Need Advice

Hello All
I am looking for a good touchless car wash. what you guys recommen ryko radius, PDQ , mark V11 etc. I am new in this business. PLease advice.

oasis typhoon. cleanest car and the quickest machine hands down.My one machine will keep up with any other two machines out there.... my own opinion

Hi , thanks for the reply. Any idea how much are typhoon wash. Also, what do u think about the ryko.

please advice

Let the debate begin Michael, Nothing out cleans a PDQ G5...nothing. The typhoon is fast...considering it is 2 car washes in one. I know that’s an advantage, but you pay for that advantage. How does it clean the best though? Efficiency? You can’t tell me the Typhoon is more efficient on water and chemicals.

I am bias because I work for a PDQ distributor, and worked at a car wash that had PDQ Equipment. Mike owns a Typhoon, possible kick back if he refers someone that buys one? That has yet to be determined…totally just kidding about that.

And I don’t think many people would disagree with me if I said to stay away from Ryko touchfree. The Water Wizard 2.0 might be worth a look.

What is this wash for? Stand alone, added to a self serve, or C-Store? Are you dead set on touch free? If you are new to the industry it would probably be wise to look into the companies that represent each of these manufactures, and find out which one is the strongest, has the best reputation and could give you the best support in your area.

I believe the chemicals play a bigger part in producing a clean car. Especially with a touchless.

I would begin by identifying the criteria you plan to use to make the comparisons to support your decision. Here are a few examples.

1) How many cars do you need to wash in an hour? If the site is projected to wash 20,000 vehicles, you should plan for an in-bay automatic capable of cleaning and drying about 20 cars per hour or two in-bay automatics each capable of at least 10 cars per hour. Otherwise, you will have exceedingly long waiting lines during busy periods. The longer the waiting line, the less likely you will achieve the annual projections.

2) What products and services do you intent to offer? Side/wheel blasters, wheel brush attachments, triple foam, rain shield and tire shine are essential if you are looking to maximize profits but these options also drive up the cost of equipment significantly.

3) What prices do you intent to charge? For example, if you understand the site’s sales volume potential, you can use anticipated price, sales mix and operating expense to determine how much equipment you can afford to purchase or your budget.

Another good one is to ask each distributor how long it will take them to response to a service call.

The average base price for a touch-less in-bay automatic is about $75,000. With options and installation, figure a total cost of $100,000 to $125,000.

The average base price for a “fast” in-bay automatic is about $100,000. With options and installation, figure a total cost of $140,000 to $175,000.

1) You could get by with 1 automatic doing 20,000 cars a year. That’s about 55 a day. You have more than 2 1/2 hours to do business in a day.

2) I don't think any of the things you listed drive up the cost significantly. Maybe if you add them all up, and times it by 2, but the ROI is well worth it. Tire Shine in an IBA might be a bit of a headache.

3) That’s a lot of stuff to analyze.

Most IBA’s can be as fast as you want them to be, price is typically not a determining factor. Except for a small hand full of manufactures.

1.Chem usage is no different then any other machine out there 2. water usage is highier in a typhoon but only around 25%. But I'm cuurently washing 40K cars per a year out of one machine. It does sit next to my 120ft cloth tunnel which has traffic going through always so I do grab a lot from that too. but on a saturday I will have 9-10 cars waiting 10 hours a day because people know the speed of machine and know the wait will only be around 15-20 minutes. my base wash is a 75 seconds for a midsize car and get a mint looking car everytime. just my 2 cents like I said before. just a question to throw out there. the most ever car count this last winter was 334 cars. no attendant loading eithier. any other ONE IBA doing the same numbers

yeah, I know your Typhoon kicks butt. I don't have much experience with them, but from the ones that I have seen the spray arm goes back and fourth across the front and back spraying soap several times over, that’s just a waste of soap.

I have a hand full of single bay G5s that do over 45k a year, that’s pretty much the wash running 10-12 hours a day non stopped. I would think if you are 9-10 cars deep 10 hours a day, at the speed your Typhoon washes your car count should be closer to 55-60k a year? What’s the most you have ever done in a year on the Typhoon?

my typhoon is only 3 years old 2009 we did 40k. a terrible weather year here in NH. hopefully this year we will be closer to 50k. with a good last winter and an awesome pollen season now so far we have our fingers crossed to hit that goal.

When you wash that many cars in a day, 2 weeks of bad weather must absolutely kill you...that’s the beauty of the business though. It's a 2 way street.

Thanks Guys for all the input.
Right now I just got one quote from Ryko , waiting from others
What you guys think of ryko Radius HP?
Please advice

regards

Whats your average cost to wash a car in an in bay? And what are your price points? I'm thinking about talking to a few C stores that have there Car wash bay closed and see if they'll rent it to me, and if it has the equipment in it. Lease it or give them a kick back on it. Whats your thoughts??

Jordan, that is a good idea. Average cost depends on many factors, chemicals...maybe 55 cents a wash. The most used price point now is 6,7,9. I would do it based on a percentage of washes sold through their pumps. If your paystion accepts cash or credit cards then thats all yours. However, depending on the wash location it might be a good idea to just accept codes.

So what percentage is good to give the C store owner? I think I read on here 6% is that right? Is that after gross or net sales??

Going the net route leaves a gray area, I would do gross. or a flat rate per wash. Either way 6% is pretty low considering the high cost of credit card transactions, but if thats the deal you can swing, batter up.

Common, Mike, you have to admit your in-bay volume is in the exceptional range and not even close to the norm. For example, I'm sure you pump far more gasoline than the typical 100,000 gallons a month. Plus, you have a conveyor wash. Moreover, you mention nothing about the level of competition you face.

I live in a county of about 280 square miles with one million people. Most folks here won't wait 5 minutes at a customer service desk without throwing a hissy fit let alone wait 20 minutes in line for a mediocre carwash at an in-bay. Consequently, you will find very few gas stations here washing 20,000 or more cars a year. I don't know maybe people in NH like waiting in excessively long lines.

competion-8 carwashes within 3miles,(one wash just foreclosed on though) our washes price ranges for the IBA $5-12 with Free Vacuum and $8-$16 for the cloth tunnel with Free Vacuum. Seeing the IBA is connected to the tunnel we offer courtsey towels and glass cleaner to use during business hours along with the free vacuum. Seeing all the other IBA in the area are standalone and unattended we offer a great extra for the IBA customers not many other places can do. We wash over 100,000 cars yearly in our tunnel, we have promoted the IBA wash with coupons to those customers(cloth tunnel) not to switch to use the IBA but offer before and after hour specials for those customers, eithier way they can come come 24hr a day and get a wash with free vacuum. typhoon washes duallys, conversion vans, hummer H1, and tow trucks. grabbed all those people. emailed all the local car dealerships and told them that we had a carwash that accomodate these type of vehicles, an eaiser sale for the dealer if they can tell the buyer there is a local carwash that accomdate larger vehicles. called all the local airport shuttles services and taxis offering fleet discounts especially with the free vacuum 24hrs a day helps them out. I think being in business for 55 years helps and having the an attendant at the tunnel qho can assist 10 hours a day helps. people know that our lot will have someone on it 7a-6p if there is any problems. people here in NH will wait for a great service with good value all day long.

also the pay station has bill back capability, we are the only wash in the area to have bill back feature so people do like and travel extra for they dont need exact change to not get a handful of of quarters. we also offer twitter and facebook discounts for the IBA only and not the tunnel wash. cloudy day specials people get texted to them for the IBA with a code for discount. I dont think it just the mang. of the IBA that makes numbers high its how you work it to your advantage to maximize your car count. a few extras here nad there make a big diifrence in the end. my own opinion....