There is a lot, lot more, to running a car wash than I gave business owners credit for. The operating costs, wow! Thx for the reveal, very interesting insight.
Yeah, cost may be high. It’s great for owner operators. But I’ve built a many that net 500k 1st year. 1 mil second. You have to spend money to make money in the wash world. Soap is important. Very very important
Yes indeed. Considering the one near me is only $4.75 to start the self service rinse bay and that gives you 7 minutes. Most people are in and out within those 7 minutes or less
As a current owner of a business that sells, installs and services carwashes and someone who has worked as a carwash technician for over 30 years in several different parts of the country, I can tell you your observations are pretty accurate. There are a lot of hidden costs and unappreciated tasks that go with owning a carwash. The larger the operation the greater those become. Imagine a full service tunnel with 20 employees, 10 different machines in the equipment room, a bunch of moving parts in the tunnel and 15 different chemical products in use. Some of my customers have electric bills of over 6 grand a month and water bills to match, don't even ask about labor costs. To service this equipment I have to be proficient at mechanics, electrical, plumbing, hydraulics, pneumatics, low voltage control systems, electronics, networking, computers and have a good understanding of how and why the chemicals work together and why they do what they do.
One of the things about the videos of the guys collecting there money is that they just did the most stupid thing they could possibly have done and that is show the criminally inclined a very real target.
@@corysturgis6660 I stated by getting a job at a local tunnel wash. show eagerness most of these places do self repair. You can work your way in, millwrights also know as industry mechanics play a good role in the industry from what I’ve seen as wel
Thanks for all the comments guys. Am I unhappy? Absolutely not! This video wasn’t intended to complain but rather share the truth. This was what I was able to afford in my late 20’s and plan to use this as a stepping stone to grow / improve /expanded. Some of the “whining” and “griping” is more for comedic relief rather than actual complaints.
Thanks for the video, it was refreshing "real talk" with no judgement. Though if I recall correctly you missed the two biggest expenses, rent/mortgage and taxes, both of which can be absolute killers.
I can just about go point for point with you as a laundromat owner. There is an entire world behind the scenes people have no idea about. With zero problems it costs $5000/Mo for our mat to be open. With 41 machines, change machines, pay apps, and security systems, there is NEVER a zero problem month. The general public can and will destroy everything.
If you owned an anvil playground, you'd show up some day and see some Karen's kids beating the horns off them all with day old bananas. The capacity of the human mind for misuse, willful and wanton abuse is unparalleled in the remainder of animal kingdom. It makes weather abashed.
@crunthat I see you don't own a laundromat as you would not thing this is one bit funny. The app not working has the same effect as the power being off.
Owned and ran 2 car washes for 15 years. Was tired of all the issues in this video. Very accurate content. Sold them and realized there are 1,000,000 better ways to make money!!
No shit, if you dumped all that money into an ETF you'd probably have double the returns in the same amount of time. And that would literally be **passive**
Good point. "Ego satisfaction" is the driving force behind much of the "be your own boss/own your own business" mantra! I have done both and find if you just want to earn a living and have many OTHER outside interests it's easier to just work at a company, go home at 5pm and enjoy the rest of your day/life! To me, having my own business meant it was ALWAYS living in my head. If you don't want to let your livelihood define who you are I would say don't do it, just work for a company. It's much easier and MUCH less stress!
I have no interest in car washes as a biz but absolutely have an interest in the mentality of folks that make shit happen rather than sit on the sideline. This is the type of person we need to speak at schools or summer camp or whatever…a mason or electrician people that are doing well with a skilled trade or being an entrepreneur. Good work dude.
They don't want average people running their own business. They want your kids in debt with a useless degree working for a big corporation so the elites can own and control everything.
Should get a good self serve or tunnel wash owners input. This guy is trash. Been in the industry 8+ years as a service tech with my own company. He's the worst type of customer to have.
We need less masons. They discriminate against the wider population by thinking they can get ahead by being in a special club or expecting extra treatment after giving a funny handshake. I give them extra treatment. That handshake or phrase will put the price up.
Kudos on providing us with an insight into what it takes to run a car-wash operation, including the logistics, costs, and life investment required. Wow! Thank you very much. Appreciate you unravelling this operation...
As a fellow car wash owner; this is most accurate video I’ve seen by far. A couple different setups from mine, but very similar in many ways. Thanks for sharing the truth.
Love it. My dad taught me very young in life, there is no such thing as easy money. I don't mind working hard every day and I don't feel entitled to free money. No matter how complicated it is, I think the car wash business is cool. It's a service that's valuable and important, and it can't be offshored.
@@ewicky cryptocurrency and the stock market in my opinion is legalized gambling. Unless you're joking I know a lot of people that lost a boat load of money in the market for the exception of one man. One trick pony that's what he was good at. Nothing else. Needs help putting batteries in a flashlight type of person.
@@Mr.Robert1 I agree that short term traders are just skimming value and causing market volatility, however, their losses can be your gains if you’re a value investor. :) I’m interested to see what becomes of the crypto market and how it could transform the way we do things in the future. Think of someone from the 1940’s seeing the technology we have now. I hope I live long enough to have a similar experience.
I recently purchased a car wash and it wasn't in that good of condition when I purchased it the automatic Bay did not work and the property itself had not been well maintained. I considered keeping it as a car wash but the cost of a new automatic Bay was little above $400,000. So I tore the car wash down and put self storage on the property.
@@jacobpie3692 how was I bragging I simply stated I bought land with a car wash on it, it was too expensive to do a $400,000 repair to the auto wash bay so I tore it down and put something else on the land that wasn't bragging I just made a statement.
@@RichRotorhead I still don't understand your sarcasm, I had not intended to run the car wash when I purchased the land, because the cost was more than the income the car wash would make, smart business decision not because I couldn't afford to operate the car wash.
A man stud out side a bank handing out $5 bills to anyone walking by. He started getting a big crowd of people. The police arrived and asked him, ''what are you doing", he replied, I was thinking of opening up a carwash, but this is faster. 🤣God bless the business owner.
Working my way up to manager of a exterior car wash was my first career, 4 years when I was 16-20. During the winter line out to street days, I could get 135 cars/hour through that wash with a 4 man team. In the summer, you worked on your car in the parking lot or read books most of the day. So many stories, and all of this looks so familiar. Video enjoyed.
I used to work for a guy that owned a car wash when I was in college. My entire job was either cleaning the bays for the exact reason you mentioned or troubleshooting the constant problems that occurred every damn day.
Outstanding ! As usual, there's much more to running a successful business than the initial purchase. You've brought reality to those thinking instant money-maker. I get the feeling you'll, make it work one way or another. Now what's your next venture ? Godspeed Jake !
Been in the industry for some time and it is accurate you really have to be a jack of all trades! Equipment always breaking down, especially for customers that don’t do preventative maintenance, one of the many keys to a successful wash, happy washing!
Thanks for sharing Jake. There are a lot of people out in the interzone being sold on "passive income" without knowing there is still some heavy work involved. It would be nice for everyone to see this video before taking the plunge.
Honestly at this point it's just like running any other business. Even online businesses can be full of smoking mirrors of uncertainties, WEIRD ASH failures that you didn't expect/could prepare for, etc.
Worked in the business for many years in many capacities on washes from dirt to squirt phases and from maintenance to executive level as well as all types (IBA, tunnel, ss etc...) and must say that I completely agree that there is way more that goes into it that they will tell you. You must absolutely be either unafraid to learn or be proficient in most all trades and business accumen including electric, plumbing, HVAC, chemistry, water quality analyst, security, maintenance, grounds, marketing, landscaping, I.T., customer service, janitorial, hurt feelings counselor, carpentry, HR, legal defense, acconting etc.... When you look at a run down wash that is typically an owner that was sold a bill of goods about how easy it is and how it is mailbox money...let me assure you it is not. As far as the muddy bays that's a cost of doing business I mean it's a car wash what can you really say....only wash a clean car? Having shoveled and hosed down many sandbars in my day trust me I get the frustrations. Membership is a great way to help your ebbs and flows of seasonal change for income. Interesting system for anti freeze why wouldn't you just weep your bays especially with a well? I left the business because literally every owner I ever worked for was a complete self absorbed bat shit crazy lunatic, but I do miss it and long to have a wash of my own though the costs are such that the big outfits have all but taken over in many markets. Anyhow sorry for the rant I guess it's my way of saying "I agree" great video and best of success.
You basically described the required skills for every successful entrepreneur. Although, “hurt feelings counselor” made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the laugh! 😂
I'm a controls engineer, familiar with all that electrical equipment. It looks like a fairly simple design. I notice you are operating a 25hp motor without a variable frequency drive. Maybe a vfd would reduce the number of motor rebuild events because startups and shut downs would be smoother. There are just too many relays on that panel. I also noticed you are on the hook for chemicals that maybe you can dispense with. I really appreciate the spot free rinse and don't mind paying the $12 to get it (what I pay here in southern Minnesota). Anyway I like your video talking about the business, really cool.
Used to work in the industry. Yea they are available, but they cost alot of money. There are many mechanical designs. Recently they have been mostly electric motors directly onto the brushes. Extended towards the vehicle by air pressure. Although alot of them still use a main hydraulic motor with valves to control spin on the equipment. This can get quite messy. Now, the actual controllers are pretty much archaic. Only a few support direct vfd control, and they are limited by the number of vfds they can control. Most of the time vfds are connected to a normally open contact on the controller which basically tells the vfd to ramp up, basically binary on off. I don't know if I can technically disclose more than that but there are better ways of controlling those motors during steady days where they ramp up and down many times a day.
Thank you for going through the details of carwash business responsibilities and educating us. It sure needs a good amount of patience. Wishing you,family and loved ones a prosperous life. Liked and Subscribed.
Was a manager at an express carwash for over 4 years, running the place day to day was a colossal amount of work and required a team of people. From the plumbing, car wash equipment breaking, relays and electrical failures, moving and getting covered in chemical, dealing with freezing lines and ice in the winter, and worst of all negligent customers that damaged equipment and caused collisions (not to mention the ones that would become enraged over any and everything) . Owning and operating a car wash is no easy task, props to you sir!
My uncle owned a self service car wash in Western Pennsylvania years ago. It payed for all of his kids college. He was a head mechanic at US airways so he could do all the repairs. Then he sold it for a great amount. This fellow would not be in it, if he wasn't making a profit.
In the video he talks about his profit margins and how he is making money in other businesses. Yes its turns a profit. He's trying to explain that there are expenses that people do not consider. He is just trying to open people's eyes nothing wrong with it.
@@dok2304 Why would he lie about the fact that every business has expenses to run and his case he actually goes from item to item it explains it that was actually very nice of him
@@dok2304 my uncle would have dumped it, if it wasn't making money. That being said, he never hired any repair guys because he could do it all himself.
Thanks. Far too many folks think its easy. One of my good friends just sent me a video about 3 days ago just like the ones you described. I dont own a carwash but I explained a small portion of operating costs. You put it out in the light with all the small details to the large details. 100% Great Job. Keep Hustling
I know what you mean about the dirt left from some patrons,...That being said, I've been an offroad motorcycle rider and racer for over 45 years and have used these car wash business all over the SE US. But because of probably the way I was raised or military background I've always had the decency to clean up the bay afterwards....because I also use these for my on road only nice cars and it socks when the only bay available is full of mud. Nice video and something to think about....every business has it's downside.
Hi! I run an automatic car wash. Please save yourself the headache and order a Hydraflex board. They are super helpful and should cut your soap costs. Currently we run through about 800 lbs. of salt per week, and have a soap cost of 6000 per month. We do around 600 cars on the weekday and 800-1100 during the weekend.
Owning any business is difficult. I live in Latin America, and I love the how resourceful the people are here running small businesses. You'll see teenagers with full food service carts they created and operate.
That is so true. I spent several months in Medellin, Colombia over the last year and was astonished by the small business operations I saw. Many people are desperately selling whatever they can to stay alive and the rest of the population supports them with patronage rather than just buying things at bigger stores. It's part of the fabric of their society. It's sad to see people struggling so hard but it was heartwarming to see the respect that Colombianos show for small vendors.
@@billbmsn That's actually where I live right now, and have lived before (amongst many other places). I actually change my consumer habits while living here. I buy fruit from the guy at the bus stop, a coffee from a guy selling it from a pot backpack he designed, get a viva 100 from the dude in the street selling them. I completely agree with you. They are so resourceful here. I live their spirit, ingenuity, mentality, etc. Pues me encanta vivir aquí en Medellín parcero.
There are many ways to make your wash more efficient and to extend the life of the equipment. I work for a national car wash equipment manufacturer in their service and install department. They own Ryko, MacNeil, TSS, Carolina Pride Vacutech and Baywatch. I build and service self serve, in bay automatics and tunnels. And I see that you have quite a bit of outdated equipment. That means, unless using the correct formulation for your soap, you're actually accelerating the aging of your pumps, poly, metallic plumbing, metallic nozzles solenoids, diaphragms and wands. Your automatic controller is very old and had been made obsolete for a decade at least. Newer controllers use far less energy, more precise soap dispensing, better foaming(so less soap use) and less water use. If your soap isn't as close to neutral pH as possible, you're actually ruining that equipment. I also cannot imagine why you'd be changing the media in your sand filters so frequently as it should last you 2 or 3 years at least. And instead odd using a chemical anti freeze agent, you could install a weepmizer to eliminate freezing your self serve water lines. So no more chemical purchase and users only water flow to stop freezing. I live near Denver and winters are very cold so we use weep valves to stop freezing. It cost the average 4 Bay self serve about $100 for 4 months of weeping. Water harness is the largest impact to cost of operation. You mentioned you had welll water. That has the highest hardness reading of any water you could use. Hard water means FAR less soap foaming so people don't think there's actually soap and they crank up the soap use with larger injectors and flow rates and then need to crank up the air and water pressure to get bubbly water. I didn't see your whole filtration system but I suspect it could be vastly improved. Our customers average 35 cents in chemicals per car washed when the system is set up properly.
Love your presentation style - informative, easy to understand, frank and honest. I notice you have only posted two videos I think you should consider posting more videos like this about managing a business etc.
One of the best youtube contents I watched in a long time. Thnaks a lot for sharing and being so upfront and not sugarcoating it. You were very transparent on your description.
I've often thought about what it must cost JUST in water and power bills to run a car wash, let alone supplies and maintenance! Your video helped put it all into perspective. Well done
I REALLY appreciate the truth! Never once came off as complaining! There is a car wash owner doing videos on here for nothing but “clicks and views” and he tries to make it look like it’s all pure profit. Your video taught me more than all his videos combined.
Hey I'm a car wash Manger and i would definitely reconsider your soap vendor, a 30 gallon barrel can last us about 3 weeks and are bays use 10 gallon jugs and those last about 3 weeks
Yeah, because like most crappy car washes it takes like 2 minutes for the soap to start coming out of the damn sprayer and brush And most of the time, hardly any soap comes out. Total rip off
I work at a car wash facility that is the one that pulls you through and I gotta say while I make good money and have met some awesome people along the way, it can be a living hell when I have to fix crap that people don't give a crap about and break. I also hate to say it, but it is actually a majority of people who don't care. You can't do anything about it though and just gotta keep fixing things and pushing on. Awesome video that describes car washes in general!
I've been a car wash technician for 6 years. Literally anything in the equipment room or tunnel, I've seen and worked on. Electrical, plumbing, mechanical, you name it. I feel your pain!!
I got to know the owner of a nee car wash he built locally. The permits and fees and environmental equipment and building code requirements were crippling. And the stories of vandalism, theft and stupidity of people were horrendous. In hunting season, he would occassionally get hunters who clean deer guts and body parts out of the back of their pickups. Stay in school kids.
God forbid anyone use a car wash to clean a dirty car. If they aren’t spotless rich people already, you don’t want to see them. The entitlement is amazing
It would pay for the owner of this wash to hire somebody with brains to manage his wash and to keep this place running properly. Turn people away that are doing what you say.
My dad is a "small to medium enterprise owner" as well and while working with him you start to appreciate a good customer. that is why i always try to be a good customer. Do enough research before going to any store which is why i appreciate online stores. There is a limit though when it comes to things you simply can assess online like mattresses, clothes, pillows.
I’m very sorry for your problems man. I truly can’t believe that you put up with that bullshit.!!! Your the best business man that takes care of yourself with stressful times.💯💪🏻💪🏻🙏🏻
As someone who cleans self serve car washes there really is a lot to do with them every day. Sweeping the lot, getting the garbage cans that are full multiple times a day, spraying down the bays, cleaning out the vacuums and a whole list of other little things and that's if nothing breaks, which happens very often. There is also climbing into the attic if you have problems up there. I love my job and we have a couple maintenance guys that I text if anything major breaks.
I own a full service car wash and everything you said is spot on. You should try having employees, well there goes 40 to 50 percent of the intake. Then deal with them doing a poor job, or not show up for work. Some days are nightmares.
@@jacobpie3692 40 to 50 % of the intake goes back to the employees. Cough, Cough. I'm struggling now cough, cough. Need a new roof 30 thousand cough, cough. Need to upgrade equipment 200 thousand cough cough. The bank wants their money back cough, cough.
I managed a car wash for a friend for a year. There is actually an ordinance here in Florida. No dumping. That includes washing your mud off and leaving 6 inch thick pad of it all the way around a car wash area. I called the police they took my video they got the guys plate number they drove to his house! They told him $250 littering fine. The guy was back with a police escort and a flat bladed shovel so he didn’t have to pay the fine. I stood back and watched it!
As a 40 year landlord the same thing holds for apartment houses. I would change out the bearings in that 25hp motor myself and save a ton. For a car guy it is very straight forward job just don't wait for them to spin. (water/wastewater operator before landlording) with 3 phase you shouldn't be cooking the windings. Great video!! People just don't get how complicated the electromechanical world is.
Where I live our car wash has a water recycling system in it where the dirty water goes into a plumbing system and basically gets recycled. Clean water is also added back in. The reason why our car wash has that system is because we have very tight rules on waste water.
I'd assume this might be common in places where water is really scarce too. I have relatives in one of those places where it costs a lot to get water because it's all piped in from the far side of some mountains
Back in 2009, we had severe droughts in Melbourne, Australia. The whole state was on extreme water restrictions, including the banning home car washing. Commercial car washes were exempt as long as they recycled their water. As a result, yhey made an absolute killing during one or two years. Once the rains came back however, yeah they struggled again.
This is very informative as I always wanted to get into the biz. This is a lot of work and overhead. I'm no slacker but wow profit on average $1000 a month? You would still need a job and this $1000 a month is small residual income. Definitely a fallacy of the cash cow. Thank you so much for being so real about it.
If he optimized the business, he'd have greater margins that what's described! But it's not a business for everyone. Some locations (like further down south), are more profitable than others!
My Dad owned a few Carwashes. I worked for him for 23 years. There is so much overhead. We washed the cop cars free and sometimes they came twice a day. It is true. all of your family and friends get free washes. Winter and spring were the best times. Chemicals were expensive, Sewer bill was killer! INS. sucked along with taxes and payroll. We ran two power washes and dried the cars by hand . We had 100 ft. tunnel. I used to cry before work in February because i would freeze my ass off. The overhead was brutal. The oil forget about it. We needed to buy 55 gallons of hydraulic oil. We were about customer service all the way. A lot of things get broken on cars and for us antennas were the main thing then it became the back windshield wiper. Mirrors that didn't fold in. We also had white wall tires when I worked. Ugh! I don't miss it. We would close at 7 pm. Our phone calls were. Ah your building door is open I think you were robbed. We were even burned down once because we kept a safe and they took our torches to try and open the safe and started a fire that killed our cat. Huge nightmare!
When I was cleaning my SUV after a wrong turn turned into a class B off-road experience, the car wash owner informed me of the hassle all the mud will create for him. I asked if there was anything I could do to not hassle him, and he ended up hooking up an extension to the outdoor wand, so I could rinse off with plain water, in an area that wouldn't fill up his drain. I bought roughly 20 minutes of time, and asked if he had a shovel so I can move the clumps of mud into the grass and off his drive. h He came out with a shovel and said I added an extra 40 minutes of time for you! That mud was the thick clay type, and dried rock hard, so I was incredibly thankful he didn't tell me to just go away.
Wow! you’re very generous waking up in the middle of the night to get the nickel out of the vacuum cleaner. Here in Miami. They don’t care. We need owners like you. 👍
I'm not to sure how good one would be at keeping the floors from freezing, unless you had enormous system. It's one thing to heat a floor inside, trying to heat a floor outside that's always wet is a whole different thing. Also, I think most if not all geothermal systems, use a liquid through pipes to heat floors. So he would have to rip up all the floors and redo them.
I give you a 👍just bcoz I admire your ambition, work ethic and just for being a good person. I've always respected all car washes bcoz I understand the amount of overhead that one single owner has and have never washed mud off any of my vehicles or atv's, I just take them home and clean them up there but I know how disrespectful most people can be when it's just not their problem. You will do fine. 👍👍
On the other hand. Some people don't have a home that has an outdoor hose to do what you're saying. I used to have one however I'm living in a building now that does not have one.
This is funny…so you are going to ban 4 wheelers? How are you going to do that? Are you going to put up a sign? Get in a fight every time it happens? Call the police? (They won’t handle a call like this) Stay there 24hrs a day to make sure? …you don’t truly have a handle on what you are suggesting.
Thanks for being in your community actually taking care of a car wash. Probably won’t hear about it but it’s nice. Those diy car washes are really fun as a car guy for taking care of your car.
Hey Jake, Thank you for the video, it opened my eyes to issues I hadn't thought of previously when considering a carwash as a business venture. I work in credit processing with PayRoc and would love to sit down and see if we can save you some of that %3-5 in processing fees. Let me know if you're interested!
I know a guy who purchased a used car wash at the beginning of this past winter. He must of had at least 6 service calls(hiring company that specializes maintaining car washes) for misc issue's. Not including-Pipes busted twice. One time flooding the bathroom of the attached building. Ended up deciding to replace damn near everything(pumps, motors, hoses, wands, foam brush system, chemical measuring system). I think the only things he didn't replace was the user control boxes and the heat system.
I Know A Guy” 😂 well I know a guy he could’ve gotten all that equipment for less than half the price, according to the guy I know it all fell off a truck. 👍🏻
My God... I never knew this.. no wonder they guy comes out the office and watches me when I wash my jeep. There is only one rectangle clear for me to see out of... but the rest is completely muddy. However I do spend about $30 bucks there cleaning it. Don't know if that matters. Most of the mud is in the center grate. Besides I don't want to track through my own mud so I always wash it to the center grate under the car. The owner never complains. But he just watches me... like I'm stealing water or something lol.
The only car wash I'd ever own would be a quarter activated manual setup. One setting for soap, and one for rinse. Have one area just for muddy vehicles.
So…. You should charge more for someone that needs to use the service as opposed to someone that just want their vehicle to sparkle… makes a lot of sense
@@Foxhole11 absolutely charge more. It’s not an ATV/UTV wash and therefore customers using it for that should pay more. The only reason they go to the car wash is because they don’t want that mess in their own driveways.
Should a truck have to pay more than a car? Should a motorcycle pay less? Of course they don’t want the mess in their driveways. That is the point of a self serve car wash…
AND that oil tank is now about 1500$ to fill, your soap and washer fluid are probably each 500$ now as well. It's not that much different from renting apartments, people think there ought to be rent control and that landlords are rich. But, after expenses and repairs, and depending upon the eviction laws in your particular state, you can lose 3/6/10K to a dead beat tenant before you can get them out, and the court may only force them to pay 10$ a month. If they stop paying, you have to serve them and go back to court. We lost allot of money due to the Covid "eviction moratorium" and many of these people were not affected by Covid, but they took advantage of what their TV told them they could do...
Don’t you guys make like $80-$100k off those each month. I’m not worried about your little expenses when you’re making that much. The issue is that landlords and everyone wants their profit margins to be INSANE. Screw 20%, everyone wants a 150-200% return on their money or they’re not making enough.
My local car wash did away from automatic wash. Switched it to self clean. It's like 500k for a new machine and he doesn't put anything in it. I've seen people change their oil in it before. His change machine is always empty and he won't sell it because family dollar wants the location.
Thanks for actual honesty! I’m so tired of people thinking you get rich. It’s a slow grind and your actually doing pretty good. I’m not near break even but would be nice hopefully soon. Then you have to not take a paycheck for your hard work. Lol
My friend owned 2 of the 6 bay units. He put in cameras, caught a competitor stealing the nozzles off the hoses! He took the tape over to the guy and showed it. Guy had to return the nozzles AND pay for lost business. He also caught a guy ready to wash an extra muddy dump truck, backhoe, and trailer. It would have cost him $2000 to clean sewers after that. We are talking early 2000's money.
@@ewicky The mud would come off in chunks, and guys forced the chunks thru the drain by stomping on them. My friend learned the hard way and was very tough about not allowing it to happen again. Also, the amount of water and soap used is not much compared to the volume of mud.
It sounds like basic overhead ... we all have overhead unfortunately in businesses but yours sounds pretty normal with the exception of some of the chemicals I guess. I would imagine it's still worthwhile and depending on the location should be a pretty sound businesses right ? I know the self car wash places around me are always packed! Best of luck with your business!!
@@jacobpie3692 i wouldnt call 2k a month profit or less making bank...i make that with my $16/hr job..and i have a lot less to manage then this car wash does
@@TechMaster2133 True, why would you want all the stress? Oh, so you can brag that you own a business, pfff, I rather go work for someone, get paid, go home and not worry about anything. Leas stress, you live longer.
makes me feel blessed here in FL we dont need to worry about that anti-freeze solution, and with only 1 auto bay and employees to handle the cleaning, no customer allowed in the tunnel cuts out some of the risks
5 years managing a wash near Boston. This was no franchise operation and had been in business for 35+ years. (The owner retired and sold the business). Yes, plumbing and electrical... and hydrolics and welding and fabrication and framing. #1 requirement is PATIENCE. Every service industry has to deal with customers. Car wash customers are... special.
You’ve got “special” customers in every industry. They come in lots of variations and you don’t see it until you’ve either worked in a service job or have become a business owner. People, they/we are the best and the worst!
Great video. One tip might be to get wifi or cell enabled moisture sensors so you get alerted immediately when there's liquids in places there shouldn't be.
I know you posted a video a while back. Thank you for showing the insides of the cost of running a business. Also thank you for staying on top of cleaning and maintaining your car wash.
Idk how your video came up but as a previous business owner in the restaurant business I can certainly appreciate your video because most people have no idea of cost they only see the money coming in but not whats going out and dont get me started about those who know how to run your business but tell them there welcome to buy you out and then see what they have to say and the countless hours you work that no one but you actually knows about like when you have to go fix a problem even though you should be sleeping. I wish you success and happiness and above all an early retirement. Thats where I am heading to now well semi early retirement I still plan to work a few more years maybe lol
Much respect any legitimate business is never easy a lot of work and dedication has to be put in it and this guy you can't tell if he's being sarcastic or serious shit be hella funny🤣💯
@@jakesgarage905 There is no "working on that now" Literally download the chrome remote desktop app on both your devices and watch the monitor screen from your phone wirelessly anywhere. This is not rocket science, although that plumbing might be.
We love salty road! More dirty cars= more people getting washes. Mud on the other hand, just makes everything sloppy and dirty in the bays. Salt washes right down the pit. Thanks for watching!
Outside looking in is a lot different than being in. I always thought a car wash establishment would be a self working money machine. Thanks for the eye opener.
I can relate! lol Only difference is I had natural gas floor heat and rebuilt my own pumps and motors. I will admit I got pretty good at sourcing all kinds of crazy stuff for parts so I could channel my inner MacGyver to fix stuff. Example: I used a tore rubber hot tub liner I got from the pool store for free, two C-clamps and a hose clamp to fix a leaky hot wax tank because the stainless steel tank rusted out in so many places. Lasted for 2 years! You forgot my favorite, people trying to fish money out of the Hamilton (Change machine) using notebook paper $20 written on it, or the cost of having it reprogrammed every time a new type of bill came out or quarter. I kept a locked metal cover over the trash cans so they could not put full bags in the trash cans, about the height of 20 ounce bottle of soda. But never stopped them from throwing them over fence all over the dumpster. Good Video and truest I have seen dealing with a car wash in awhile.
There is a lot, lot more, to running a car wash than I gave business owners credit for. The operating costs, wow! Thx for the reveal, very interesting insight.
Yeah, cost may be high. It’s great for owner operators. But I’ve built a many that net 500k 1st year. 1 mil second. You have to spend money to make money in the wash world. Soap is important. Very very important
Yes indeed. Considering the one near me is only $4.75 to start the self service rinse bay and that gives you 7 minutes. Most people are in and out within those 7 minutes or less
Fuck what credit you gave them,who are you lmao
That’s more common sense. Otherwise everyone would own one
Think about that the next time you feel a business is price gouging or doesn't pay their employees well.
As a current owner of a business that sells, installs and services carwashes and someone who has worked as a carwash technician for over 30 years in several different parts of the country, I can tell you your observations are pretty accurate. There are a lot of hidden costs and unappreciated tasks that go with owning a carwash. The larger the operation the greater those become. Imagine a full service tunnel with 20 employees, 10 different machines in the equipment room, a bunch of moving parts in the tunnel and 15 different chemical products in use. Some of my customers have electric bills of over 6 grand a month and water bills to match, don't even ask about labor costs. To service this equipment I have to be proficient at mechanics, electrical, plumbing, hydraulics, pneumatics, low voltage control systems, electronics, networking, computers and have a good understanding of how and why the chemicals work together and why they do what they do.
One of the things about the videos of the guys collecting there money is that they just did the most stupid thing they could possibly have done and that is show the criminally inclined a very real target.
You're the man to be!
Where did you learn your skills for this trade? How does one get into car wash repair? Thank you
@@corysturgis6660 I stated by getting a job at a local tunnel wash. show eagerness most of these places do self repair. You can work your way in, millwrights also know as industry mechanics play a good role in the industry from what I’ve seen as wel
Thats every business in their own right. Customers don't understand that.
I will NEVER take a self-serve carwash for granted again. I most certainly appreciate the facilities you provide.
This video is the reason CZcams exists! Who would've thought we could learn so much about car washes? Well presented, informative, and transparent...
Yea really show us the smoke and mirror of the business.
Thanks for all the comments guys. Am I unhappy? Absolutely not! This video wasn’t intended to complain but rather share the truth. This was what I was able to afford in my late 20’s and plan to use this as a stepping stone to grow / improve /expanded. Some of the “whining” and “griping” is more for comedic relief rather than actual complaints.
Thanks for the video, it was refreshing "real talk" with no judgement. Though if I recall correctly you missed the two biggest expenses, rent/mortgage and taxes, both of which can be absolute killers.
Real talk!
Oh... Ok cool
Your the first American I see that owns a car wash... most people I bump into that own a car wash are from India or Yemen in the middle east.
It is prohibited to wash dirty ass mud vehicles in our car wash. There is a warning sign and people respect it.
Now I understand why carwashes do not get remodeled as often as needed. My respect and gratitude towards all who run carwashes .
My respect to the workers in the car wash. May all the owners of carwashes have a horrible life.
I can just about go point for point with you as a laundromat owner. There is an entire world behind the scenes people have no idea about. With zero problems it costs $5000/Mo for our mat to be open. With 41 machines, change machines, pay apps, and security systems, there is NEVER a zero problem month. The general public can and will destroy everything.
If you owned an anvil playground, you'd show up some day and see some Karen's kids beating the horns off them all with day old bananas. The capacity of the human mind for misuse, willful and wanton abuse is unparalleled in the remainder of animal kingdom. It makes weather abashed.
My dad was into laundry and car washes. Nightmare. I am glad it's over and I don't have to live depending on the WEATHER.
@crunthat I see you don't own a laundromat as you would not thing this is one bit funny. The app not working has the same effect as the power being off.
@crunthat You don't own a business, sit quietly while the grown folks are talking kid.
@@micheletetley6142 Sorry but even going to Target for your vegs can be affected by weather too. You kinda have to lives with that one. :)
Owned and ran 2 car washes for 15 years. Was tired of all the issues in this video. Very accurate content. Sold them and realized there are 1,000,000 better ways to make money!!
No shit, if you dumped all that money into an ETF you'd probably have double the returns in the same amount of time. And that would literally be **passive**
Which are?
Good point. "Ego satisfaction" is the driving force behind much of the "be your own boss/own your own business" mantra! I have done both and find if you just want to earn a living and have many OTHER outside interests it's easier to just work at a company, go home at 5pm and enjoy the rest of your day/life! To me, having my own business meant it was ALWAYS living in my head. If you don't want to let your livelihood define who you are I would say don't do it, just work for a company. It's much easier and MUCH less stress!
I have no interest in car washes as a biz but absolutely have an interest in the mentality of folks that make shit happen rather than sit on the sideline.
This is the type of person we need to speak at schools or summer camp or whatever…a mason or electrician people that are doing well with a skilled trade or being an entrepreneur.
Good work dude.
They don't want average people running their own business. They want your kids in debt with a useless degree working for a big corporation so the elites can own and control everything.
Should get a good self serve or tunnel wash owners input. This guy is trash. Been in the industry 8+ years as a service tech with my own company. He's the worst type of customer to have.
We need less masons. They discriminate against the wider population by thinking they can get ahead by being in a special club or expecting extra treatment after giving a funny handshake. I give them extra treatment. That handshake or phrase will put the price up.
Absolutely. Kids need to know there are other things in life besides electronics and these "other things" can be very interesting and fulfilling.
Just by your uneducated response I sure do not want to have you as an investor
Kudos on providing us with an insight into what it takes to run a car-wash operation, including the logistics, costs, and life investment required. Wow! Thank you very much. Appreciate you unravelling this operation...
Breaking Bad made running a car wash look like a lemonade stand!
As a fellow car wash owner; this is most accurate video I’ve seen by far. A couple different setups from mine, but very similar in many ways. Thanks for sharing the truth.
Love it. My dad taught me very young in life, there is no such thing as easy money. I don't mind working hard every day and I don't feel entitled to free money. No matter how complicated it is, I think the car wash business is cool. It's a service that's valuable and important, and it can't be offshored.
There is such a thing as easy money. Crypto.
@@ewicky lol
@@ewicky cryptocurrency and the stock market in my opinion is legalized gambling.
Unless you're joking
I know a lot of people that lost a boat load of money in the market for the exception of one man.
One trick pony that's what he was good at. Nothing else. Needs help putting batteries in a flashlight type of person.
@@ewicky This bot aged poorly
@@Mr.Robert1 I agree that short term traders are just skimming value and causing market volatility, however, their losses can be your gains if you’re a value investor. :) I’m interested to see what becomes of the crypto market and how it could transform the way we do things in the future. Think of someone from the 1940’s seeing the technology we have now. I hope I live long enough to have a similar experience.
I recently purchased a car wash and it wasn't in that good of condition when I purchased it the automatic Bay did not work and the property itself had not been well maintained. I considered keeping it as a car wash but the cost of a new automatic Bay was little above $400,000. So I tore the car wash down and put self storage on the property.
Ok? Thanks for bragging
@@jacobpie3692 how was I bragging I simply stated I bought land with a car wash on it, it was too expensive to do a $400,000 repair to the auto wash bay so I tore it down and put something else on the land that wasn't bragging I just made a statement.
@@20truck don't bother explaining yourself, some people just can't accept that they can't do what others can.
@@RichRotorhead I still don't understand your sarcasm, I had not intended to run the car wash when I purchased the land, because the cost was more than the income the car wash would make, smart business decision not because I couldn't afford to operate the car wash.
@@20truck he means the Jacob fellow is still in high school thinking he can get TikTok famous and make bank that way
A man stud out side a bank handing out $5 bills to anyone walking by. He started getting a big crowd of people. The police arrived and asked him, ''what are you doing", he replied, I was thinking of opening up a carwash, but this is faster. 🤣God bless the business owner.
Working my way up to manager of a exterior car wash was my first career, 4 years when I was 16-20. During the winter line out to street days, I could get 135 cars/hour through that wash with a 4 man team. In the summer, you worked on your car in the parking lot or read books most of the day. So many stories, and all of this looks so familiar. Video enjoyed.
I used to work for a guy that owned a car wash when I was in college. My entire job was either cleaning the bays for the exact reason you mentioned or troubleshooting the constant problems that occurred every damn day.
Outstanding ! As usual, there's much more to running a successful business than the initial purchase. You've brought reality to those thinking instant money-maker. I get the feeling you'll, make it work one way or another. Now what's your next venture ? Godspeed Jake !
As a classic car owner I can confirm I'm the one who gets mad about rocks and shit.
Been in the industry for some time and it is accurate you really have to be a jack of all trades! Equipment always breaking down, especially for customers that don’t do preventative maintenance, one of the many keys to a successful wash, happy washing!
Thanks for sharing Jake. There are a lot of people out in the interzone being sold on "passive income" without knowing there is still some heavy work involved. It would be nice for everyone to see this video before taking the plunge.
Honestly at this point it's just like running any other business. Even online businesses can be full of smoking mirrors of uncertainties, WEIRD ASH failures that you didn't expect/could prepare for, etc.
Worked in the business for many years in many capacities on washes from dirt to squirt phases and from maintenance to executive level as well as all types (IBA, tunnel, ss etc...) and must say that I completely agree that there is way more that goes into it that they will tell you. You must absolutely be either unafraid to learn or be proficient in most all trades and business accumen including electric, plumbing, HVAC, chemistry, water quality analyst, security, maintenance, grounds, marketing, landscaping, I.T., customer service, janitorial, hurt feelings counselor, carpentry, HR, legal defense, acconting etc.... When you look at a run down wash that is typically an owner that was sold a bill of goods about how easy it is and how it is mailbox money...let me assure you it is not. As far as the muddy bays that's a cost of doing business I mean it's a car wash what can you really say....only wash a clean car? Having shoveled and hosed down many sandbars in my day trust me I get the frustrations. Membership is a great way to help your ebbs and flows of seasonal change for income. Interesting system for anti freeze why wouldn't you just weep your bays especially with a well? I left the business because literally every owner I ever worked for was a complete self absorbed bat shit crazy lunatic, but I do miss it and long to have a wash of my own though the costs are such that the big outfits have all but taken over in many markets. Anyhow sorry for the rant I guess it's my way of saying "I agree" great video and best of success.
You basically described the required skills for every successful entrepreneur. Although, “hurt feelings counselor” made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the laugh! 😂
I'm a controls engineer, familiar with all that electrical equipment. It looks like a fairly simple design. I notice you are operating a 25hp motor without a variable frequency drive. Maybe a vfd would reduce the number of motor rebuild events because startups and shut downs would be smoother. There are just too many relays on that panel.
I also noticed you are on the hook for chemicals that maybe you can dispense with. I really appreciate the spot free rinse and don't mind paying the $12 to get it (what I pay here in southern Minnesota).
Anyway I like your video talking about the business, really cool.
Used to work in the industry. Yea they are available, but they cost alot of money. There are many mechanical designs. Recently they have been mostly electric motors directly onto the brushes. Extended towards the vehicle by air pressure. Although alot of them still use a main hydraulic motor with valves to control spin on the equipment. This can get quite messy. Now, the actual controllers are pretty much archaic. Only a few support direct vfd control, and they are limited by the number of vfds they can control. Most of the time vfds are connected to a normally open contact on the controller which basically tells the vfd to ramp up, basically binary on off. I don't know if I can technically disclose more than that but there are better ways of controlling those motors during steady days where they ramp up and down many times a day.
Soft start is also an option
Free advice let's see if that guy is posting for likes
@@NotnaRed An opinion or an experience kind of goes hand in hand. Especially in a CZcams comment section
Thank you for going through the details of carwash business responsibilities and educating us. It sure needs a good amount of patience.
Wishing you,family and loved ones a prosperous life.
Liked and Subscribed.
Was a manager at an express carwash for over 4 years, running the place day to day was a colossal amount of work and required a team of people. From the plumbing, car wash equipment breaking, relays and electrical failures, moving and getting covered in chemical, dealing with freezing lines and ice in the winter, and worst of all negligent customers that damaged equipment and caused collisions (not to mention the ones that would become enraged over any and everything) . Owning and operating a car wash is no easy task, props to you sir!
My uncle owned a self service car wash in Western Pennsylvania years ago. It payed for all of his kids college. He was a head mechanic at US airways so he could do all the repairs. Then he sold it for a great amount.
This fellow would not be in it, if he wasn't making a profit.
In the video he talks about his profit margins and how he is making money in other businesses.
Yes its turns a profit. He's trying to explain that there are expenses that people do not consider. He is just trying to open people's eyes nothing wrong with it.
You don’t know who to believe now, your uncle, this guy, oh man….
@@dok2304 That’s ok. Believe in yourself and you’ll be fine. 😜
@@dok2304
Why would he lie about the fact that every business has expenses to run and his case he actually goes from item to item it explains it that was actually very nice of him
@@dok2304 my uncle would have dumped it, if it wasn't making money. That being said, he never hired any repair guys because he could do it all himself.
Thanks. Far too many folks think its easy. One of my good friends just sent me a video about 3 days ago just like the ones you described. I dont own a carwash but I explained a small portion of operating costs. You put it out in the light with all the small details to the large details. 100% Great Job. Keep Hustling
I know what you mean about the dirt left from some patrons,...That being said, I've been an offroad motorcycle rider and racer for over 45 years and have used these car wash business all over the SE US. But because of probably the way I was raised or military background I've always had the decency to clean up the bay afterwards....because I also use these for my on road only nice cars and it socks when the only bay available is full of mud. Nice video and something to think about....every business has it's downside.
Hi! I run an automatic car wash. Please save yourself the headache and order a Hydraflex board. They are super helpful and should cut your soap costs. Currently we run through about 800 lbs. of salt per week, and have a soap cost of 6000 per month. We do around 600 cars on the weekday and 800-1100 during the weekend.
You gotta sell drugs outta the car wash…you are missing the mark.
Owning any business is difficult. I live in Latin America, and I love the how resourceful the people are here running small businesses. You'll see teenagers with full food service carts they created and operate.
That is so true. I spent several months in Medellin, Colombia over the last year and was astonished by the small business operations I saw. Many people are desperately selling whatever they can to stay alive and the rest of the population supports them with patronage rather than just buying things at bigger stores. It's part of the fabric of their society. It's sad to see people struggling so hard but it was heartwarming to see the respect that Colombianos show for small vendors.
@@billbmsn
That's actually where I live right now, and have lived before (amongst many other places). I actually change my consumer habits while living here. I buy fruit from the guy at the bus stop, a coffee from a guy selling it from a pot backpack he designed, get a viva 100 from the dude in the street selling them.
I completely agree with you. They are so resourceful here. I live their spirit, ingenuity, mentality, etc.
Pues me encanta vivir aquí en Medellín parcero.
There are many ways to make your wash more efficient and to extend the life of the equipment. I work for a national car wash equipment manufacturer in their service and install department. They own Ryko, MacNeil, TSS, Carolina Pride Vacutech and Baywatch. I build and service self serve, in bay automatics and tunnels. And I see that you have quite a bit of outdated equipment. That means, unless using the correct formulation for your soap, you're actually accelerating the aging of your pumps, poly, metallic plumbing, metallic nozzles solenoids, diaphragms and wands. Your automatic controller is very old and had been made obsolete for a decade at least. Newer controllers use far less energy, more precise soap dispensing, better foaming(so less soap use) and less water use. If your soap isn't as close to neutral pH as possible, you're actually ruining that equipment. I also cannot imagine why you'd be changing the media in your sand filters so frequently as it should last you 2 or 3 years at least. And instead odd using a chemical anti freeze agent, you could install a weepmizer to eliminate freezing your self serve water lines. So no more chemical purchase and users only water flow to stop freezing. I live near Denver and winters are very cold so we use weep valves to stop freezing. It cost the average 4 Bay self serve about $100 for 4 months of weeping. Water harness is the largest impact to cost of operation. You mentioned you had welll water. That has the highest hardness reading of any water you could use. Hard water means FAR less soap foaming so people don't think there's actually soap and they crank up the soap use with larger injectors and flow rates and then need to crank up the air and water pressure to get bubbly water. I didn't see your whole filtration system but I suspect it could be vastly improved. Our customers average 35 cents in chemicals per car washed when the system is set up properly.
That was a work of art.
Love your presentation style - informative, easy to understand, frank and honest.
I notice you have only posted two videos
I think you should consider posting more videos like this about managing a business etc.
We have more coming!! Stay tuned
I always wash down the stall if I leave mud everywhere. It’s called courtesy.
When the machine charges me by the second with a countdown alarm and everything, there's no chance I'm wasting that time rinsing down the bay.
One of the best youtube contents I watched in a long time. Thnaks a lot for sharing and being so upfront and not sugarcoating it. You were very transparent on your description.
I've often thought about what it must cost JUST in water and power bills to run a car wash, let alone supplies and maintenance! Your video helped put it all into perspective. Well done
Great video sir!! Love seeing some of the details we all take for granted while loving your company! Thanks for the hard work and blunt honesty!!
Thanks for the solid insights on the car wash business!! In line with conversations with friends who have owned or still own these businesses.
As a fellow car wash owner of 25 years I can totally appreciate this s***. I'm retiring from this BS and two more years
The best friends to have are plumbers, electricians, HVACS, lawyers and mechanics…
We need more videos like this for all industries. Very neat look into what you do, cheers!
I REALLY appreciate the truth! Never once came off as complaining! There is a car wash owner doing videos on here for nothing but “clicks and views” and he tries to make it look like it’s all pure profit. Your video taught me more than all his videos combined.
Hey I'm a car wash Manger and i would definitely reconsider your soap vendor, a 30 gallon barrel can last us about 3 weeks and are bays use 10 gallon jugs and those last about 3 weeks
It would depend on how busy the facility is to get numbers on soap usage comparisons.
@@canlib even if I average around 800 cars a day and 30 gallon barrel can still almost last me a month. Winter is different
Yeah, because like most crappy car washes it takes like 2 minutes for the soap to start coming out of the damn sprayer and brush And most of the time, hardly any soap comes out. Total rip off
@@andrewready1137 sounds like you need to find a new car wash. Definitely don't have that problem
I work at a car wash facility that is the one that pulls you through and I gotta say while I make good money and have met some awesome people along the way, it can be a living hell when I have to fix crap that people don't give a crap about and break. I also hate to say it, but it is actually a majority of people who don't care. You can't do anything about it though and just gotta keep fixing things and pushing on. Awesome video that describes car washes in general!
I've been a car wash technician for 6 years. Literally anything in the equipment room or tunnel, I've seen and worked on. Electrical, plumbing, mechanical, you name it. I feel your pain!!
I got to know the owner of a nee car wash he built locally. The permits and fees and environmental equipment and building code requirements were crippling. And the stories of vandalism, theft and stupidity of people were horrendous.
In hunting season, he would occassionally get hunters who clean deer guts and body parts out of the back of their pickups.
Stay in school kids.
Yes. Stay in school so you can work for the guy that owns the car wash.
God forbid anyone use a car wash to clean a dirty car. If they aren’t spotless rich people already, you don’t want to see them. The entitlement is amazing
@@jimmyparris9892
Good point.
It would pay for the owner of this wash to hire somebody with brains to manage his wash and to keep this place running properly. Turn people away that are doing what you say.
@@jimmyparris9892 if you go to school to wash cars you might be retarded
If you were a coin collector and had time to observe the quarters, it could be a second income.
Fr tho
My dad is a "small to medium enterprise owner" as well and while working with him you start to appreciate a good customer. that is why i always try to be a good customer. Do enough research before going to any store which is why i appreciate online stores. There is a limit though when it comes to things you simply can assess online like mattresses, clothes, pillows.
I’m very sorry for your problems man.
I truly can’t believe that you put up with that bullshit.!!! Your the best business man that takes care of yourself with stressful times.💯💪🏻💪🏻🙏🏻
Thank you for sharing the truth about carwashes.
Great video and opens the eyes to being a business owner.
As someone who cleans self serve car washes there really is a lot to do with them every day. Sweeping the lot, getting the garbage cans that are full multiple times a day, spraying down the bays, cleaning out the vacuums and a whole list of other little things and that's if nothing breaks, which happens very often. There is also climbing into the attic if you have problems up there. I love my job and we have a couple maintenance guys that I text if anything major breaks.
Thanks Jake for sharing your concerns and thoughts on the car wash. I had no idea there was so much involved.
I own a full service car wash and everything you said is spot on. You should try having employees, well there goes 40 to 50 percent of the intake. Then deal with them doing a poor job, or not show up for work. Some days are nightmares.
Don't you just hate those employees? Like fuck dude why can't people do their jobs right.
@@NevrrPresntt cough cough pay enough cough cough
@@jacobpie3692 40 to 50 % of the intake goes back to the employees. Cough, Cough. I'm struggling now cough, cough. Need a new roof 30 thousand cough, cough. Need to upgrade equipment 200 thousand cough cough. The bank wants their money back cough, cough.
@@hturbo1007 not my problem
@@paullewis4134 who's talking to you???
I managed a car wash for a friend for a year. There is actually an ordinance here in Florida. No dumping. That includes washing your mud off and leaving 6 inch thick pad of it all the way around a car wash area. I called the police they took my video they got the guys plate number they drove to his house! They told him $250 littering fine. The guy was back with a police escort and a flat bladed shovel so he didn’t have to pay the fine. I stood back and watched it!
Here is a man that is fed up with the public.
As a 40 year landlord the same thing holds for apartment houses. I would change out the bearings in that 25hp motor myself and save a ton. For a car guy it is very straight forward job just don't wait for them to spin. (water/wastewater operator before landlording) with 3 phase you shouldn't be cooking the windings. Great video!! People just don't get how complicated the electromechanical world is.
Where I live our car wash has a water recycling system in it where the dirty water goes into a plumbing system and basically gets recycled. Clean water is also added back in. The reason why our car wash has that system is because we have very tight rules on waste water.
I'd assume this might be common in places where water is really scarce too. I have relatives in one of those places where it costs a lot to get water because it's all piped in from the far side of some mountains
I am so happy you did this video, I truly appreciate you, I was talking to my family about buying one, and I will show them this video
Back in 2009, we had severe droughts in Melbourne, Australia.
The whole state was on extreme water restrictions, including the banning home car washing.
Commercial car washes were exempt as long as they recycled their water. As a result, yhey made an absolute killing during one or two years.
Once the rains came back however, yeah they struggled again.
Poor customers. Imagine pulling up to a Carwash and the owner complaining that your car is dirty.
This is very informative as I always wanted to get into the biz. This is a lot of work and overhead. I'm no slacker but wow profit on average $1000 a month? You would still need a job and this $1000 a month is small residual income. Definitely a fallacy of the cash cow. Thank you so much for being so real about it.
If he optimized the business, he'd have greater margins that what's described! But it's not a business for everyone. Some locations (like further down south), are more profitable than others!
Hope you have good prints for the panels. Very interesting behind the scenes look. Thanks
My Dad owned a few Carwashes. I worked for him for 23 years. There is so much overhead. We washed the cop cars free and sometimes they came twice a day. It is true. all of your family and friends get free washes. Winter and spring were the best times. Chemicals were expensive, Sewer bill was killer! INS. sucked along with taxes and payroll. We ran two power washes and dried the cars by hand . We had 100 ft. tunnel. I used to cry before work in February because i would freeze my ass off. The overhead was brutal. The oil forget about it. We needed to buy 55 gallons of hydraulic oil. We were about customer service all the way. A lot of things get broken on cars and for us antennas were the main thing then it became the back windshield wiper. Mirrors that didn't fold in. We also had white wall tires when I worked. Ugh! I don't miss it. We would close at 7 pm. Our phone calls were. Ah your building door is open I think you were robbed. We were even burned down once because we kept a safe and they took our torches to try and open the safe and started a fire that killed our cat. Huge nightmare!
When I was cleaning my SUV after a wrong turn turned into a class B off-road experience, the car wash owner informed me of the hassle all the mud will create for him. I asked if there was anything I could do to not hassle him, and he ended up hooking up an extension to the outdoor wand, so I could rinse off with plain water, in an area that wouldn't fill up his drain. I bought roughly 20 minutes of time, and asked if he had a shovel so I can move the clumps of mud into the grass and off his drive. h
He came out with a shovel and said I added an extra 40 minutes of time for you! That mud was the thick clay type, and dried rock hard, so I was incredibly thankful he didn't tell me to just go away.
Wow! you’re very generous waking up in the middle of the night to get the nickel out of the vacuum cleaner. Here in Miami. They don’t care. We need owners like you. 👍
Hello, look into nordic geothermal heat pumps. Can heat floors and water with them. I have one in my house .
I'm not to sure how good one would be at keeping the floors from freezing, unless you had enormous system. It's one thing to heat a floor inside, trying to heat a floor outside that's always wet is a whole different thing. Also, I think most if not all geothermal systems, use a liquid through pipes to heat floors. So he would have to rip up all the floors and redo them.
I love the flow of this video. Straight to the point!
Thank you for your service!!! I didn’t know,any of,what you were, talking about!! G
Set up a prerinse station for Muddy vehicles away from the stall.
Lol if you aren’t rich and your car isn’t spotless already he doesn’t want it because it could mean actual work for him.
Looks VERY stressful to me, and it's unbelievable that just a bunch of quarters can pay for all of that!!
$12 in quarters each car for $2-3 in materials is a good profit. He’s fine.
That's how you make a video straight to the point. Thanks man so useful info.
That was absolutely eye opening and fantastic. You have a knack for talking to the camera and I anticipate a much larger channel in your future.
I give you a 👍just bcoz I admire your ambition, work ethic and just for being a good person. I've always respected all car washes bcoz I understand the amount of overhead that one single owner has and have never washed mud off any of my vehicles or atv's, I just take them home and clean them up there but I know how disrespectful most people can be when it's just not their problem.
You will do fine. 👍👍
On the other hand.
Some people don't have a home that has an outdoor hose to do what you're saying. I used to have one however I'm living in a building now that does not have one.
If the muddy four wheelers are truly that much of a hassle, I would have to ban four wheelers at my CAR WASH
And lose all that business?
Sue there azz for clogging up the drains then trespass them hahaha lose what trash hell ya
This is funny…so you are going to ban 4 wheelers? How are you going to do that? Are you going to put up a sign? Get in a fight every time it happens? Call the police? (They won’t handle a call like this) Stay there 24hrs a day to make sure? …you don’t truly have a handle on what you are suggesting.
Thanks for being in your community actually taking care of a car wash. Probably won’t hear about it but it’s nice. Those diy car washes are really fun as a car guy for taking care of your car.
Hey Jake,
Thank you for the video, it opened my eyes to issues I hadn't thought of previously when considering a carwash as a business venture.
I work in credit processing with PayRoc and would love to sit down and see if we can save you some of that %3-5 in processing fees. Let me know if you're interested!
I know a guy who purchased a used car wash at the beginning of this past winter. He must of had at least 6 service calls(hiring company that specializes maintaining car washes) for misc issue's. Not including-Pipes busted twice. One time flooding the bathroom of the attached building. Ended up deciding to replace damn near everything(pumps, motors, hoses, wands, foam brush system, chemical measuring system). I think the only things he didn't replace was the user control boxes and the heat system.
Ok
I Know A Guy” 😂 well I know a guy he could’ve gotten all that equipment for less than half the price, according to the guy I know it all fell off a truck. 👍🏻
My God... I never knew this.. no wonder they guy comes out the office and watches me when I wash my jeep. There is only one rectangle clear for me to see out of... but the rest is completely muddy. However I do spend about $30 bucks there cleaning it. Don't know if that matters. Most of the mud is in the center grate. Besides I don't want to track through my own mud so I always wash it to the center grate under the car. The owner never complains. But he just watches me... like I'm stealing water or something lol.
later that night, he is out with a flat shovel, digging out all the mud that you put in there.
Entitled rich people
The only car wash I'd ever own would be a quarter activated manual setup. One setting for soap, and one for rinse. Have one area just for muddy vehicles.
Respect the honesty it hard to find.
As far as muddy wheelers go, you need to tack on a surcharge for the extra cleaning. They’ll either pay it or go somewhere else. Win win.
So…. You should charge more for someone that needs to use the service as opposed to someone that just want their vehicle to sparkle… makes a lot of sense
@@Foxhole11 Usually prices go up proportionally to how services are utilized
@@Foxhole11 absolutely charge more. It’s not an ATV/UTV wash and therefore customers using it for that should pay more. The only reason they go to the car wash is because they don’t want that mess in their own driveways.
Should a truck have to pay more than a car? Should a motorcycle pay less?
Of course they don’t want the mess in their driveways. That is the point of a self serve car wash…
AND that oil tank is now about 1500$ to fill, your soap and washer fluid are probably each 500$ now as well. It's not that much different from renting apartments, people think there ought to be rent control and that landlords are rich. But, after expenses and repairs, and depending upon the eviction laws in your particular state, you can lose 3/6/10K to a dead beat tenant before you can get them out, and the court may only force them to pay 10$ a month. If they stop paying, you have to serve them and go back to court. We lost allot of money due to the Covid "eviction moratorium" and many of these people were not affected by Covid, but they took advantage of what their TV told them they could do...
Don’t you guys make like $80-$100k off those each month. I’m not worried about your little expenses when you’re making that much. The issue is that landlords and everyone wants their profit margins to be INSANE. Screw 20%, everyone wants a 150-200% return on their money or they’re not making enough.
My local car wash did away from automatic wash. Switched it to self clean. It's like 500k for a new machine and he doesn't put anything in it. I've seen people change their oil in it before. His change machine is always empty and he won't sell it because family dollar wants the location.
Thanks for actual honesty! I’m so tired of people thinking you get rich. It’s a slow grind and your actually doing pretty good. I’m not near break even but would be nice hopefully soon. Then you have to not take a paycheck for your hard work. Lol
My friend owned 2 of the 6 bay units. He put in cameras, caught a competitor stealing the nozzles off the hoses! He took the tape over to the guy and showed it. Guy had to return the nozzles AND pay for lost business. He also caught a guy ready to wash an extra muddy dump truck, backhoe, and trailer. It would have cost him $2000 to clean sewers after that. We are talking early 2000's money.
If you own a car wash and bitch about people washing muddy things off you shouldn't be in the car wash business.
Ok
Since when does soapy, diluted mud clog sewers?
@@ewicky The mud would come off in chunks, and guys forced the chunks thru the drain by stomping on them. My friend learned the hard way and was very tough about not allowing it to happen again. Also, the amount of water and soap used is not much compared to the volume of mud.
It sounds like basic overhead ... we all have overhead unfortunately in businesses but yours sounds pretty normal with the exception of some of the chemicals I guess. I would imagine it's still worthwhile and depending on the location should be a pretty sound businesses right ? I know the self car wash places around me are always packed! Best of luck with your business!!
Dude is making bank, just complaining that he has to spend a little money and put in a little effort to do so.
@@jacobpie3692 i wouldnt call 2k a month profit or less making bank...i make that with my $16/hr job..and i have a lot less to manage then this car wash does
@@TechMaster2133 True, why would you want all the stress? Oh, so you can brag that you own a business, pfff, I rather go work for someone, get paid, go home and not worry about anything. Leas stress, you live longer.
People this days have no respect to anyone and to anything.
Wish you better customers and more money for all the hard work you do....
makes me feel blessed here in FL we dont need to worry about that anti-freeze solution, and with only 1 auto bay and employees to handle the cleaning, no customer allowed in the tunnel cuts out some of the risks
5 years managing a wash near Boston. This was no franchise operation and had been in business for 35+ years. (The owner retired and sold the business).
Yes, plumbing and electrical... and hydrolics and welding and fabrication and framing.
#1 requirement is PATIENCE. Every service industry has to deal with customers. Car wash customers are... special.
You’ve got “special” customers in every industry. They come in lots of variations and you don’t see it until you’ve either worked in a service job or have become a business owner. People, they/we are the best and the worst!
@@transphotography
I agree.
What i took away from this is if you buy a car wash make sure its only automatic
no - auto car washes have even more equipment you need to maintain. if you are not mechanical - this is not the business for you
Great video. One tip might be to get wifi or cell enabled moisture sensors so you get alerted immediately when there's liquids in places there shouldn't be.
I know you posted a video a while back. Thank you for showing the insides of the cost of running a business. Also thank you for staying on top of cleaning and maintaining your car wash.
Who would have thought it?
A business has operating costs.
What a surprise.
Kinda sounds like you just bought a shitty car wash
Idk how your video came up but as a previous business owner in the restaurant business I can certainly appreciate your video because most people have no idea of cost they only see the money coming in but not whats going out and dont get me started about those who know how to run your business but tell them there welcome to buy you out and then see what they have to say and the countless hours you work that no one but you actually knows about like when you have to go fix a problem even though you should be sleeping. I wish you success and happiness and above all an early retirement. Thats where I am heading to now well semi early retirement I still plan to work a few more years maybe lol
Much respect any legitimate business is never easy a lot of work and dedication has to be put in it and this guy you can't tell if he's being sarcastic or serious shit be hella funny🤣💯
5:19 if you need a subscription to get the CCTV on a app you should switch to a better CCTV system
Agreed. Working on that now!
Just pay me to sit there and snitch.
I’m just gonna blame everything on the coloreds anyway.
@@jakesgarage905 There is no "working on that now" Literally download the chrome remote desktop app on both your devices and watch the monitor screen from your phone wirelessly anywhere. This is not rocket science, although that plumbing might be.
Mud and salt has to be very hated amongst car wash owners
We love salty road! More dirty cars= more people getting washes. Mud on the other hand, just makes everything sloppy and dirty in the bays. Salt washes right down the pit. Thanks for watching!
Outside looking in is a lot different than being in. I always thought a car wash establishment would be a self working money machine. Thanks for the eye opener.
I can relate! lol Only difference is I had natural gas floor heat and rebuilt my own pumps and motors. I will admit I got pretty good at sourcing all kinds of crazy stuff for parts so I could channel my inner MacGyver to fix stuff. Example: I used a tore rubber hot tub liner I got from the pool store for free, two C-clamps and a hose clamp to fix a leaky hot wax tank because the stainless steel tank rusted out in so many places. Lasted for 2 years!
You forgot my favorite, people trying to fish money out of the Hamilton (Change machine) using notebook paper $20 written on it, or the cost of having it reprogrammed every time a new type of bill came out or quarter. I kept a locked metal cover over the trash cans so they could not put full bags in the trash cans, about the height of 20 ounce bottle of soda. But never stopped them from throwing them over fence all over the dumpster. Good Video and truest I have seen dealing with a car wash in awhile.