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Dumbfounded with this wash in Bloomington, IN.

I.B. Washincars

I.B. Washincars

Car Washer Emeritus
I saw this new wash yesterday and couldn't believe what I was seeing. It's not yet open, but equipment is being installed. It's perpendicular to the street and at first glance it appears to be a 6 bay SS. We were in the Culver's drive thru next door. The farthest bay was empty at this point. What I couldn't believe, was what I saw in all 5 of the others. All had 4 blower standalone dryers, and some were in various stages of IBA installation. Is this going to be a 5, maybe 6 bay IBA site? It looked like a tight lot and not on a corner. I know I'm not familiar with that area, but whoever is doing this, as my former partner would say "Must have balls as big as jeep tires!"

If you want to try to find it on Google, it's on 3rd St. and next to Culver's.

Edit: After I pulled it up on streetview, I guess it's technically on a corner, but the street dead ends at the back of the property and at this point functions as a shared access to Culver's.
 
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I have seen a similar setup. Six IBA, if I recall 3 TF and 3 Softcloth. Owner gave a presentation at NRCC or ICA a few years ago. Looked cool and the pics he used showed lines for all the IBAs. The thought is several fold. Costs less than a tunnel to build, can handle similar volume as most tunnels, has redundancy in event of equipment issue, caters to both types of customers (no touch and must touch), has enough volume to offer a monthly program and not lose their shirt, can be more competitive against a tunnel monthly program and charge a premium for the plans since they are always open. And there was a few other benefits I cannot recall. If I find their website I will add it to the thread.
 
Roz said:
I have seen a similar setup. Six IBA, if I recall 3 TF and 3 Softcloth. Owner gave a presentation at NRCC or ICA a few years ago. Looked cool and the pics he used showed lines for all the IBAs. The thought is several fold. Costs less than a tunnel to build, can handle similar volume as most tunnels, has redundancy in event of equipment issue, caters to both types of customers (no touch and must touch), has enough volume to offer a monthly program and not lose their shirt, can be more competitive against a tunnel monthly program and charge a premium for the plans since they are always open. And there was a few other benefits I cannot recall. If I find their website I will add it to the thread.
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That owner must have never built a tunnel. There is no way it costs less than a tunnel. Tunnel equipment is 500k to 1M. The IBAS alone will be 1.2M. Now you need 12 doors instead of 2 thats a 120K. 6 Pay stations instead of 2 thats 240K. 6 of everything including dryers set ups, menu signs, in bay signs, in floor heating, and the list goes on. Building itself would also cost more.
 
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Probably 80% of sites cant even support 2 IBA to justify them. A six bay IBA better wash over 1200 cars a day.

This is a great example of what happens when a distributor gets his hands on someone with too much money and no experience. Any honest distributor who actually cares about their customer would have told them to slow down. Maybe build the building, get the prep work ready for all 6, but only install 2 and see what their volume is. Expand as needed.

Considering it's an attorney that owns this probably doesn't know the difference between sae and metric. He won't be spending his Sundays wrenching. So not only does this distributor get a huge sale but also recurring revenue from service of these machines for as long as this place is in operation and has the owner by his coattails.
 
check out Executive Laser Wash in iowa, they have multiple locations like this. i came across one a few years back and if it’s the wash i remember it had about 6 touchless ibas. it was dark out when i was there and there was at least 6 cars there washing. i was very impressed! i also remember that it was an upper income area
 
Islandwash said:
An interesting concept of multiple IBA 's . This may be an answer for the smaller owner operator to the overbuilt Private Equity conveyor juggernaut.
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We need to just be patient as annoying as that is. Major PE are already bellyflopping. This is not the business for suits. Anyone who is in it understands that. The industry has slowed down tremendously this last year. You cant give everything away for free for so long and expect to turn a profit. Once this waves over which will be soon then it's only a matter of time that us operators who actually understand the business will be able to steal these 5 million dollar overspent sites for 500k-1m. Did that during last recession a few times. Save your cash now. Financing won't be available.
 
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In terms of throughout, I don’t see how even 6 IBA’s can match a tunnel. Realistically, you probably can only squeeze 12-13 cph out of a single IBA. That’s 72-78 cph for the site. The big tunnels are easily doing 100+. Now, how often is there a need to push that volume through- that depends. You also have to consider that the IBA’s will be washing 24/7, but I just don’t think they can match that peak demand of a tunnel. We have those days around me when it hits 30° and is sunny in the months of December - March after a snowfall and every car is white with salt. That demand will happen on weekends and in the afternoon hours especially when people are driving home from work.
 
... all IBA's... maybe it is a larger initial outflow of cash and they see the return with 24/7 operations without requiring an employee be hired
 
jack954 said:
check out Executive Laser Wash in iowa, they have multiple locations like this. i came across one a few years back and if it’s the wash i remember it had about 6 touchless ibas. it was dark out when i was there and there was at least 6 cars there washing. i was very impressed! i also remember that it was an upper income area
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That was the guy who presented! Thank you for finding it. Clearly my memory faded a bit as they are all TF. I probably super imposed my thought of doing half TF and half Soft cloth.


I was amazed at how many locations they had so the numbers must be working. All the presentations about the cost to build a tunnel start at $2.5M without land cost for a basic tunnel and escalate quickly to $5M or more. I have never built a tunnel but know some real world costs from some friends (pre covid). I have firsthand numbers for IBA. My guess is that a 6 bay TF like this one will cost $2M, less if you have a construction business owner as a partner or depending on the equipment used. If installing six units in one location with plans for more locations I would expect some decent discount.

The Proforma for such a place is no different than a tunnel but probably easier to achieve since you are always open. I would go this way before ever considering a tunnel.

The guys making the presentation seemed very sharp and had nothing to sell us. With respect to volume through the place it all
Comes down to location.

Anyhow thank you for the assistance finding the place as my memory ages.
 
Blanco said:
That owner must have never built a tunnel. There is no way it costs less than a tunnel. Tunnel equipment is 500k to 1M. The IBAS alone will be 1.2M. Now you need 12 doors instead of 2 thats a 120K. 6 Pay stations instead of 2 thats 240K. 6 of everything including dryers set ups, menu signs, in bay signs, in floor heating, and the list goes on. Building itself would also cost more.
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I still think it would cost less than the tunnels they are building around here. Three years ago I was told by a popular car wash lender that the average Express Exterior was coming in at 4.5MM all in.
 
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Roz said:
That was the guy who presented! Thank you for finding it. Clearly my memory faded a bit as they are all TF. I probably super imposed my thought of doing half TF and half Soft cloth.


I was amazed at how many locations they had so the numbers must be working. All the presentations about the cost to build a tunnel start at $2.5M without land cost for a basic tunnel and escalate quickly to $5M or more. I have never built a tunnel but know some real world costs from some friends (pre covid). I have firsthand numbers for IBA. My guess is that a 6 bay TF like this one will cost $2M, less if you have a construction business owner as a partner or depending on the equipment used. If installing six units in one location with plans for more locations I would expect some decent discount.

The Proforma for such a place is no different than a tunnel but probably easier to achieve since you are always open. I would go this way before ever considering a tunnel.

The guys making the presentation seemed very sharp and had nothing to sell us. With respect to volume through the place it all
Comes down to location.

Anyhow thank you for the assistance finding the place as my memory ages.
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I think you need to add another million or more. IIRC Phil told me that the four bay United Auto Wash cost 3.2MM. It's possible that he told me instead that's what it would cost now. (and that was two years ago)
 
I could see the merits in a six bay touchless site if you have some serious volume in the area. Being open 24/7 helps some and it would need less labor. If it were me, I would try to get the Express type IBAs and have less of them. If set up right, an Autec In-Bay-Express can put out around 30 CPH. Three of those gets you close to tunnel output. The EV-1 Turbo machine can wash touchless also so you can still get those type customers.
 
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