Buying 1 in bay with 5 SS - not operational

[mcwashes]

New here to posting but I've been reading an trying to educate myself a bit. At the point where I have a property I can buy, I have already negotiated the price but I'm not sure how many washes to expect, how much the new equipment will be, or if I can rehab what's already there. We're getting access in a couple days and I'll post a bunch of photos if I can.

Currently 12k VPD on one street and another 3k from the side street. Prior owner had this as their first location and expanded to several more before they had an accident at another location that forced them into BK. So, no financials on it and everything I'm basing the future performance on is a guess as I've never owned a car wash. The real estate itself is worth just under what I'm offering so it's a covered land play if nothing else. Just trying to get an idea of how many washes I should expect per day. Located in Texas.

I've seen the financials of other listed sites but without knowing how many washes they do, or customers they see, I'm not sure what they're getting avg per vehicle or how many convert from VPD to paying customers. Any advice here would be great.

Thanks in advance

 

[Keno]

There are so many variables, vpd is one of them, but probably not as high up on the list IMO. Self Serve is too hard to guess, demographics and median income play a significant role. Price is always negotiable again if equipment is in way worse condition than you expect. A new IBA will run 200k+ installed, so equipment cost could be a big factor depending on condition.

 

[OurTown]

Another variable to add to Keno's list is how much effort you want to put into it. Do you have a lot of time to put into it or not?

 

[mcwashes]

Thanks for replies. I wanted to add some pictures of the equipment and I’m hoping to get inside to send some of that equipment. Any feedback you all have on the items would be helpful.

 

[mcwashes]

Another variable to add to Keno's list is how much effort you want to put into it. Do you have a lot of time to put into it or not?

To answer your question here, I have time to work on it and in an ideal world there would be room inside the building for me to setup a small makeshift office and be onsite to manage the Carwash, get it up and running and then potentially flip it once it has a set of books. I can do my traditional real estate work on site or from my other office but I have a flexible schedule

 

[Roz]

everything is a leap of faith, hard work, and smart decisions. In short I got into the business by accident almost 10 years ago. Attended an auction for a place run into the ground where little to nothing worked. People in the industry were super kind to me and educated me about the industry in quick order. Every day since has been some sort of learning experience about equipment or customers. No regrets here. I have invested much more money on equipment and renovations than on the land/building but it has paid off many times over with a flourishing business. No guarantees but make changes over time and as the business grows. I now have three locations so clearly you will get the bug after your first success. Good luck, do not overthink things. As someone once said to me it is better to retire with good memories than unfulfilled dreams. Go for it.

 

[mcwashes]

everything is a leap of faith, hard work, and smart decisions. In short I got into the business by accident almost 10 years ago. Attended an auction for a place run into the ground where little to nothing worked. People in the industry were super kind to me and educated me about the industry in quick order. Every day since has been some sort of learning experience about equipment or customers. No regrets here. I have invested much more money on equipment and renovations than on the land/building but it has paid off many times over with a flourishing business. No guarantees but make changes over time and as the business grows. I now have three locations so clearly you will get the bug after your first success. Good luck, do not overthink things. As someone once said to me it is better to retire with good memories than unfulfilled dreams. Go for it.

Appreciate it. Yeah I feel like it’s worth doing and I’m now looking at financing options. Might just bring on a partner but also looking at debt to see what it looks like. Thanks for the encouragement

 

[Dan kamsickas]

Thanks for replies. I wanted to add some pictures of the equipment and I’m hoping to get inside to send some of that equipment. Any feedback you all have on the items would be helpful.

Those meterboxes were built by Carolina Pride and they're out of business. Good thing is they're rotary switch so none of their proprietary boards but I'm not sure who's credit card system is on it(maybe Unitec?). If it's a version of Carolina Pride's old system, it's obsolete and non-functional. We've built several replacements that drop in the existing hull with various configurations. I would suspect the SS equipment is Carolina Pride also. The vacuum you posted is a really old unit of ours and we don't have many parts for those available any longer(domes, clean out doors, meterbox door, wiring shroud, gaskets are all long gone)

I would contact PDQ directly to see if they have someone who can look at the Tandem. Several of their distributors have been bought out in the last few years and changed their primary focus to the tunnel sector of the market so you may have to call more than one.

 

[OurTown]

It looks like it's right next to the police station. That is a plus. I found a listing for it that was over two years old. Has it been sitting closed for that long?

 

[mcwashes]

It looks like it's right next to the police station. That is a plus. I found a listing for it that was over two years old. Has it been sitting closed for that long?

Hi there - I'm pretty sure it's been sitting for a while. They were asking quite a bit more for it and it hasn't traded. Taking a swing at it and will get more info during DD.

 

[water guy]

That Carwash is in San Antonio tx I've seen it Wet Equipment installed that Equipment.

 

[mcwashes]

That Carwash is in San Antonio tx I've seen it Wet Equipment installed that Equipment.

Yeah you're right - WET put it in. I've tried calling them a few times with not much success or response.

 

[mcwashes]

Alright guys, I'm back on here because we're finally under contract on this wash and I have a ton of questions I hope you can help me with.

Back story, went under contract and started the DD. In the time we went under contract someone broke in and ripped out all the electrical, backflow preventer and other copper pipes. Then broke in a few days later to finish what they left behind. Soooo, it brings up plenty of security questions around how you protect your equipment and money and that could be a whole other thread.

I'm committed to buying it and the seller is working to get the electrical and plumbing back on line but it's a type of deal that I'm probably going to close on and get a credit and actually have to do those repairs on my own. This is a challenge since it ruins my ability to test the old Carolina Pride stuff that was there for the SS. I was really hoping to reuse that stuff and just install an IBA. So, here are a few questions that have been rattling around in my head since actually getting it locked up:

1. Washworld - Petit - or other option? Pro/Con?
2. They were using tokens. I like this idea and still taking cash based on the location but would love some feedback on security, when you collect to ensure someone doesn't throttle you and take the money, etc. A local guy who has 4 SS locations close by said tokens help keep the pool hall and landro mat people from burning through your coins.
3. I've gotten to know a bunch of police officers in the last few days thanks to the thieves taking stuff. They all wish I'd get an account setup for them since there's nowhere close for them to wash their cars. Theres also a school police station right across the street and they have a bunch of cars and I spoke with one of their guys as well and they want the same thing. So, I want to figure out some sort of deal I can do with them but I'm not sure how the paystations operate and if they can do what I want. In an ideal world it would be a credit card on file for the school police station that gets charged each time one of their cars comes through. Not sure if that's the way or if it's more like a corp account that just tracks the tags or number of passes their employees ran in one month and then sends them a bill. I was told the license plate reader was around $30-40k so I don't want to do that as there has to be a better way. What paystation do you recommend?
4. In the same line of thinking - I want to sell car wash bundles. Like "buy 3 get 2 free" or something. I considered doing a monthlly membership, but I feel like the bundle option would be better for revenue in my location. Any feedback here would be great.
5. The site is 1 IBA and 5 SS. It looks like theres plumbing for a water recycle system and I'm trying to get the original plans to confirm. The system itself was around $40k from memory. Does anyone have any feedback on how much water/money they actually save you so I can determine if it's worth it? The rep told me one of their locations went from $3600/mo bill to $300/mo...if that's the case it's a solid investment but it's anecdotal so I have no idea if its BS.
6. I've been driving a lot of washes in the last year and the ones that are operational all seem to have way too many vacuums...This one I have has 6 plus one off to the side that's not even really a space so it's weird to me. Do these machines really pull in that much money that you need to pepper them all over the place? And are the fragrance/shampoo vacs worth the spend?
7. Assuming the old carolina pride SS stuff is being replaced, what system do you recommend and why? I've had WW and Petit out to bid
8. Signage - I got like a $20k bid from the suppliers for signs in the bays and that seems outrageous to me. A buddy of mine can get me stickers with my logo (if I even make a logo), and I can slap those on any generic sign that says 'foam brush' or 'triple foam' so is there a go to sign provider for these items that aren't crazy expensive?

I know this post is long so if you made it this far I appreciate any feedback you may have. I feel like I'm getting the wash at a good deal for the land but the equipment is going to be pricey and I want it to last and be something I can own for a while. I've been encouraged by a handful of local operators who are willing to chat with me and show me around their locations. This thing ain't cheap to get going again so I'm trying to make sure I have a decent chance to make it work.