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Installing a new IBA

soonermajic said:
But....what's the rest of the story...?
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Insurance was footing the bill as my Wesumat was destroyed by a vehicle strike. My distributor sells Mark VII and WashWorld. Both were priced within a thousand dollars of one another, and my choice was WW. The insurance company called Mark VII to verify pricing and availability. Much to my amazement, they just happened to have a $20,000 trade-in promo (they didn't even take it), and another $5,000 off if the machine had been crashed. I don't know what either has to do with what it costs to build the machine and sell it at a fair profit, but it is what it is. Long story short, if I wanted the WW I was going to have to kick in the $25K, and I wasn't willing. Although it wasn't my first choice, with the exception of an air line popping off a wheel scrubber the second day, the Mark VII has been flawless for the first two months.
 
We purchased a new Ryko Soft Gloss Max about 18 months ago. I purchased my first new automatic 27 years ago and have since purchased 14 automatics from 5 different manufacturers, so far the Ryko has been the most trouble free of any I have ever purchased. The programming and flexibility is decades behind most other leading manufacturers but it cleans well, but not as good as 3 brush machines such as the Mark 7 friction machine. I like the new pdq Surfline and the WW profile max but I have no clue about their reliability. I am getting ready to purchase another friction machine to replace a touchless automatic and would love to hear from someone who has experience with either the Surfline or the Profile Max.

Doug P
 
Doug P. said:
We purchased a new Ryko Soft Gloss Max about 18 months ago. I purchased my first new automatic 27 years ago and have since purchased 14 automatics from 5 different manufacturers, so far the Ryko has been the most trouble free of any I have ever purchased. The programming and flexibility is decades behind most other leading manufacturers but it cleans well, but not as good as 3 brush machines such as the Mark 7 friction machine. I like the new pdq Surfline and the WW profile max but I have no clue about their reliability. I am getting ready to purchase another friction machine to replace a touchless automatic and would love to hear from someone who has experience with either the Surfline or the Profile Max.

Doug P
Click to expand...

I don't understand: Ryko cleans good, but not as good as 3 brush? I thought Softgloss was a 3 brush? Ryko programming & flexibility is not good...or is good?
 
soonermajic said:
I don't understand: Ryko cleans good, but not as good as 3 brush? I thought Softgloss was a 3 brush? Ryko programming & flexibility is not good...or is good?
Click to expand...

1. Ryko soft gloss has 5 brushes.
2. The soft gloss struggles to clean the rear of cars. It also struggles to clean the top portion of the sides of full size SUV's.
3. The programming flexibility is not as good as most other automatics.
4. I am nit picking the machine as it has many other good points.
 
If you plan to get into the friction business you will have to change your philosophy. If you think that machine is "scratching the hell outta the car" you may want to reconsider as I promise your customers will agree with you.
 
The brushes,or wheels as Belanger calls them, look the same as the washing material used in their "SpinLite" tunnel equipment. These have a heavier than normal center brush with small fingers attached to the ends. The idea is to rotate the brushes much slower than normal and still have good contact on the vehicle surface. This makes for a quieter experience inside the car while still getting good cleaning. Check it out at the ICA show, they will have both the "SpinLite" tunnel equipment and the CUBE there.
 
If you’re going with friction have you considered an inbay express or mini tunnel?
Pounds through the line up way faster than a rollover with about 3 times the CPH.
MacNeil has good support in Alberta.
 
I have a 2 IBA with identical WW Razor Profiles. Very happy with the machines and the company. WW provides a customer training at their headquarters in Green Bay. I went last year and found it very valuable, as most people know being able to do your own maintenance can save big dollars.

Repair costs: let's put aside the normal repair items that we expect to replace like hoses, WW-specific items tend to be expensive IMO. Last week I replaced the driver assist speaker...about $400 for the speaker and another 250 for the install, ouch. A while before that we replaced the rollers that support the "e-chain", it is a long bolt, pvc roller and end cap and each one was almost $200. That said I don't find myself needing to repair things often.

Someone else in this chain mentioned the customer support of WashWorld and I'll second that motion. A few weeks back I was having an issue where I would get daily wash counts emailed from one machine but not the other. I called up and over the course of two days the guys there helped me figure it out. They stayed on the phone while I did troubleshooting and called in extra SME support when needed.

Overall happy with WW.
 
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