What's new
By:
Car Wash Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Prices at self service cw around the USA.

D

Damoni88

Active member
Wanted to know what everyone is charging at their self serve car wash around the US.
I have 3 self serve car washs and right now im at $1.50 for 3mins cc is $3.00 for 6mins.
Im from Louisiana in the deep south portion. I do notice that low time alert beeps really quick at this rate. There are only 3 other carwashs other than my 3 and 1 is about to be demolished in the next year or so leaving 5 self serve carwashs in town. 1 owner I know very well and he is set up the same prices as me. Then you have the odd ball that is .25 for 1 min in a horrible location (cant imagine him lasting much longer with that price).
So please just post time per min and cc per min with your state so i can see what others charge. From what i have always heard the South is alot cheaper than the North due to water restrictions among other things. Thanks in advance for your replys. Lets have a monster money making weekend!!!
 
We are in West Michigan. Are prices are $2.00 for 3:30 or cc $3 for 5:24. 27 sec/quarter either way. Our closest competition is the same price but does not offer cc.
 
First of the year im raising my 3 washes to $2.50 for 5mins and cc $5.00 for 10 mins. Im tired of bucket washers paying $1.50 and if that is gonna happen then they gonna pay. One thing i noticed is customers dont care or pay attention to signage cause i have a 10ft sign that says NO BUCKET WASHING. VACS will be $2.00 for 5 mins.
 
Damoni88 said:
First of the year im raising my 3 washes to $2.50 for 5mins and cc $5.00 for 10 mins. Im tired of bucket washers paying $1.50 and if that is gonna happen then they gonna pay. One thing i noticed is customers dont care or pay attention to signage cause i have a 10ft sign that says NO BUCKET WASHING. VACS will be $2.00 for 5 mins.
Click to expand...

WHY WAIT!!! I’d raise my prices tomorrow. I’m $3 for 4 minutes. Cash or credit ....credit is count up. Obviously you know you need to and can charge more. May as well start earning the money now....even if you loose a few cheapskates....you’ll be making more $. By the way my vacs are $2 for 6 minutes
 
chaz said:
WHY WAIT!!! I’d raise my prices tomorrow. I’m $3 for 4 minutes. Cash or credit ....credit is count up. Obviously you know you need to and can charge more. May as well start earning the money now....even if you loose a few cheapskates....you’ll be making more $. By the way my vacs are $2 for 6 minutes
Click to expand...
Only reason I said first of the year cause we raised from $1.25 to $1.50 jan 1 2019. My dad was running thia carwash for 16 years and never raised prices. So now i feel like i am so behind.
 
I’m not the lowest in my area..especially on vacs. My thoughts on price adjustments is that as long as my equipment works properly ...good soap etc....my customers understand that I need to pay my bills and make a living. With each price increase....I expect some resistance...and perhaps some customers go elsewhere....those are typically the slobs. I also weigh the increased revenue vs loss of business and less wear and tear on my equipment. For example when I doubled my vac start price to $2 (also went from 4-to-6 min) I figured even if I lost 1/2 my vac business....I’d still be ahead of the game with less mess and less repairs. My vac income actually went way up! ....and yes less mess because most of the slobs don’t want to spend $2
 
Your right, thats why i am never scared to raise prices(just not within 4 months). To be at a loss you would have to loose 1/2 your customers and the ones you loose are probably the ones you want to loose.
 
Here is a wash in Palm Desert, Ca......near Palm Springs:
They get 1.75 for 10 minutes on Vacs and $5 for 10 minutes at the wash.
Food for thought !
 
chaz said:
10 minutes on vac is just stupid. I’d imagine lots of folks tagging on extra time
Click to expand...

We are 1.25 for 4 minutes here on vacuums and a customer left the vacuum before the time ran out. Another customer in a bay, that had just finished washing a brand new Jaguar, peels out around 2 corners and drifts in sideways next to the vacuum to use the remaining time. This is serious - neither made up, nor hyperbole.
 
Bays are regular 27 sec / quarter or 4/30 for regular and Super is 22 seconds / quarter or 4/24 to start. Credit Card count up and Bonus time at $5. Vacs are $1 for 4/16 (64 sec / quarter) with $2.00 . CC start. This is comparable to my close top notch SS competition. and keeping in mind EEs with free vacs. BTW Chose 64 sec / quarter thing people will think timer reading 416 is harder to figure time than 400.
 
We are in a small town of 5000 in the Pacific Northwest/Washington State. We are the only Self-Serve car wash within 15 miles. Vac’s $1.50 for 3.5 minutes, Bays $2.50 for 3.5 minutes. There is a tunnel on the other end of town. They have 4 vac’s, 2 of them are .50 for 5 minutes and the other 2 are .75 for 5 minutes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Etowah
Back
Top