$5 - 5 Minutes..

[CarWashBoy]

In today's World, if your site is 5 Star, and you are Not $5- 5 minutes in your bays, what a Shame.. .. It's not the Price you are charging, it's the Service and Goodies you Provide.. If your competition is out of date, and you are way above them, don't be afraid to Blow them away with a First Class Operation.. they will ditch the low price under Hi-Tech wash and come to You.. I see it all the time.. so many operators are afraid of spending money to UPGRADE.. they say "wow, I can't do that", Joe down the street is charging less.. Upgrade, Spend whatever it takes, even if you have to ROB a bank.. do it.. Just my two cents.. the SS customers are Searching for the GOOD stuff they want, it's not the Price.. I travel around the U.S. and see SO MANY JUNK SS Washes, it AMAZING.. they are sitting on GOLD and don't see it, and it makes a bad impression on the SS Biz.. most customers that I chat with have a Low (terrible experience) impression of a SS Wash.. they are Amazed when they find a good one.. Price is never mentioned.. Spend some Money if your site is out of date, and let's get the bad reputation of our industry out of the Ditch.. It's almost embarrassing to tell people what Business I'm in.. They look at me and think.. ???????, however, there are some Fantastic Operators as well.. Not many though.. I wish there were more!


Doug..

 

[robert roman]

I agree 100 percent.

 

[soonermajic]

I agree about 80%

 

[Kevin James]

Doug so where is this 5 Star car wash of yours? I'd like to swing by, take a look and copy what you've got going. How can you run a “5 Star” car wash travel all over the US looking at other junk car washes.

 

[Sparkleclean]

In today's World, if your site is 5 Star, and you are Not $5- 5 minutes in your bays, what a Shame.. .. It's not the Price you are charging, it's the Service and Goodies you Provide.. If your competition is out of date, and you are way above them, don't be afraid to Blow them away with a First Class Operation.. they will ditch the low price under Hi-Tech wash and come to You.. I see it all the time.. so many operators are afraid of spending money to UPGRADE.. they say "wow, I can't do that", Joe down the street is charging less.. Upgrade, Spend whatever it takes, even if you have to ROB a bank.. do it.. Just my two cents.. the SS customers are Searching for the GOOD stuff they want, it's not the Price.. I travel around the U.S. and see SO MANY JUNK SS Washes, it AMAZING.. they are sitting on GOLD and don't see it, and it makes a bad impression on the SS Biz.. most customers that I chat with have a Low (terrible experience) impression of a SS Wash.. they are Amazed when they find a good one.. Price is never mentioned.. Spend some Money if your site is out of date, and let's get the bad reputation of our industry out of the Ditch.. It's almost embarrassing to tell people what Business I'm in.. They look at me and think.. ???????, however, there are some Fantastic Operators as well.. Not many though.. I wish there were more!


Doug..

Your post made me think. I have the best self serve bay in my area. Pull straight through, wide entrances, modern and bright with equipment no other wash has, (underbody wand system). Only 2 other self serve bays in the area and one is pull in back out, so anyone with a trailer is **** out of luck. The other is old and beat with dirty concrete walls and dim lighting and even though it is pull through it is too tight around back to realistically get trailers around. Plus i am right on the third largest lake in new england. All summer long i get boat after boat after boat and my next door neighbor is a powersports store selling atv's jet skis etc..... long story short i just realized i am the absolute best self serve bay in town within 20 + miles and i am the only game in town for most rich big boy toy owners of boats, campers, anything on a trailer, etc.... and there are tons around here that use my bay. I am now contemplating a $5 for 5 to start or $4 for 3 to start increase. I am currently $3 for 3 plus $1 per minute after, which price wise is the same as $5 for 5 but i would get $2 extra bucks from anyone who would normally just put $3 in for a quick rinse. But a $4 for 3 minutes to start and $1 per minute after gets me an increase from everyone, and since i just realized my customers may not have anywhere else to go that may be my best bet to maximize profits from my 1 bay self serve (3 bay g-5 touchless) will i guy towing a 30 foot lon $150,000 formula care about an extra buck?

 

[Earl Weiss]

Are people on this forum aware of where these 5 Star $5/5 locations are? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Earl Weiss]

One of the Best SS I have seen and I think the videos show $3.00 to start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaPni54XzLc

 

[Eric H]

One of the Best SS I have seen and I think the videos show $3.00 to start.

Video is dated "2012" is this the current pricing? I am about to go from $3.50 for 4:40 to $4 for 5 minutes. I think, at least in my market, that $4 is about the threshold with a $3 express in close proximity.
I am already at $2 for 6 minutes on Vacuums while my SS competitor is still at $1.25 for 4 minutes and the Express wash has free Vacs.

 

[mjwalsh]

Does anyone besides me have tandem bays? We have that kind of setup. Regular customers are OK with driving forward when the bay in front opens up. If we had too high of a start up ... that could be a factor in no longer having that nicety for us. Not to sound like a broken record ... weather patterns & slushy conditions often enough make it so price is less relevant ... but mainly just during those prime "afterwards" conditions. Anybody have street icy conditions maintenance using "brownish beet juice" besides our locals?

 

[Earl Weiss]

Video is dated "2012" is this the current pricing?

I do not know. Different areas of the country certainly have different costs / charges for everything.

 

[CarWashBoy]

Hi .. My Wash is not 5 Star, but I'm working on it.. LOL..

 

[Earl Weiss]

Hi .. My Wash is not 5 Star, but I'm working on it.. LOL..

Well, where is it? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[CarWashBoy]

Doug so where is this 5 Star car wash of yours? I'd like to swing by, take a look and copy what you've got going. How can you run a “5 Star” car wash travel all over the US looking at other junk car washes.

Hi.. I'm in Central Oregon.. I travel a lot, however I have 2 Attendants .. sunrise to sundown.. 7 days per week.

 

[CarWashBoy]

Well, where is it? Inquiring minds want to know.

Hi Earl. I'm in Central Oregon..

 

[bighead]

Cool, I'm in NW Oregon and SW Washington... where you at? I'd love to swing by someday and say Hi

 

[Earl Weiss]

Hi Earl. I'm in Central Oregon..

Well, an address would be great so we could view on Google.

 

[Mel(NC)]

I do not agree at all that spending whatever it takes to become a “5 star” self-serve and charge $1/minute is a good business plan for all locations. I think there are many factors to consider including:
-Population density may not support the investment.
-Local economy may not support pricing.
-Customers with cars may decide it is more economical to go to exterior express wash at this price point.
-Not all customers will think that paying a premium for going to the absolute nicest location is the best value for their money. If this was the case, no one would shop at Walmart.

There is no doubt that customers will be attracted to the nicest location. However, there are so many factors to consider, I don’t think you can make a blanket statement about capital investment or pricing.

 

[Mel(NC)]

I agree 100 percent.

Robert, considering the numerous postings you have about the decline in the self serve industry, I am curious to know why you would agree with "spending what ever it takes" to have a world class car wash?