Which would increase profit

[curtisc83]

If I only had to just choose one which would increase profits the most.

A brand new Sonny's I5 IBA with dryers and all options added on.

Or

Adding a Sonny's dryer system to a existing Vector Wash IBA and getting all new vacuums something multifunctional such as fragrances, super vac and shampooer.

Also I am also thinking of offering a weekend wipe down service for any of the two options is that a good idea to increase profits or a waste of time?

 

[Buzzie8]

I think we need more info to respond. Do you currently have an IBA or are you upgrading? Most of your revenues will come from your IBA if you do not have one, or your current IBA is not cleaning well (and putting on a good show). I would focus my upgrades in this area before any other area you mentioned. With this said, there are many variables that will be important to your wash's success. Good lighting, clean atmosphere, everything operating properly will be more important to your revenues than adding a fragrance or shampooer. You should evaluate every part of your wash and try to rate it (without bias) against your nearest competition. This will give you some insight as to where you should reinvest into your business.

 

[curtisc83]

I think we need more info to respond. Do you currently have an IBA or are you upgrading? Most of your revenues will come from your IBA if you do not have one, or your current IBA is not cleaning well (and putting on a good show). I would focus my upgrades in this area before any other area you mentioned. With this said, there are many variables that will be important to your wash's success. Good lighting, clean atmosphere, everything operating properly will be more important to your revenues than adding a fragrance or shampooer. You should evaluate every part of your wash and try to rate it (without bias) against your nearest competition. This will give you some insight as to where you should reinvest into your business.

Yes I currently own a IBA Vector wash with no dryers its been in operation since 2003. Also my Car Wash has 5 self service bays.

 

[easywash]

Add the Dryer

Yes I currently own a IBA Vector wash with no dryers its been in operation since 2003. Also my Car Wash has 5 self service bays.

Add the Dryer to all packages and raise your prices accordingly.

 

[Waxman]

Why would you tear out a Vector that's working properly?

Add your blowers. Look at Dryer Pros, as well. Formerly Superior. They make nice blowers.

Careful of limited time service offerings because when you are not offering them, customers may perceive your services as 'less than'.

What about a free self-service towel dry station? I offer this at my IBA and got the idea from Soapy here on the ACF. Customers love it.

 

[curtisc83]

Add the Dryer to all packages and raise your prices accordingly.

Problem is the person we bought it from was already charging a premium for a IBA wash without dryers. So when I do get dryers I don't think I can raise the price. On the weekend I have seen people use my IBA and then proceed to wipe off there cars themselves. I'm hoping a dryer will attract more people.

 

[curtisc83]

Why would you tear out a Vector that's working properly?

Add your blowers. Look at Dryer Pros, as well. Formerly Superior. They make nice blowers.

Careful of limited time service offerings because when you are not offering them, customers may perceive your services as 'less than'.

What about a free self-service towel dry station? I offer this at my IBA and got the idea from Soapy here on the ACF. Customers love it.

I'm wondering whats the usual life span of a Vector Wash? And since everything on most IBA's is replaceable do they ever wear out or just become obsolete?

One reason I am even considering getting a Sonny's IBA is I would like to be proactive instead of reactive. It seems like Express Exteriors are popping up everywhere these days and I would hate to lose my customers to them.

So your saying if I offer a weekend wipe down service I may discourage customers from coming to my Car Wash on the weekdays. Is that because they may feel like they are paying the same price for a lesser service.

The free self service dry station sounds interesting do you have a full time attendant watching it?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Over half of my customers use a dryer wash, my top two washes. It is a premium service and should be charged for. Do not put it on the cheaper washes. You want to give them a reason to buy a more expensive wash. The most frequent question I get when assisting a customer is "Which one dries the car?". Also, there are some vehicles that don't want/need blowers blowing trash or loosely attatched parts from them. The vector is fine, just add the dryer. If you are apprehensive about raising the price, why don't you leave your best wash as is and offer another identical wash with the dryer and charge a dollar more?

Why don't you post your menu and prices here? That may give us a little better idea of what you could do to help your bottom line.

 

[briteauto]

Your two choices seem worlds apart - either keep an existing touchfree machine, or buy a new friction machine. What is better in your market? Do the other touchfree machines in your area clean - does yours? Are people reluctant to use friction in your market? Would you be the only friction wash in the area?

If your vector died today and you had to replace it, would you replace it with an i5? If yes, than you obviously think you can do better in your market with a friction. If you are going to lay down some serious $ into your business, and want to offer a product that you can charge more for, you should get the machine that can do that for you.

Like one of the previous posts said, the bulk of your revenue will be generated by the IBA - it will take a lot of shampooing and fragrances to equal what you can do with a good IBA that allows you to charge for the quality it provides.

 

[briteauto]

One other thing - scrap the weekend wipe down. IMO - Not a good idea to have an inconsistency in services depending on the day of the week. Give the customer a quality wash, spot free rinse and blow dry - they can get that any time on any day. Any water left will not be an issue.

If they are still compelled to wipe down, vend wipe down cloths for $1, but don't get into labor for this.

 

[curtisc83]

Why would you tear out a Vector that's working properly?

Add your blowers. Look at Dryer Pros, as well. Formerly Superior. They make nice blowers.

Careful of limited time service offerings because when you are not offering them, customers may perceive your services as 'less than'.

What about a free self-service towel dry station? I offer this at my IBA and got the idea from Soapy here on the ACF. Customers love it.

My Vector IBA is working fine but with all these new Express Exteriors being built I am thinking I need to be more proactive instead of reactive to grow my customer base. I am going to add blowers no matter what it is way over due and I feel it is something customers will like.

I never thought of the weekend wipe down service like that before. Customers thinking of my Car Wash on the weekdays as "Less Than" service is a very enlightening view point.

Do you have a full time worker at your free self service towel station?

 

[curtisc83]

Over half of my customers use a dryer wash, my top two washes. It is a premium service and should be charged for. Do not put it on the cheaper washes. You want to give them a reason to buy a more expensive wash. The most frequent question I get when assisting a customer is "Which one dries the car?". Also, there are some vehicles that don't want/need blowers blowing trash or loosely attatched parts from them. The vector is fine, just add the dryer. If you are apprehensive about raising the price, why don't you leave your best wash as is and offer another identical wash with the dryer and charge a dollar more?

Why don't you post your menu and prices here? That may give us a little better idea of what you could do to help your bottom line.

Here are our packages for our Vector IBA (No Dryer yet)

Express: 2 presoaks 1 rinse 1 spot free $6
Express Plus: Undercarriage wash, 2 presoaks, 1 rinse, 1 spot free $7
Express Deluxe: Undercarriage wash, 2 presoaks, 1 wax, 1 rinse, 1 spot free $8
Express Ultimate:Undercarriage wash, 2 presoaks, 1 triple foam, 1 wax, 1 rinse, 1 spot free $9

We were told that its already priced at a premium.

 

[curtisc83]

Here is the website to my Car Wash.

http://lagovistacarwash.com/

 

[briteauto]

My Vector IBA is working fine but with all these new Express Exteriors being built I am thinking I need to be more proactive instead of reactive to grow my customer base. I am going to add blowers no matter what it is way over due and I feel it is something customers will like.

I never thought of the weekend wipe down service like that before. Customers thinking of my Car Wash on the weekdays as "Less Than" service is a very enlightening view point.

Do you have a full time worker at your free self service towel station?

I do not have a free towel station, but when I have an attendant on duty, it is for clean up, answering questions etc. - never to assist in cleaning, unless there is a disabled or elderly person in a ss who wants/needs help - that is a no-brainer.

I just don't ever want someone to see or receive something one day, and then not get it or not have it available another day. It is just my take on things. I would rather offer all of the customers the same services all of the time.

If you have express exteriors for competition, a Sonny's i5 - or any good friction machine of your choice, will allow you to compete better. Like I said, if you clean the car well, use a good DA and SFR, whatever your blowers miss will be a non issue - the car will be clean and spot free.

Plus, the friction will clean the cars better and probably faster, and your results will be more like that of an express exterior.

I don't intend to start any arguments, but the friction machines clean a larger variety of soils more consistently - so you will generally offer a better wash to more customers - like an EE.

I make this statement as an owner of both friction and touchfree washes - not trying to open up a can of worms on the forum.

Last time I looked on the Sonny's site, they have kind of an EE IBA concept. Sure, it won't be as fast as a conveyor, but by taking care of several functions of the wash while driving in and out of the bay, the wash is significantly faster. Also see that Autec has something like that too.

 

[rph9168]

The best thing to investigate if you are able to make a change would be a short friction tunnel if it would fit on your site. There are several new configurations on the market today that do a good, consistent job of cleaning and can handle a decent amount of volume. There is no question that a touch free automatic is definitely at a handicap to compete with an express tunnel. As some have already mentioned concentrate on getting the best results possible at a competitive price.

 

[curtisc83]

I do not have a free towel station, but when I have an attendant on duty, it is for clean up, answering questions etc. - never to assist in cleaning, unless there is a disabled or elderly person in a ss who wants/needs help - that is a no-brainer.

I just don't ever want someone to see or receive something one day, and then not get it or not have it available another day. It is just my take on things. I would rather offer all of the customers the same services all of the time.

If you have express exteriors for competition, a Sonny's i5 - or any good friction machine of your choice, will allow you to compete better. Like I said, if you clean the car well, use a good DA and SFR, whatever your blowers miss will be a non issue - the car will be clean and spot free.

Plus, the friction will clean the cars better and probably faster, and your results will be more like that of an express exterior.

I don't intend to start any arguments, but the friction machines clean a larger variety of soils more consistently - so you will generally offer a better wash to more customers - like an EE.

I make this statement as an owner of both friction and touchfree washes - not trying to open up a can of worms on the forum.

Last time I looked on the Sonny's site, they have kind of an EE IBA concept. Sure, it won't be as fast as a conveyor, but by taking care of several functions of the wash while driving in and out of the bay, the wash is significantly faster. Also see that Autec has something like that too.

What are considered good brands for friction machines?

 

[Greg Pack]

Hard to answer this without knowing your market. Are the local C-stores offering friction washes? And is you market in danger of express encroachment- Is it big enough?

In 2006 I bought a wash with two vectors. We have tough road film conditions here and the vectors just couldn't cut it. I pulled out two five year old vectors and replaced them with water wizards. The water wizards are much better at high pressure impingement that any inverted L I have seen and IMO does a better job cleaning. The response was extremely positive. However, they are not perfect and nothing cleans better than beating the dirt off the car so if I had a chance to do it again, I would have installed at least one friction machine. A good one has the best chance of competing on a similar level of wash quality with an express tunnel.

If you think you have the site that will do the volume if given the chance, I would look into the mini tunnel. Tim Jones in Nashville has installed a couple of them and (I think) have seen site gross revenues increase 50-100%

My experience have been that vacuum combo units are very slow to pay for themselves.

 

[curtisc83]

Hard to answer this without knowing your market. Are the local C-stores offering friction washes? And is you market in danger of express encroachment- Is it big enough?

In 2006 I bought a wash with two vectors. We have tough road film conditions here and the vectors just couldn't cut it. I pulled out two five year old vectors and replaced them with water wizards. The water wizards are much better at high pressure impingement that any inverted L I have seen and IMO does a better job cleaning. The response was extremely positive. However, they are not perfect and nothing cleans better than beating the dirt off the car so if I had a chance to do it again, I would have installed at least one friction machine. A good one has the best chance of competing on a similar level of wash quality with an express tunnel.

If you think you have the site that will do the volume if given the chance, I would look into the mini tunnel. Tim Jones in Nashville has installed a couple of them and (I think) have seen site gross revenues increase 50-100%

My experience have been that vacuum combo units are very slow to pay for themselves.

My Car Wash is in Lago Vista, TX (Pop 5000) and the nearest Express is about 14 miles away in Cedar Park, TX. That sounds far but it really isn't Cedar Park is in North Austin, TX so everyone travels from Lago to Cedar for basically anything and everything. The only thing we have that Cedar doesn't is we are located on Lake Travis which helps during the summer months. Also we are the only Car Wash in Lago Vista which is great but I feel people are going to the Express in Cedar since they head that way anyway.

 

[Kevin James]

Do you have any signage to draw attention to your car wash? Banners, “A” board signs etc. Is there any Inbay competition in the area? Is this car wash on the main road?

 

[curtisc83]

So me and the wife looked into how much we make annually with the IBA and its around 36k a year. We pull close to 100k a year total with the IBA and the SS bays together. I have been reading that IBA's tend to be the money makers at most car washes so based off that logic I could increase profits with a new friction IBA. Is my logic sound? I do agree that my touch less doesn't wash as good as a friction wash it washes great but in my opinion nothing beats rubbing the dirt off.