Welcome to the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club Friday March 29, 2024
Home Forums Images WikiNASIOC Products Store Modifications Upgrade Garage
NASIOC
Go Back   NASIOC > NASIOC Miscellaneous > Off-Topic

Welcome to NASIOC - The world's largest online community for Subaru enthusiasts!
Welcome to the NASIOC.com Subaru forum.

You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, free of charge, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.







* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads. 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-11-2010, 05:54 PM   #1
DoctorNick
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 7022
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Evanston
Vehicle:
2001 Forester
Arcadia green

Default Any carwash owners here?

Was thinking about buying some cheap land off a busy road here in Chicago and starting a carwash. I would love to hear experiences that people might have had or who are in the industry, also if you have sites or manufactures you recommend looking at, I would appreciate it.

It seems like a business that would be fairly easy to run. Have an electrician/plumber on call, make runs to a local auto wash supply company (Turtle Wax is local here in Chicago). Maintenance should be fairly minimal. Seal the concrete once a year, have seasonal cleaning of everything. Maybe replace a water pump every year or two. Rent and taxes would suck but otherwise, I would imagine it would be a fairly profitable venture. And if I am smart with where I buy land, hopefully property values will increase in the next 10 years and be able to sell the land at a profit.

Although, I have no experience in this industry so I am just going off observations and what I have read online.

School me ot!
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
DoctorNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
Old 05-11-2010, 05:56 PM   #2
blue-sun
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 15934
Join Date: Mar 2002
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Yorkville, IL
Vehicle:
2021 GTI
Cornflower Blue

Default

This is a pipe dream of mine as well coonboi.
blue-sun is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 06:00 PM   #3
pityr
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 31719
Join Date: Jan 2003
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Portland
Default

I would imagine that the traffic would be seasonal so take that into consideration. Probably not a huge deal in FL but most likely a factor in IL.
pityr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 06:00 PM   #4
DoctorNick
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 7022
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Evanston
Vehicle:
2001 Forester
Arcadia green

Default

From my research locally, there was one forsale for about 150k. I am about 2/3rd of the way there savings wise. Then location wasn't the best or I would have made a move on the place (a burb of Hammond Indiana).

I would agree and disagree about the seasonal traffic. A lot of people wash their cars in the winter up here in Chicago because of all the salt/grime that gets put on the roads from the local DOT. Yes, its not the same type of traffic as summer or what would be in Miami all year round. But its not a ghost town.
DoctorNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 06:02 PM   #5
izzodesh
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 68274
Join Date: Aug 2004
Chapter/Region: NESIC
Location: NJ
Vehicle:
2013 FJ Cruiser
cardomain.com/id/izzodesh

Default

izzodesh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 06:04 PM   #6
pityr
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 31719
Join Date: Jan 2003
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Portland
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoctorNick View Post
From my research locally, there was one forsale for about 150k. I am about 2/3rd of the way there savings wise. Then location wasn't the best or I would have made a move on the place (a burb of Hammond Indiana).

I would agree and disagree about the seasonal traffic. A lot of people wash their cars in the winter up here in Chicago because of all the salt/grime that gets put on the roads from the local DOT. Yes, its not the same type of traffic as summer or what would be in Miami all year round. But its not a ghost town.
There may be extra costs associated with running a car wash in the winter time. Especially with the temps that Chicago sees.

That being said, whats the competition like? Would you go touchless or bushed? Whats the car-wash market like there and can it support another entry? How would you distinguish yourself from the others?
pityr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 06:05 PM   #7
DoctorNick
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 7022
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Evanston
Vehicle:
2001 Forester
Arcadia green

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by izzodesh View Post
I should kill you.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pityr View Post
There may be extra costs associated with running a car wash in the winter time. Especially with the temps that Chicago sees.
True. like heating the water and hacking down icicles.
DoctorNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 06:05 PM   #8
teiva-boy
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 22825
Join Date: Aug 2002
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Seattle, WA
Default

Coin Operated laundry places do well... All the korean owned ones in LA seem to have owners with nice cars, decent homes, and nice things...
teiva-boy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 06:14 PM   #9
freq
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 14091
Join Date: Jan 2002
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: crAkron Ohio
Vehicle:
71 dime
15 mazda6 6mt

Default

My uncle used to own a car wash and failed miserably at it. More due to his ineptness and location than anything.

You know the drill with the location thing. (location, location, location)

Self serve? full serve? detailing on the side?

Don't know what the regulatory situation is in Chicago with water usage. In any case, water bills will be crazy expensive. Some newer places have water reclamation systems, but that's expensive too. the mechanicals need maintenance.
freq is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 06:14 PM   #10
GlowStick
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 245222
Join Date: Apr 2010
Chapter/Region: SCIC
Location: Laguna Beach
Vehicle:
2001 S2000
New Formula Red

Default

I suppose if you created an innovated system, trying something new that makes it more appealing otherwise. I swear there are so many god**** yogurt places that are all the same, but there must be a reason why there's not that many car washing places. I would suggest part machine wash and the other part self-wash.
GlowStick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 06:49 PM   #11
lev98
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 140529
Join Date: Feb 2007
Chapter/Region: TXIC
Location: Dfw
Vehicle:
01 Ferrari 360 spy

Default

Just be prepared for people bitching about how your car wash scratched their car. No thanks.
lev98 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 07:02 PM   #12
BacDoc
Don't Thread on Me
Moderator
 
Member#: 75141
Join Date: Nov 2004
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Default

My buddy just signed to buy 1 of 3. He was breaking down the numbers to me ... but at $1.25 mil apiece....damn.
BacDoc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 07:03 PM   #13
rare
*** Banned ***
 
Member#: 143082
Join Date: Mar 2007
Chapter/Region: International
Vehicle:
It's been laugh -
Canada

Default

When i was 9 years old i used to knock on people's doors and ask to wash their car for $2.
Does that count?
rare is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 07:03 PM   #14
DoctorNick
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 7022
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Evanston
Vehicle:
2001 Forester
Arcadia green

Default

Buying from a broker?
DoctorNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 07:04 PM   #15
DoctorNick
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 7022
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Evanston
Vehicle:
2001 Forester
Arcadia green

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by rare View Post
When i was 9 years old i used to knock on people's doors and ask to wash their car for $2.
Does that count?
Absolutely. Now were you wearing your Armani track suit when doing this?
DoctorNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 07:06 PM   #16
Brad Pittiful
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 34931
Join Date: Apr 2003
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: Eagles are ****ing
Vehicle:
. Super bowl LII
Champions!

Default

you should watch the film...car wash...then make your decision on whether you should open one or not
Brad Pittiful is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 07:09 PM   #17
DoctorNick
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 7022
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Evanston
Vehicle:
2001 Forester
Arcadia green

Default

I liked the 90s version better
DoctorNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 07:10 PM   #18
Brad Pittiful
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 34931
Join Date: Apr 2003
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: Eagles are ****ing
Vehicle:
. Super bowl LII
Champions!

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoctorNick View Post
I liked the 90s version better
geez...is that a remake or just a car wash moobie
Brad Pittiful is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2010, 07:13 PM   #19
DoctorNick
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 7022
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Evanston
Vehicle:
2001 Forester
Arcadia green

Default

I was working for Turtle Wax when "the doc" came to us asking for money to be the "car wash" of the movie. They tried to say it was a remake of "the car wash". It most certainly wasn't
DoctorNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Any VW owners here? urgent help here.. txl146 Off-Topic 12 05-06-2005 02:27 PM
Any Forester owners here? herbXT Vancouver Impreza Club Forum -- VIC 9 04-24-2004 04:54 PM
Any Oscar owners here? Thunder Lungs Off-Topic 24 12-31-2003 02:38 AM
Any wrx owners here? WRXMaster Texas Impreza Club Forum -- TXIC 16 09-20-2002 12:01 PM
Any Justy owners here??? Greg Sharpe General Forum Archive 12 03-26-2001 11:43 PM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:19 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Copyright ©1999 - 2019, North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.