What's new

Prices at self service cw around the USA.

Damoni88

Active member
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Messages
471
Reaction score
146
Points
43
Location
Lake charles la 70605
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!!!
 

bert79

Active member
Joined
Jan 11, 2018
Messages
241
Reaction score
92
Points
28
Location
West Michigan
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.
 

Damoni88

Active member
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Messages
471
Reaction score
146
Points
43
Location
Lake charles la 70605
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.
 

chaz

Active member
Joined
Mar 22, 2008
Messages
885
Reaction score
87
Points
28
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
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.
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
 

Damoni88

Active member
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Messages
471
Reaction score
146
Points
43
Location
Lake charles la 70605
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
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.
 

sparkey

Active member
Joined
May 22, 2010
Messages
901
Reaction score
182
Points
43
Location
Ohio
North Central Ohio, $1.75 for 3:50 seems low but I am not the lowest price in the area
 

chaz

Active member
Joined
Mar 22, 2008
Messages
885
Reaction score
87
Points
28
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
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
 

Damoni88

Active member
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Messages
471
Reaction score
146
Points
43
Location
Lake charles la 70605
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.
 

Bandit

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2018
Messages
58
Reaction score
4
Points
8
Location
Laughlin
Las Vegas Self Serve $3 for 5 minutes wash . Vacs $1 for 4 minutes. Vending products $1.25 each (little tress, armour all pouches, etc).
 

Bandit

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2018
Messages
58
Reaction score
4
Points
8
Location
Laughlin
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 !
 

Alpine Dreams

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2019
Messages
74
Reaction score
20
Points
8
Location
Southwest Louisiana
10 minutes on vac is just stupid. I’d imagine lots of folks tagging on extra time
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.
 

Earl Weiss

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 31, 2007
Messages
6,200
Reaction score
775
Points
113
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.
 

Randy

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
5,654
Reaction score
1,964
Points
113
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.
 
Top