Opening a Car Wash

[dylancox]

Has anybody opened an auto car wash system or know someone who has? I would like to invest in one, but don't quite know where to start. I am able to source the machine, but who would be qualified to install it? How about finding a site, is it possible to rent out space from a shopping mall/service station rather than buying a site? Cheers.

[Mr Hardware]

A lot of the hand car wash cafe places are going into receivership atm because we're not in a drought anymore and people just wash their own cars generally.
If you had your location in your profile it would help.

[R1XSTA]

There's a carwash near my house, and its always busy.

The problem with these carwash's is its all done in a way thats.

Get in, get out within 10mins even when the car is "polished"

I had my car done there for the giggles, they 'polished' it, i went across the road and hit it with the high power hose, roughly 3 hours later. and all that smoothness was gone. Poor quality work, just to get the money in.

[chrisfpv]

Maybe drop down to a couple of your local ones and ask some questions and see if they can point you in the right direction.

Whats prompted the idea to open one mate? Is there money in the car wash business that I'm not aware of?

[GreenR]

To be honest I would of thought anybody who really cares for their car like people on this forum would not trust taking their car to a car wash.

[freeze_dk]

youll never lose with a carwash if you got good service and prices.. and stuff the machines.. all you need is a couple industrial vacuums,, and a couple of pressure washes.. then soaps,, chemicals,, chamios sponges.. the car wash i always go to is always packed,, sometimes have nowhere to park thats how busy it is

[R1XSTA]

I hate to be racist, but its all prodominantly staffed by Indians, Students mainly. Who need to make a cheap buck.

I applied for work at one near my house, they offered me $13 an hour, and told me that was the "going rate"

Put that into theory, when they have 4 staff per car.

$40 for a wash and "polish"
$20 for a vaccuum.
$30 for a interior shine
$10 for a window clean.
or all of the above for $70.

on average of just wash and 'polish' .. 10mins per car/60mins p/hour.

6cars per hour, 6x70 = $420 per hour.
8 staff on in a single day on a saturday. = Wage(13 p/h)xStaff(8)xHours(8) = $832 daily wages.

Straight away they're -$832.

Then over an 8 hour period, 6 cars per hour. Cars(6 p/h) x Wash & Polish (70) x Hours (8) = $3,360.

Total Gained (3,360) - Total Wages (832) = Total Profit (2,528) Per DAY.
1x20L bottle of product will get you close to 30 cars washed, and is roughly $140 per bottle.

There is money to be made in the Car Wash Industry.

[XYGTHO]

Hard part would be getting past your local council mate with problems with water run off, chemicals, recycling water etc. But good luck, is a great idea and doesn't matter what the business need to get past these first issues. There might be a few up front costs which might take a few months to break even etc.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by R1XSTA

I hate to be racist, but its all prodominantly staffed by Indians, Students mainly. Who need to make a cheap buck.

I applied for work at one near my house, they offered me $13 an hour, and told me that was the "going rate"

Put that into theory, when they have 4 staff per car.

$40 for a wash and "polish"
$20 for a vaccuum.
$30 for a interior shine
$10 for a window clean.
or all of the above for $70.

on average of just wash and 'polish' .. 10mins per car/60mins p/hour.

6cars per hour, 6x70 = $420 per hour.
8 staff on in a single day on a saturday. = Wage(13 p/h)xStaff(8)xHours(8) = $832 daily wages.

Straight away they're -$832.

Then over an 8 hour period, 6 cars per hour. Cars(6 p/h) x Wash & Polish (70) x Hours (8) = $3,360.

Total Gained (3,360) - Total Wages (832) = Total Profit (2,528) Per DAY.
1x20L bottle of product will get you close to 30 cars washed, and is roughly $140 per bottle.

There is money to be made in the Car Wash Industry.

I gues you do not know much about business

If it was that easy to make $2500 in a day everyone would be doing it

Even though they may be paying $13 per hour staff costs at least double to triple that per hour, there is a LOT more to it, workers comp, public liability, sick days, annual leave entilements etc etc all have to be payed.

Rent, insurance, power, water, council rates, penalty rates, gas, tax, accountants, cashier staff, cleaning staff, maintenance on premises, loans for equipment, equipment maintenance and replacement etc etc all have to be payed for.

And this is only the top of my head, and with the above you are assuming that the guys (staff) will be working every minute of the day, with no rest, no meals, no lunch, no morning tea, and that there is cars waiting in line to be washed from the minute the place opens till it closes. and that no staff stand around ever waiting for cars to come in.

[Robos F6]

And how about days lost when it rains. You still have to pay your overheads and staff.

[R1XSTA]

I'm more than aware of them. I listed them as your start base. I didn't want to start moving into the overheads, the costs. This is your basic margin for your basic day, and you remove the overheads from this cost run into a weekly figure.

I know about running a business, as i'm the assistant manager at my work currently, and dealing with all the overheads involved at the moment. we have our base figure, and work from that.

[Neale]

I did a bit of car washing when I was at school. I went around the nursing homes with a wheelbarrow & my stuff in it because I didnt have a car.

It was a great way to make some pocket money because the residents didnt have to go anywhere & alot of the older people found it hard to wash their car properly. Alot would book me in to wash the car the same time every month so there was alot of repeat business. Also I eneded up doing thier family's cars aswell when they visited on the weekends.

Turned into a great buisiness, but I left to do a signwriting Apprenticeship. I should have kept doing it.

Why dont you look into something like a mobile car wash aswell. Less start up, but I suppose more work in the long run. But you can charge more per car.

[StrokedXT]

Sounds like ge means an auto wash, so not many helpful replies so far

The only bit I can help with is yes you can lease space at servos, shopping centers etc.

[FGII-XR6]

this sounds right in theory but a lot of these operations are paying cash in hand to students on visas who work over their hours, or illegals. no workers comp no sickies probably no public liability

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I gues you do not know much about business

If it was that easy to make $2500 in a day everyone would be doing it

Even though they may be paying $13 per hour staff costs at least double to triple that per hour, there is a LOT more to it, workers comp, public liability, sick days, annual leave entilements etc etc all have to be payed.

Rent, insurance, power, water, council rates, penalty rates, gas, tax, accountants, cashier staff, cleaning staff, maintenance on premises, loans for equipment, equipment maintenance and replacement etc etc all have to be payed for.

And this is only the top of my head, and with the above you are assuming that the guys (staff) will be working every minute of the day, with no rest, no meals, no lunch, no morning tea, and that there is cars waiting in line to be washed from the minute the place opens till it closes. and that no staff stand around ever waiting for cars to come in.

[ZA-289]

If you install and auto wash and 3-4 self serve bays in the right spot you will never have to work again,

trouble is most of the good posts are taken but if you can think of someone to put one go for it.

[Adamz Ghia]

I know the bloke who runs a car wash in Geelong, from what he tells me, and he gave no exact figures, the start up costs for these operations are massive and will take a while to get on top of. It does make money eventually, but you need time and big $$$ up front.

[GT-Pete]

Originally Posted by R1XSTA

I hate to be racist, but its all prodominantly staffed by Indians, Students mainly. Who need to make a cheap buck.

I applied for work at one near my house, they offered me $13 an hour, and told me that was the "going rate"

Put that into theory, when they have 4 staff per car.

$40 for a wash and "polish"
$20 for a vaccuum.
$30 for a interior shine
$10 for a window clean.
or all of the above for $70.

on average of just wash and 'polish' .. 10mins per car/60mins p/hour.

6cars per hour, 6x70 = $420 per hour.
8 staff on in a single day on a saturday. = Wage(13 p/h)xStaff(8)xHours(8) = $832 daily wages.

Straight away they're -$832.

Then over an 8 hour period, 6 cars per hour. Cars(6 p/h) x Wash & Polish (70) x Hours (8) = $3,360.

Total Gained (3,360) - Total Wages (832) = Total Profit (2,528) Per DAY.
1x20L bottle of product will get you close to 30 cars washed, and is roughly $140 per bottle.

There is money to be made in the Car Wash Industry.

As others have said there are a LOT more things to consider before you know that this will be a viable business. "worrying about calculating overheads later" is not a wise business strategy.

[GT-Pete]

Originally Posted by Adamz Ghia

I know the bloke who runs a car wash in Geelong, from what he tells me, and he gave no exact figures, the start up costs for these operations are massive and will take a while to get on top of. It does make money eventually, but you need time and big $$$ up front.

Like any business........ lol, hence why we are not all filthy rich running our own carwashes

[Adamz Ghia]

Originally Posted by GT-Pete

Like any business........ lol, hence why we are not all filthy rich running our own carwashes

lol I get that and it was actually my point, but I have had this conversation many a times where people think carwashes are the easiest buck to make, and eventually they may be, but fair dinkum like you said, if it were that easy we'd all be doing it...

[Scott]

If you opened a carwash in my street, I'd use it.

[LTDHO]

I assumed you meant a manual car wash. Not a labour intensive and not a brush wash. If you haver the credit up front and with the right location, you will make a buck or two.

Do not go for a brush washer, or prepared to be sued.

[|||]

you should call it "the car day spa" and attract all the yummy mummies

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Do not go for a brush washer, or prepared to be sued.

they all have a disclaimer on their terms " all care but no responsibility" they cover themselves legally, also they normally quote a large number of things making a car unsuitable for the wash , in reality most cars have something fitting the unsuitable criteria so if someone tries to sue they just say you shouldn't have used the was your car was not suitable

[Tobey]

I used to work at a hand car wash, if it rains, you dont pay your workers.

We were on cash in hand, no tax, etc.

Biggest thing would be setting up the premises with necessary drainage/filtering/recycling...

[Dusty1]

Don't mean to be a cynic, but if they don't pay workers comp etc, and pay in hand, how good is the recycling/filtering?

Surely there's non-dolphin killing car soaps around now, and they use that little with the high pressure washes that this shouldn't be an issue now. Is it? I don't know.

There's one near where I live and there are always people washing their cars, there's a couple more where the helpful people from the sub-continent wash the cars, and they are always packed.

They also sell other stuff like coffee (what's the mark up there? 100%?) and other food and junk stuff for cars. There has to be money in it. But the location would be the killer.

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by au3xr6

they all have a disclaimer on their terms " all care but no responsibility" they cover themselves legally, also they normally quote a large number of things making a car unsuitable for the wash , in reality most cars have something fitting the unsuitable criteria so if someone tries to sue they just say you shouldn't have used the was your car was not suitable

You're preaching to the choir mate. :P

[xtremerus]

Originally Posted by R1XSTA

I hate to be racist, but its all prodominantly staffed by Indians, Students mainly. Who need to make a cheap buck.

I applied for work at one near my house, they offered me $13 an hour, and told me that was the "going rate"

Put that into theory, when they have 4 staff per car.

$40 for a wash and "polish"
$20 for a vaccuum.
$30 for a interior shine
$10 for a window clean.
or all of the above for $70.

on average of just wash and 'polish' .. 10mins per car/60mins p/hour.

6cars per hour, 6x70 = $420 per hour.
8 staff on in a single day on a saturday. = Wage(13 p/h)xStaff(8)xHours(8) = $832 daily wages.

Straight away they're -$832.

Then over an 8 hour period, 6 cars per hour. Cars(6 p/h) x Wash & Polish (70) x Hours (8) = $3,360.

Total Gained (3,360) - Total Wages (832) = Total Profit (2,528) Per DAY.
1x20L bottle of product will get you close to 30 cars washed, and is roughly $140 per bottle.

There is money to be made in the Car Wash Industry.

Those figures are not a 'basic margin for a basic day', they are a MAXIMUM revenue possible for that crew.
You state the time figures on a basic 'wash & polish' of 10 min. which you get $40 for, then you do your sums on charging them $70 for it.
Please explain.

[FgNewbie]

Originally Posted by au3xr6

they all have a disclaimer on their terms " all care but no responsibility" they cover themselves legally, also they normally quote a large number of things making a car unsuitable for the wash , in reality most cars have something fitting the unsuitable criteria so if someone tries to sue they just say you shouldn't have used the was your car was not suitable

"all care but no responsibility" got dealt with a long time ago

ACC warranties and refunds pdf

Services – ‘no responsibility’ policies

Service providers must also not mislead
consumers about their rights – for example, by
implying that consumers have no rights if services
are not carried out with due care and skill.

Misleading claims may include:

• No responsibility for loss or damage.
• Goods left for repair at your own risk.
• All care taken but no responsibility.

ACCC action against businesses that
mislead consumers

The ACCC treats misleading conduct very
seriously, and can take court action against
businesses that mislead or deceive consumers
about their rights. This can result in fines of up
to $1.1 million for businesses and $220 000 for
individuals.

[Spudz27]

Value for money is a big factor. We have 2 washes here, Car wash one has 3 bays and 1 automatic. The bays just do your usual stuff, pre soak, wash, clear coat etc. The auto wash is just high pressure boom that rotates around your car. The Auto is between $10 and $14 depending on what you want done, the manual bays are $2 for 2mins.

Car Wash number 2 it has 5 bays and an auto. The Auto one looks like a brush wash but it is actually pressure spray, the nozzles on top move side to side and as they come over the car, they come down on a boom and once at front that boom twists so it is facing the bumper and then does it's side to side thing. It also has 2 wheel scrubs and it is pretty good at cleaning the rims, but if I had chromies or really expensive rims I prob wouldn't want it. This wash does all your usual stuff, but it also dries. A wash is between $10 and $15, $10 is basic, $13 is everything but dry and $15 is the works, so already they are charging the ame as the first car wash, but offering way better service. As for their manual bays, all have wash, wax, clear coat etc, but they also have a blow dryer so you can dry your car. For your $2 you get 3mins, now that is the best value for money I have seen at any car wash I have ever been to. They also have drink and coffee machines, carpet shampooer, 3 vacuum's and a dog wash. There is also a friendly person there who walks around and will show you how to use the car wash if need be, also a few times been washing the car and noticed my time not running out and it because the owner has just randomly gone around and dropped credits into the bays people are using. You can guess which one I use lol. It is all about service and value for money.

[nuthin' fancy]

A mate of mine has one in country NSW. Looked at the site, land was relatively cheap from the council, plenty of fishing traffic, drought in full swing.

After seven years he has now paid off the equipment and is starting to get a reasonable return from it. Until now he has just provided jobs for the workers and paid some tax.

He'll make his money when the council move through traffic one block back so it passes his car wash and he'll sell the site to a developer.

Conclusion:

The money is in the location and the land upon which the car wash operates. You have to find a good location cheap.

Droughts are good for business, full dams are not.