Your wash bucket at the DIY wash?

Can you take your wash solution and wash media to your DIY wash?

  • Sure, no problem

    Votes: 2 9.1%
  • It's OK as long as I keep the meter running

    Votes: 1 4.5%
  • Depends on how busy the place is

    Votes: 12 54.5%
  • Absolutely not!

    Votes: 7 31.8%

  • Total voters
    22
  • Poll closed .
I meant just charging by time rather than just by water usage. This way you get revenue from them for just being there. If they occupy a wash bay and have customers lining up to wash then consider a covered area so they can dry/vac. etc.
 
This seems like a bargain to essentially rent a space for about $5 for maybe possibly an hour. I still do not see how these DIY make money in some places if they had to pay rent on the land and maintain the equipment.

If I owned a DIY, I would charge based upon time too to allow bucket washing (maybe a special area) and sell detailing products (maybe some do).

Nowhere near an hour is spent in a wash bay, I don't recall the exact amount, but I think you pay @ $0.50/1.5-3 minutes. The clock is always running.

Rapidly zeroing in on this.
Ya think? When I really get successful, I think I'll buy a spell/grammar check and maybe even a capital letter or punctuation mark. :D
 
Ya think? When I really get successful, I think I'll buy a spell/grammar check and maybe even a capital letter or punctuation mark. :D

:bigups :rockon :rofl

Careful now Mr. Clean you don't want to get blasted by the Dark Knight :eek:..... Sorry I meant Tha Clone :huh:
 
I do not know why I said $5. (brain fault) I would be curious how much a bay typically generates an hour. My point was allow bucket washing but not impact the bay revenue.
 
By me it costs $3 for 6 min worth of sprayer time, so this guy wants us out fast.

As a side not, he also has a dispenser for interior wipes tire dressing, even a cheap drying towel :eek:
 
By me it costs $3 for 6 min worth of sprayer time, so this guy wants us out fast.

As a side not, he also has a dispenser for interior wipes tire dressing, even a cheap drying towel :eek:

I think all of the ones in my immediate area (@ 4 within 5 minute drive) have some vending options. At one time, one even had an interior shampoo option at the side (outside) one of the bays. I never saw anyone using it, so I didn't get to see how effectively (or not) it worked.
 
I live out in the sticks. No DIY in my town, nor in the next town over, but 8 miles south of here, there is one DIY, always clean, never occupied. I don't think anyone in town uses this place. So I took my wife's Durango there once to clean it up a bit.

About an hour into my cleaning, an old beater International pickup pulls up, and this cranky old man comes out and starts going on about no buckets, no hand washing, who do you think you are, etc.

I looked up at the fuming crusty guy and said, "Who am I? I'm your only customer at this point, no one else has looked at your car wash or even slowed down near this place. Do you really want to run me off and have NO customers today?"

I promised him I'd pack up and leave should three more vehicles show up (4 wash bays, 4 vacuum stalls) and he said if I was still there in an hour he'd call the police. I was, but I also had a vacuum hose in the truck and he didn't get out to say anything. At the 3 hour mark I was all done and the truck was about as perfect as it was going to get. I idled it home and my wife was happy.

I guess they want it to be busy and have customers out their ears, but if the place is dead, go for it, it's not like they're making money any other way, at least if you're there that makes it look like the place works, is open, won't eat your quarters, you'd think they'd be ECSTATIC that anyone showed up.
 
I live out in the sticks. No DIY in my town, nor in the next town over, but 8 miles south of here, there is one DIY, always clean, never occupied. I don't think anyone in town uses this place. So I took my wife's Durango there once to clean it up a bit.

About an hour into my cleaning, an old beater International pickup pulls up, and this cranky old man comes out and starts going on about no buckets, no hand washing, who do you think you are, etc.

I looked up at the fuming crusty guy and said, "Who am I? I'm your only customer at this point, no one else has looked at your car wash or even slowed down near this place. Do you really want to run me off and have NO customers today?"

I promised him I'd pack up and leave should three more vehicles show up (4 wash bays, 4 vacuum stalls) and he said if I was still there in an hour he'd call the police. I was, but I also had a vacuum hose in the truck and he didn't get out to say anything. At the 3 hour mark I was all done and the truck was about as perfect as it was going to get. I idled it home and my wife was happy.

I guess they want it to be busy and have customers out their ears, but if the place is dead, go for it, it's not like they're making money any other way, at least if you're there that makes it look like the place works, is open, won't eat your quarters, you'd think they'd be ECSTATIC that anyone showed up.

As an Owner of DIY "Clone" pretty much stated the facts(maybe got a little carried away...but) We have signs up stating no bucket washing. However this really only applies to peak business hours/Days(Sat/Sun)I don't mind at all to have bucket washers as long as they don't do the following
1)Disrespect my Property/Equiptment
2)Do not hold up the line(peak times)
3)Do not have Radio so loud that it disturbs others
4)Do not clean there litter up(Put in trash can...not on the ground)
We have 3 locations, and I know at 1 of them there is a guy who details for $$$. Either that or he owns about 50 different cars.I have introduced myself and gave him my number in case he see's anything fishy going on.It also helps my biz to have someone around washing there car....Kinda like going to the grocery hungry...They see someone else there they say hey "I Think I'll wash mine to"And Females feel safer knowing there is someone else around.:rockon
 
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