Making the business more passive with a Petit?

[wash12]

I currently have a Hamilton HTK with a PDQ 360+ they are both 8 years old and starting to cause me more and more issues.

My goal is how to make this non passive car wash business more passive. Here is my plan let me know what you guys think.

Install a Petit 360i (I am told they are much less maintenance then the PDQ) anyone confirm this?

Install a Dencar cashless paystation and run monthly memberships as I currently do not run memberships and average 70 CPD. WIth members should do over 100?

With this set up would it be more passive or will the memberships cancel this out. I need to be able to leave for a week or two and let an employee just handle minor things. Right now with my set up it stresses me out leaving town as I feel something is going to go wrong (bc it usually does). I know car washes are FAR from passive but if you designed a new site how would you do it to eliminate 80% of the issues?

 

[eckert16]

"I know car washes are FAR from passive but if you designed a new site how would you do it to eliminate 80% of the issues?"
...now this question... has the potential to get folks thinking.

 

[washnshine]

No car wash is passive - I know you know this. Any new machine will have less maintenance requirements and breakdowns than one with many years of service and a high wash count. So - I don’t think you have to install a Pettit, but any new machine (of good quality) will have fewer breakdowns than your well-seasoned 360 and allow you more peace-of-mind when you are not on site.

If going cashless and incorporating memberships increases your wash count by a certain percentage, then you will have that increase in wear and tear on your machine, creating more frequent maintenance and breakdowns to occur sooner.

Real world example - I regularly pass a gas station IBA in my travels. About 3 years ago I noticed it was coned off frequently and usually had a dry floor. Soon after that time, they put in a new 360 (replacing and older 360). Since that time, I have not see it coned off and the floor is always wet and I quite often see multiple cars lined up. They didn’t incorporate memberships or change their pay station. For the most part gas stations do tend to treat the wash as “passive” and even with that approach, just a machine replacement has made this wash viable again without the hassle of frequent breakdowns.

Making any wash less passive by any percentage means replacing the equipment when it is impeding your ability to do business by said percentage of the time.

 

[Eric H]

I’m not sure replacing a working 8 year old 360 with a Petit for approx $275,000 makes financial sense.
What issues are you having?
What is the cost to refurbish what you have? New motors for the bridge, trolley and arch rotate. Then, replace all of the prox sensors, untrasonics, and start/stop sensors. Replace the hoses.
I doubt the software is obsolete. When was the last software update?
I can’t imagine having all this work done would cost more than $50,000, likely less especially if you can do the work your self. Make the machine reliable again!
I don’t have the time to do the math for you but what’s the ROI for a new machine with a 30 car per day increase?

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

I’m not sure replacing a working 8 year old 360 with a Petit for approx $275,000 makes financial sense.
What issues are you having?
What is the cost to refurbish what you have? New motors for the bridge, trolley and arch rotate. Then, replace all of the prox sensors, untrasonics, and start/stop sensors. Replace the hoses.
I doubt the software is obsolete. When was the last software update?
I can’t imagine having all this work done would cost more than $50,000, likely less especially if you can do the work your self. Make the machine reliable again!
I don’t have the time to do the math for you but what’s the ROI for a new machine with a 30 car per day increase?

This OP. Unless your maintenance costs are as much as a monthly payment, or you're seeing 3+ cars waiting at all times, you'll accomplish little with the Petit.

 

[Eric H]

This OP. Unless your maintenance costs are as much as a monthly payment, or you're seeing 3+ cars waiting at all times, you'll accomplish little with the Petit.

To be fair, if he is averaging 70 CPD the additional through put of a Petit may make sense.
Also worth considering, is 70 full price customers per day worth more or less than a mix of full price and unlimited members at 100CPD?
OP - Are you actually averaging 70 CPD or was that just a guess?

 

[GPAW]

Have 360+’s, my washes are timed similar to my competitors petit or faster given the more waxes they put on, I love that he installed them. Make sure you’re doing your PM on your 360+, no piece of machinery is bulletproof if you don’t care for it.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

Have 360+’s, my washes are timed similar to my competitors petit or faster given the more waxes they put on, I love that he installed them. Make sure you’re doing your PM on your 360+, no piece of machinery is bulletproof if you don’t care for it.

Set up equally no way an inverted L is gonna be faster than dual arms.

 

[GPAW]

Set up equally no way an inverted L is gonna be faster than dual arms.

I time my washes vs my competitors, I have no idea how his wash is set up, although I know he only has one high pressure pass. The only thing he has is triple foam, no bug spray, no sheet foamer, no ceramic. It makes no sense to me, but I love it.

 

[Roz]

what is keeping you at the wash? Identify the pain points. Sounds like you currently are falling behind on the preventive maintenance if machine is giving you trouble. Hire PDQ knowledgeable company to do monthly PM and perhaps you will have fewer headaches.

If you can control all equipment remotely (for customer service) and have people onsite to keep the place clean and make minor repairs daily you should be fine with a simple service contract with your PDQ installer. Someone to handle your PM, handle chemicals, fix the issues above the cleaners level. You will reduce your take home profits but be able to travel more. Basically a site manager.

Machines have moving parts and customers do not know how to drive down the middle of a bay so stuff happens. The chemicals are hard on all machines. Not clear that a Petit will be easier to maintain. That said my Razors are fairly easy to do PM and repair.

Before going cashless I would see what percentage of biz is cash.

Lastly the carwashes that you see heading downward in terms of revenue and not being kept up are the ones where the owner is totally absentee. Maybe it’s time to consider selling?