New SS Carwash

[Bnielsen]

I'm about to build my own SS carwash

I'm looking at some meter boxes from Carolina pride.
Any of you guys who got experience with those boxes or that company?
Thinking of those that takes coins, bills and credit cards.

What would you guys suggest of siding in the carwash?
I've been looking at farmtek and kleenrites siding.

Sincerely
Brian

 

[cwguy.com]

I did not think anyone built ss car washes anymore?

I would recommend not purchasing meter boxes with the bill acceptors in the meter box. If you look on CP's website they sell a separate bill vault.

 

[Jeff_L]

If you can afford brick instead of siding, that is a really good way to go. I have brick at both my washes and it wears very well. I've been by washes that use metal siding and other materials, they look pretty weathered after a short period of time.

 

[borumrm]

Personally I have never been a big fan of bill acceptors in Bays or Vacs. I get the convenience factor for the customer not having to go to the changer etc but for me it is just more temptation for the bad guys to want to break into the unit. Yes you can remove the money every day but in their minds each bill acceptor is full so they do it anyway and you still have to deal with the damage. I would make sure to install a vac it up type system...you can build your self they are not hard so all coins and tokens go to a vault in main equipment room and then install credit card acceptors on the bay doors. To some degree this will depend on where your wash in located...if it is a very low crime area with high traffic even at night it may be just fine but I would install cameras in each bay and POST SIGNS letting them know they are there. Just my two cents worth.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

Yes I am in the carwash bussiness and live 15mins from Carolina Pride in NC, they make the best self service equipment, I have equipment of theres thats 20+ years old. Dale Reynolds is president of the Company/owner and is very profesional and is a second generation carwash owner and equipment builder, they may not be the cheapest but dam sure have high quality self service equipment that will last you for years. You can PM me for any questions.

 

[Greg Pack]

If you are new to the business and not parting a wash together it might be a good idea to get all the components from the same supplier. If you assembling various components from different mfgs you might want to check with etowah valley for meter boxes. A few years ago someone broke into all four bays at one location. I was able to get Bills, coin, AND Credit acceptance for the same price as coin and bills only from Carolina Pride.

I have a CP pump stand at one wash. It's fine. The pump stand is fairly well laid out and everything is pretty easy to access to work on. You'll find most major mfgs of SS pump equipment will be fine and offer comparable performance. I don't like the CP liquid only presoak that is set to recirculate 24 hours a day because it is a huge energy waster and air in the presoak makes for a much better show.

The one mfg I don't care for is Mark VII, in the past they have a tendency to make things too complicated, but I haven't looked at their stuff in years.

 

[rph9168]

Hydro-Spray makes some pretty state of the art SS equipment as well. I think they sell direct and through some distributors. Probably worth it to look at several different SS equipment companies to see what they have to offer and get some competitive pricing. I agree that simple is better so keep that in mind as well. Most SS equipment is not rocket science but it needs to be well designed.

 

[mac]

If I was building a new self serve today I would get the new meter boxes from Etowah (with bill acceptors) and all the other stuff used on Ebay. You need to be savvy with equipment to do this so that you can evaluate the stuff, and install it yourself.

 

[Kevin James]

There is absolutely no way I’d build a car wash today much less get into the car wash business. Just remember one thing “LOW PROFIT”. I love the guys who think they can get into the car wash business thinking that they can do it better than the guy down the street, boy do they have a lot to learn. We buy car washes for one reason and that’s to tear them and build something else in their place when the time is right.

 

[Bob Koo]

I have a CP pump stand at one wash. It's fine. The pump stand is fairly well laid out and everything is pretty easy to access to work on. You'll find most major mfgs of SS pump equipment will be fine and offer comparable performance. I don't like the CP liquid only presoak that is set to recirculate 24 hours a day because it is a huge energy waster and air in the presoak makes for a much better show.

I'm like Greg, and have a Carolina Pride Pump Station that is a few months older than his. BTW, when I say it is as old as his the pump bench was installed in 2001, so going on 14 years old now. The only thing that has been replaced on the pump bench is the same as what CFCW mentioned, the circulating presoak pump, which has been replaced twice since it still runs 24/7.

The pump bench is all SS with cutoffs behind all the solenoids, so each bay can be worked independently. I have the Proforma series pump bench which is their top of the line model, I think quite a few years back they introduced the Express version pump bench which is more economically priced but with their same quality and workmanship. I've washed alot of cars with their pump bench and can only see washing alot more in the future. You have to own one to appreciate them in the long run and I do.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

The reason why they do the 24/7 circulate preasoak pump is gives off heat in bay troths so no lines will freeze in winter vs all 100% air and then you have a mess in the winter been there seen that. Also if it's above freezing that pump will only run when calling. Winter it will run as long as it's freezing

 

[Stuart]

I'm about to build my own SS carwash

I'm looking at some meter boxes from Carolina pride.
Any of you guys who got experience with those boxes or that company?
Thinking of those that takes coins, bills and credit cards.

What would you guys suggest of siding in the carwash?
I've been looking at farmtek and kleenrites siding.

You might let people know how many bays you are building and population of your service area. These factors will get some different answers. Are you looking to build in Kiowa or the bigger city?? Will it be in town or the outskirts?

 

[mmurra]

My SS Ginsan pump station is 27 years old. Most of the gear, except the electric pump motors, is new but the basics are still there.

Before you build, you might want to approach an operator with a facility you might like to own. You might be suprised at how quickly you could be in the business without building. Mark

 

[Bubble1]

bubble 1,
I completed a rework of my 6 bay last year with EPI Plastic, pricey but great product.
I think Etowah's meter box and timers are great, customers can't believe the meter talks to them and bi-lingual.

 

[Bnielsen]

It's gonna be a 2 bay with equipment room in the middle. One is gonna be for cars and the other one for trucks.
I bought a car wash that is up and going in another town and with that there came equipment from a old car wash from another town.
I'm gonna use that equipment for the new one I'm gonna build.
The town don't got a car wash and it will be on main street.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I just googled your town. A town of 1000 people will not support a car wash. You are going to build yourself a very low paying part-time job...don't.

 

[jimbeaux]

There is absolutely no way I’d build a car wash today much less get into the car wash business. Just remember one thing “LOW PROFIT”. I love the guys who think they can get into the car wash business thinking that they can do it better than the guy down the street, boy do they have a lot to learn. We buy car washes for one reason and that’s to tear them and build something else in their place when the time is right.

Kevin, interesting reply, are you talking about s/s, auto, or both?

Reason for asking is I have a 5/1 in a town of about 2300 which I have owned since 1991. My competition has a 3 bay truck wash and a new wash is now being built next to the Walmart store. They are installing two new auto's. I cannot figure out the thought process in building this. My wash is in excellent shape with a new D&S IQ automatic.

 

[Stuart]

I'm about to build my own SS carwash

I'm looking at some meter boxes from Carolina pride.
Any of you guys who got experience with those boxes or that company?
Thinking of those that takes coins, bills and credit cards.

What would you guys suggest of siding in the carwash?
I've been looking at farmtek and kleenrites siding.

Sincerely
Brian

Brian, with the wash being at Kiowa, my thoughts would be Instead of a building for the whole wash, but to build a small equipment room as the building and pour a wash pad on each side with mud pits. Then have a block wall built for the other side of the bay. no roof.
I wouldn't go with anything but a regular coin box, rotory switch, give tokens out of changer (buy some for both locations) as this may discourage most thieves from trying to steal from you. Even though you may be the only wash in town your payback will be pretty small to service too much new equipment with bells and whistles. If you want to limit cars only to one bay, you can install a header bar for height restrictions. FWIW