Autopia type car wash business

wash_me

wash_me

New member
I was thinking about trying to open a fix location car wash business where I only do hand washing. There is only one guy here in town that does this on a small scale but I want to do it on a large to medium scale, maybe something like 50 to 100 cars a day. I want to do it the autopia way with micro-fiber towels, clean wash mitts for every car and the best equipment to do the job right. I been trying to find some web sites of business that have done this but I have been unable to find any yet.
 
You are going to have to have huge amounts of capital to invest in supplies, equipment, and labor to keep up with that many people each day.



Plus, I really don't think that 50 - 100 people per day is a reality for a client base, but who knows.





Good luck to you!:up
 
I sincerely doubt that you could do that volume AND maintain "Autopian" quality.



Plus, is there really a demand?
 
jimamary said:
I sincerely doubt that you could do that volume AND maintain "Autopian" quality.
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Agreed.



VERY hard to maintain. Unless you have several people working for you.



You could make the same amount that a car wash does with doing 50-100 cars a day running cars through automated machines by you doing 10-20 cars by hand the Autopia way. Automated car washes charge as low as $2.00 a wash, autopia type charge $20 and up. Even for my exterior wash only, I charge $12-$25+. For full car washes, I charge $25-$45. It's all about the quality to price ratio.



Good luck which ever way you go.:xyxthumbs
 
I am for the most part just seeing what you guys thought about the idea. If I could every get this off the ground it would be a few years before I could open. The automated car washes here do a horrible job but they are always a line of cars waiting to get wash. I was thinking if I could get $20 per car or close to it I would be making $1000 to $2000 in sales a day. I know I'll need at least 4 helpers that care and a great location for the business.
 
yes there is always a line at automatic carwashes because they're quik and convenient. I don't think you'll be able to get 50-100 a day who would be willing to wait for you to do an autopian type wash.JMO
 
50 -100 cars a day by hand; i don't think yoou're being very realistic. especially with wanting to do an Autopian style wash. just recently my crew and i did 30 cars in 14hours by hand and we barely got that done. i had three of my 4 workers and myself hand wash, vacuum, clean all glass and dress tires on all 30 cars and they were anything but Autopian style washes. we were on a tight timeline - worked from 7pm on a Friday nite and absolutely had to have all of them done by 9am the next morning. we finished the last one at exactly 9am and were completely out of supplies by that time. that said, i still don't think it's possible to do that many cars by hand in a day - everyday! oh yeah! we didn't take any breaks either.
 
I am starting to see the light it take me about 1 hour to wash one car. So if I had two helpers on one car I could get about 16 cars done in a eight hours, it would take a army of helpers to do 50 cars.
 
Wash me,



Don't give up just yet! There is a guy here in Atlanta that has a shop doing exactley what your talking about. He has a human production line. Not sure how many he does a day, but I rode by there one Saturday during the summmer and there had to be at least 20 cars in line. Not sure how many people he has working for him but it looked like he had about 3 to a car, so I would guess 15-20....That said, you would need a nice little sum for start up cost for a business like his, but everybody has to start somewhere. He has a website and once I remember the name I will post or send you a PM. Good luck!



Eric B.
 
There is a hand wash place 3 minutes from my house. The guy runs a monsterous business, raking in a ton of cash. He gest $9.95 for a full service hand wash and extra for that crappy wheel cleaner, clear coat protectant, wax, etc... (all nonsense)



However, the wash is awful. 10 guys attack your vehicle with wash mitts, swirling the living daylights out of it and missing spots. Then, they take those filthy mitts and attack the next vehicle along the assembly line.



To open a fixed location with ALL the necessary equipment, supplies, dependable, dedicated labor, start-up costs, etc... will EASILY run you in the $100's of thousands. I know another place near me which went for $750,000.



It's one thing to take an old gas station bay or two (that has been properly inspected & cleared) and do quality hand washes with some hired help. With the right look, marketing and quality results, people won't mind waiting to have their cars done if you have nice place for them to chill out. Also, you can still offer detailing services. I would love for their to be a place like that so I can take my car in the 15 degree weather I have been experiencing for the last month.
 
Spilchy said:


To open a fixed location with ALL the necessary equipment, supplies, dependable, dedicated labor, start-up costs, etc... will EASILY run you in the $100's of thousands. I know another place near me which went for $750,000.
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Can you tell me how this car wash place was equipped? Was it a few bays with a gas station type wash or was it a Mr. Pride type of business?
 
esbrown1 said:
Wash me,



Don't give up just yet! There is a guy here in Atlanta that has a shop doing exactley what your talking about. He has a human production line. Not sure how many he does a day, but I rode by there one Saturday during the summmer and there had to be at least 20 cars in line. Not sure how many people he has working for him but it looked like he had about 3 to a car, so I would guess 15-20....That said, you would need a nice little sum for start up cost for a business like his, but everybody has to start somewhere. He has a website and once I remember the name I will post or send you a PM. Good luck!



Eric B.
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I'm just waiting for this response. I would really like to check this place out if it's not too far from my place.:cool:
 
nosed_b18b said:
I'm just waiting for this response. I would really like to check this place out if it's not too far from my place.:cool:
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Hey, I can't find the website because I can't remember the name but maybe you know which one I'm talking about. It's on the corner of Windy Hill & Cobb pkwy. You know where I'm talking about? Let me know the name if you get a chance to go by there.





Eric
 
Oh yea.. I know what you're talking about. He has those all in one places. Does emissions too. I remember his prices to be pretty cheap too. Like $10 or something like that for a hand wash/wax service. I didn't know he had a website for that place though??? I can definately see him to be making money off a place like that on ghetto *** 41.:p
 
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