers are stacks which are 2 pockets, so we count the number of pockets, not machines). This is the good quality stainless front loads, not the toploads that many of you are used to using. Locally a car wash will cost $125-150K per bay average not including land (the per bay cost goes up with 2 or 3 bays total but shrinks for 8 or 10 bay units, and there are variables, such as using tri-color foam, digital vs. mechanical timers, coin vac collection, etc. In general, the laundries wil take it a good bit more, and will not be affected as much by weather (actually doing better in winter than summer) but the overhead is higher since you will use a lot more water, sewer, and gas, plus electric bills can double in the summer when the A/C is on. The car washes are less "hands on" but still need to be tended to at least daily (pickup lot trash, empty waste containers, make sure equip is all working etc). If one washer is out of service, no biggie, but 1 bay of the car wash shuts down and there is a ton of potential business lost. And remember these machines (in either business) are being used by someone who could give a rat's ass if they are abusing them, so therer is repair and servicing that most be done (I have to repair about 5-10 washers or dryers per week on average, and usually a changer will go out of service every week or 2 somewhere which will require a special trip tp get the old wadded bill out or the bent quarter, usually on a Saturday or Sunday when I want to be with my family) Kids will also stick crap in the bill slot which will put it out of service and require a trip to remedy. The pro's everyone seems to know or at least assumes they do, but here are the cons:
1. Vandalism: From petty crap like kids writing on the walls (do not assume parents give a rats ass what their kids are doing) to out and out destruction of property by would be thieves, you should not get into this business if you take it personally, or it will kill you at an early age.
2. Theft: I will not say I have seen it all, but I have seen alot. I have seen people hang canvas over the front of a store with a "closed for repair sign", get a plasma cutter and take the whole changer out of a location. I have seen people do $8000 in damage to get $15.00 in quarters (and get caught less than 24 hours later). There are people who do nothing but figure out how to bypass the latest anti-theft measures on changers (can not go into details, but lets say I could clean out every changer in town if I wanted, and can get into the average "high security" coin safe on the washers or car wash vaults in less than 45 seconds without a key).
3. Competiton: The biggest problem with the industry is this: everyone thinks the car washes/laundires are easy money, and if you get a sucessful location that is doing really well, others will notice and want some of your action. So you may be doing really well, and someone puts up another location across the street or down the block, and you suddenly see a 20-40% decrease in revenue (or worse if you were running a crappy location, and they have all new stuff). They hope they can run you out of business, so it becomes a war of attrition and for years both of you suffer for it. Then if you or the other guy folds and the other starts making good money again, some other genius gets the same idea, and you start all over again.
4. Weather: For car washes this is important. In the South, we have bad pollen in the spring, which is great for business, but some of you may not have that benefit. The best weather otherwise is afternoon thundershowers like you see in the warmer months. A long period of days with rain every day will hurt business, since people do not like to wash a car when it's going to rain again the next day. On the other side, they do not need to wash when it never rains since (with the exception of pollen or maybe dusty areas) the car stays pretty clean. So odd weather can really hurt business.
1. Vandalism: From petty crap like kids writing on the walls (do not assume parents give a rats ass what their kids are doing) to out and out destruction of property by would be thieves, you should not get into this business if you take it personally, or it will kill you at an early age.
2. Theft: I will not say I have seen it all, but I have seen alot. I have seen people hang canvas over the front of a store with a "closed for repair sign", get a plasma cutter and take the whole changer out of a location. I have seen people do $8000 in damage to get $15.00 in quarters (and get caught less than 24 hours later). There are people who do nothing but figure out how to bypass the latest anti-theft measures on changers (can not go into details, but lets say I could clean out every changer in town if I wanted, and can get into the average "high security" coin safe on the washers or car wash vaults in less than 45 seconds without a key).
3. Competiton: The biggest problem with the industry is this: everyone thinks the car washes/laundires are easy money, and if you get a sucessful location that is doing really well, others will notice and want some of your action. So you may be doing really well, and someone puts up another location across the street or down the block, and you suddenly see a 20-40% decrease in revenue (or worse if you were running a crappy location, and they have all new stuff). They hope they can run you out of business, so it becomes a war of attrition and for years both of you suffer for it. Then if you or the other guy folds and the other starts making good money again, some other genius gets the same idea, and you start all over again.
4. Weather: For car washes this is important. In the South, we have bad pollen in the spring, which is great for business, but some of you may not have that benefit. The best weather otherwise is afternoon thundershowers like you see in the warmer months. A long period of days with rain every day will hurt business, since people do not like to wash a car when it's going to rain again the next day. On the other side, they do not need to wash when it never rains since (with the exception of pollen or maybe dusty areas) the car stays pretty clean. So odd weather can really hurt business.
I can't believe the timing of this thread. I'm actually looking into opening up this type of business myself.
I'm in the process of doing the initial due dilligence including scouting out locations. A good friend of mine is a loan officer and has financed several of these businesses. I'll be meeting with him next week to look at some hard numbers as well as the washes that he financed. In the meantime, I found a wealth of information on Dultmeier's website.
Here is some great information regarding the start-up requirements.
Better yet, right click on this and save the .pdf file.
I'm in the process of doing the initial due dilligence including scouting out locations. A good friend of mine is a loan officer and has financed several of these businesses. I'll be meeting with him next week to look at some hard numbers as well as the washes that he financed. In the meantime, I found a wealth of information on Dultmeier's website.
Here is some great information regarding the start-up requirements.
Better yet, right click on this and save the .pdf file.
That is some GREAT info to know. Thanks Dave for starting this thread and to all those contributing such great information.
I got something to think about now.....
I got something to think about now.....
I've been in the coin-op laundy business for the past 15 yrs and also have owned several laundromats . Its absolutely crazy to invest 200-300k on a coin laundromat if the building is leased.
Besides all the cons mentioned,don't trivialize the proccess of getting the proper permits for waste water or reclaiming water,taxes ect.Plus,more than likely you will have a closed loop system of waste water,and you can expect john q public to dump every manor of toxic waste down your drain,like motor oil and other stuff that uncle sam will charge you to dump legally.
steveny said:...and the alternative is????? I would rather get out of bed at 3am or leave a BBQ early once per week :biggrin: :biggrin: than have to get up:frown: and go to work
If you want to run a sucessful store, you will still be getting up every day. Also, I have 6 locations, which is 6 times the trouble and 6 times the calls to go fix something. It is unlikely anyone who owns one store does not have other sources of income, as the $$ isn't there.
Zennsx said:
It's not me setting the prices on the equipment. Also, investing in a leased building is fine as long as you have a good lease with renewal options in the contract.
docjohn said:
Good point, and one I overlooked for the Car Wash business. Every guy from a contruction site, off road excursion, etc. will come to you and wash mud off his truck into your pits. These are really fun to spend a day cleaning
I think anyone who wants to get into the car wash business should be required to do it one time first :biggrin: :biggrin:
docjohn said:
I agree, that is a very good point of view on it. One I had not even considered either.
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