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How much for your vacuums and time in bay?

It takes me about that long to wash my truck if I go through all selections and do a thorough job.
 
Roz said:
Please describe difference between a regular and super bay.....thx
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More Pressure. IIRC my sign says 1250 psi . It's more than that at the gauge. I think I chose that PSi because it is what the motor could handle by just putting on a bigger pulley. More tripped the contactor and it was slightly more than my nearest competitor advertises. As far as customers knowing actual pressure goes I don't think it means much But they can feel a bigger "Kick" when they pull the trigger. I'd recommend it for all operators. I had noticed that customers had gravitated toward bays closes to the ER becuase they thought they had more pressure so that is the ones I did. Also serves as a "Demand Pricing" element. They can use less expensive bays if available or on those busy days choose the slightly higher price if it's available. These are also the Bays I chose to test the Diskin Dryers.
 
SS: $1=1:20 min (And start from $1; Used to start from $2 but had to change that since my competition is like that)
Vacuum: $1=1:30min
But isn't all these a function of how much competition you have. I'm simply matching my closest carwash.
 
stampedecarwash said:
SS: $1=1:20 min (And start from $1; Used to start from $2 but had to change that since my competition is like that)
Vacuum: $1=1:30min
But isn't all these a function of how much competition you have. I'm simply matching my closest carwash.
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Why do you need to match the other guy. Be the best at what you do and price accordingly. Let the other guy deal with the messy folks who just want cheap start up to rinse or vac the crap and then leave a mess
 
stampedecarwash said:
SS: $1=1:20 min (And start from $1; Used to start from $2 but had to change that since my competition is like that)
Vacuum: $1=1:30min
But isn't all these a function of how much competition you have. I'm simply matching my closest carwash.
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I’ve never understood in 35 years of being in the car wash business why operators seem to think or get hung up on keeping their prices low thinking that by having the lowest price will bring in more customers. It’s all about convenience and the quality of your facility. The car wash on the other end of town from my car wash his vacuums are .50 for 5 minutes, his new vacuums are .75 for 5 minutes. My vacuums are trice the price with almost half the time. My vacuums and car wash in general kick his a$$ every day. Why is that, because everything is clean and it works all the time. If there is a problem it’s taken care of right away, an orange cone in the bay is not a good business practice.
 
Randy said:
I’ve never understood in 35 years of being in the car wash business why operators seem to think or get hung up on keeping their prices low thinking that by having the lowest price will bring in more customers. It’s all about convenience and the quality of your facility. The car wash on the other end of town from my car wash his vacuums are .50 for 5 minutes, his new vacuums are .75 for 5 minutes. My vacuums are trice the price with almost half the time. My vacuums and car wash in general kick his a$$ every day. Why is that, because everything is clean and it works all the time. If there is a problem it’s taken care of right away, an orange cone in the bay is not a good business practice.
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I totally agree that everything needs to be working all the time and I do hate orange cones which I barely use. But it took me almost a year to get my customers back from my competition. Having cheap customers is better than having empty bays. Yes if one day I get to the point that I'm so busy that I cant handle more customers then I increase my price. Also my prices is not cheaper than him, its simply the same. You know like how HomeDepot says they match prices, and they also have an awesome customer service....
 
I have found over the years that it is very rare that someone comes to the wash to make a 1.00 mess. They either don't pay a nickel and drop off their trash, steal water, dig through vacuum trash, etc. or they spend 30.00 to get the mud out of the fenders or the hay out of the trailer... And the ones that do spend the money kind of feel bad about making the mess, and more than half of them offer to clean it up with you if you start when they are still there.

I think startup cost ends up being a barrier to the decision of: "should i stop in for a quick rinse, or not?". Since we believe in supplying a strong and good low pressure chemical application, that is the most expensive option for us - so we set pricing to cover those costs and take the profit on the water/foam brush/triple foam people. We are in an industry with very high profit/expense ratio and labor is only tied to those who are messy. So, I think we create a higher volume of customers and secondly a higher net operating income by keeping the barrier entry price lower, but the price per unit time relatively high. Have found the same to be true in laundry industry. Minimum start time for dryers, when kept at only 25c allows people to use just what they want and not get stuck loosing another dollar when they don't need to. Its not really about the dollar to these people, its about having to spend when you don't have to. To me, the pricing is in the time per coin, not the start up. Not only that, but most people that stop in for a quick rinse change their mind as they are going, and end up using way more time and options than they had planned on before they came in... That's the art of the upsell. Get them in low and have them leave high!

As far as setting time/coin - I think that is a lot less relative to competition, and much more relative to expense of keeping your operation in good shape and attractive to people who want to clean their car, while maintaining healthy profits.

BTW... For cash, we are at $1.00 to start vac or bay, and 20 sec per coin bay, 40 sec per coin vac in North Colorado. Credit Card is 3.00 minimum because of the per transaction fees, but priced same as cash. Average sale last year running on self serve bay: $5.27
 
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Yep. Price what works best in your area. I guess I could drop my start time way down and start for 25cents. I could rename my place quarter wash. But why? 4 minutes of $3 gives a good basic clean if you work fast, and you can mOlney all g the way for more time. In my area...I do get my share of messy folks and that would greatly increase with lower start. I’m ok if my bays are not always full...cause I’m making more then others when they are
 
Randy said:
. My vacuums and car wash in general kick his a$$ every day. Why is that, because everything is clean and it works all the time. If there is a problem it’s taken care of right away, an orange cone in the bay is not a good business practice.
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Some of us have top notch operators as competitors. Some of us are also competing with "Free" when it comes to Vacuums.
 
I think I'm going to go 100% credit cards. No cash whatsoever. Cash (paper and quarters) is down to about 80%. It would make life so much easier.
 
We gain about $500 in quarters so it would be wide for us to go all credit cards. I could see turning off the bill changer and going all credit/debit, but still accept walk on quarters.
 
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