One of the most significant expenses of operating any car wash, whether you own a self serve, automatic or tunnel car wash, is water.  There are several key things that an operator can do to minimize water waste.

For tunnels, reclaim systems can offer a significant impact to water usage.  Reclaimed water can be used on high pressure rinse application as well as brush lube water.  Followed by a final fresh water and spot free rinse, your customers will never know the difference between fresh and reclaimed water.  The results will be the same.  Having said that, it is imperative that the reclaim system is maintained to ensure odors and water coloration is minimized.  If odor becomes a problem, your customers will definitely know the difference between a wash with a reclaim and without a reclaim.

Conserving water in a self serve application can be done by turning off the weep system in the summer and reducing the water flow in the winter.  The concept of a weep system is “moving water will not freeze”.  Even a steady drip will prevent freezing.  You may also want to look into an air or anti freeze injection system instead of a water weep system.  The same would apply to an automatic in-bay car wash with regard to the weep system.  In some cases it may be possible to capture the water used for weep in self serves and automatics and re-purpose that water for a rinse application.  Another way to maximize your water usage is to capture the reject water from you spot free unit.  Most spot units discard as much as 2 gallon a minute in order to make spot free water.  In a busy wash setting that could be a tremendous amount of water and savings.  By capturing that reject water and repurposing it either in the self serves or automatics, you should reduce significant cost.  Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back and feel good about the fact that you are doing more than your part in conserving our precious nature resources!   Make sure you let your customers know that your site has taken several measures to conserve water.   This coupled with utilizing “green” environmentally responsible chemicals at your wash will attract a segment of customers that support retail establishments that are responsible.

Today’s customer is more focused than ever on the environment.  Unfortunately, only 40% of consumers know that professional car washing is better for the environment.  However, 53% of consumers prefer to buy from businesses with a green reputation and 80% are concerned about the environment.  Augment your marketing materials to deliver this message to current and potential customers.

AutoAuto Wash has designed and executed several of these “custom” solutions for retail and commercial  washes.  For these and other ideas on how to minimize water waste please contact us for a site evaluation and/or estimate.

The ProTouch ICON is a new three-brush gantry-style system that offers superior aesthetics, a larger wash envelope, next generation brush control precision, amazing illumination packages and revenue generating features that are synonymous with all PDQ car wash equipment. The ProTouch ICON was engineered to deliver incredible cleaning results using several “industry first” innovations that are unsurpassed by any other friction rollover on the market today.

The ProTouch ICON delivers additional cleaning and safety improvements through the use of superior electronic torque control and enhanced machine positioning recognition capabilities that allow the ICON to provide a superior cleaning scenario for all vehicle types and configurations.

If you ignore me, I will ignore you.

Hi! I’m your Hydrominder. Do you remember me? I’m the guy in your equipment room that controls chemical usage, strength, colors, fragrance levels, foaminess, performance and more! I can make or break you, especially if you ignore me! I work hard for you and I do exactly what you tell me, a silent employee, but every once in a while, I need some attention.

Here are some tips for maintaining me:

1. Remember that all chemicals are different viscosities (thicknesses) so you cannot rely on the tip color and its corresponding noted ratio. Did you know this ratio only refers to the ratio using a water thin product? Concentrates are MUCH thicker than water and will not be used at an 80:1 ratio with a tip that says 80:1. To determine usage you will have to learn to flow test your chemical.
2. A way to determine whether your Hydrominder is functioning at peak performance is to perform a test. Use a stop watch and run the line wide open for one Hydrominder for one minute then measure the volume change in the tank. Then, with a helper, do the same but open up 3 Hydrominders at the same time. If your volume change from the second test differs dramatically from the first test – with only one Hydrominder functioning – you could have a problem with water flow.  As a rule of thumb if your fill falls below 2 gallons a minute, you could be weakening your chemicals at peak usage times. Adding a booster pump off of a holding tank should resolve this problem.
3. Take an occasional look to make sure chemical dilution tips, water flow and float systems are intact and operational.
4. Check incoming screen/filter for debris at least once a year. Note: With new construction, you should check a few days after you have been running. I found a nail in one before. Very Important!
5. Keep me clean, because if I do ever break down, you are less likely to get chemicals all over you. I would recommend an annual cleaning of the container, removing bugs, dirt and anything else dropped in there during a repair.
6. Change incoming chemical lines at least once a year.
7. Change hose barb where tips are inserted at least once a year.
8. Inspect tips at least once a quarter and track what tips are used for each application. If an employee or manager changes a tip to “improve” something, you need to be aware that this could add up to severe performance issues or overuse.
9. Keep a spare Hydrominder, diaphragms and a repair kit on hand, so you can easily replace or repair.
10. Know which size Hydrominder you use. Do you know that there are many different sizes of Hydrominders with different flows?

These are just a few pointers that can make your operation run a little smoother.

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In these tough economic times, you need to free up your cash flow for the slower months.  At the same time, you need to ensure your equipment is performing at its best and looks appealing to keep customers coming back.

Ascentium Capital has money to lend and they flat out get the car wash industry.  We have been dealing with Paul Hagner for years.  Paul knows the C Store and car wash industry and has been lending in this vertical since 1996.

Financing especially makes sense when you consider Section 179 limits for the year 2012 were increased by the ‘Jobs Act of 2010′ which allows businesses to write-off up to $139,000 of qualified capital expenditures subject to a dollar-for-dollar phase-out once these expenditures exceed $560,000 in the 2012 tax year.

Bonus Depreciation was also increased to 50% by the ‘Tax Relief Act of 2010′ which allows larger businesses that exceed the $560,000 cap to write-off 50% of qualified assets using first year Bonus Depreciation.  Also, small businesses that are not profitable in 2012 can use 50% Bonus Depreciation (on new equipment only) and carry-forward the loss to future profitable years.

Example illustrating potential tax savings with Section 179

• National finance company dedicated to the Carwash Industry
• Direct lender backed by private capital allowing us more flexibility to approve your projects
• Over $ 250MM available capital to invest in carwash equipment in 2012
• Our financing allows you to preserve your bank lines for real estate acquisitions and your cash for day-to-day operations
• Full Carwash Systems from $ 1,600.00 a month to $ 3,200.00 depending on your full-featured system
• You’ll cash flow your carwash from month 1!

Call today: 281-902-1941 and ask for Paul Hagner-Ascentium Capital, LLC

This isn’t a social media question, this is a marketing question.  A fan is a good customer. There’s a widely held notion that 80% of business comes from 20% of the people.

As a carwash operator, one of the primary goals for your business is to increase your car counts.  One of the best ways to do that is to earn repeat business by doing the extra things that turn customers into fans.  With that in mind, here are 5 ways to build a ‘fan base’ at your wash.

1. deliver the expected   As a carwash operator; your business won’t prosper if you’re not putting out consistently clean cars. Obvious as it seems, if you can’t deliver on your basic service, then any other efforts you make will be wasted. For a carwash, basic service means putting out clean cars – consistently.

2. deliver the unexpected   People love to get unexpected ‘gifts’.  Have you ever been unexpectedly upgraded a large Suite at an overbooked hotel?   Nothing better.  So take an otherwise boring (and slow) Tuesday, and make it Red Car Day – red cars wash for free.  In September, most schools are just getting back in full swing – so you might celebrate teachers by giving them a free upgrade in honor of the work they do.  Hand out free vacuum tokens to customers who have a question or a comment.  You get the idea . . .

3. make it clear   The experience of using your wash should be as straightforward and trouble-free as possible for your customers.  A great way to make sure that the wash experience is all that it should be is to use a “secret shopper” to use your wash and provide feedback.  You’ll be surprised at what you find.  Maybe the instructions in your self-serve bays are confusing – you can make them more user-friendly.  Maybe the turn into your wash is a bit tight – putting up some cones might help customers navigate it in the best way possible.  If your customers feel that they got what they wanted at your wash and the experience was easy for them, they will come back more often.

4. accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative  Take a look around your wash and see what’s working well and what’s detracting from a positive experience for your customers.  Make sure that the physical appearance of the wash is a positive – fresh paint,  trash picked up,  good lighting and paving are all musts.  At the same time, think about upgrading the professional appearance of employees. Maybe it’s time to consider uniforms or shirts with your logo.  And if you have employees who go out of their way to give great service to your customers, find ways to reward them and show them that they are truly appreciated.

5. welcome their suggestions   The problem with complaints is that they are hard to make, and hard to take.  Many customers will avoid the discomfort of making a complaint altogether.  So when one of your customers does complain, it probably represents the experience of several customers, and you really need to pay attention.  You also need to take it well – the first words a customer should hear when making a complaint is “Thank you for bringing that to our attention”!  Then fix it if you can.  Remember, most customers will say nothing and just go away.  Consider when a customer does make a suggestion or complaint, there are dozens of other customers that saw and thought the same thing, just didn’t say anything.   Responding in a constructive way and addressing the issue will generate revenue from those customers who never had a problem.

Satisfied customers?  That’s a great goal, but turning your customers into FANS will really take your business to a new level.  It is interesting how we have a favorite restaurant, favorite store, favorite sports team, etc.  We as consumers take an “ownership” in the establishments we like.  We tell our friends, we take a pride in the fact that we have selected and identified these businesses and tell our friends and family.

Turn your customers into Fans of your car wash.

“Up time” of a car wash and car wash equipment plays a key role in acquiring and keeping customers as well as minimizing expenses.  Regular Preventive Maintenance (PM) plays a key role in the up time of any self serve, automatic or tunnel car wash and ancillary equipment; water softener, reverse osmosis system and compressors to name a few.  We are sure you agree that if any one of these items fail, the quality of the wash is greatly impacted.   It is just as important to be proactive in maintaining car wash equipment as it is to make sure you have ordered enough chemicals to clean cars.

By performing regular manufacturer suggested preventive maintenance (weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly) on your equipment you can, in most cases, prevent a costly and time consuming repair.  PM’s can detect potential major issues with equipment before they become “major” and address normal day to day wear & tear issues.  For instance, if you find a pump seal leaking during a PM and make the necessary repairs there and then, you may have prevented having to replace an entire pump head or deal with a seized pump.  By the way, important to note that you should use CAT oil in CAT pumps, General oil in General pumps and Hypro oil in Hypro pumps.  Many of these high pressure pumps carry 3-5 year warranties.  The very first thing the manufacturer is going to do is check to see that the approved oil was use.  If not, no warranty.  Plain and simple.  Sure, 30 W non-detergent oil will work, but the specific oils recommended by the respective manufacturers is unique in that they will mix with water.  When a seal fails the water will co-mingle with the oil.  The oil turns white, still providing lubrication, other oil will be displaced by the water and obviously impede the ability to lubricate.  Always check for “milky” oil on a PM, a seal kit sure beat the price of a $3,000+ new pump!  There is a big difference in cost and time to replace a seal versus replacing an entire head.

There are many items that need to be checked on a PM and they differ with each type of equipment.  It is always best to check your equipment manufacturer’s recommended maintenance for proper equipment guidelines and time intervals.  Give us a call, we have many PM sheets for many brands of equipment that we would be happy to share with you.  You may also choose to have AutoAuto Wash perform regular PM’s for you.

Bottom-line, the better ongoing care you provide to your machine, the longer it will last, the less it will cost for parts and maintenance.  Keep copious records on the PMs provided.  If your exit strategy is to sell the wash someday, surely the wash owner that can show the prospective buyer PM records will be a more attractive purchase.

]]> http://www.autoautowash.com/aaw-news/preventive-maintenance/feed 0 http://www.autoautowash.com/aaw-news/march-2012-newsletter?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=march-2012-newsletter http://www.autoautowash.com/aaw-news/march-2012-newsletter#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 22:41:35 +0000 AutoAutoWash http://www.autoautowash.com/?p=1996

Each month we release a newsletter that contains tips, tricks, and articles designed specifically for the car wash owner and operator.

We will post all our articles and tips & tricks to our blog here each month as well as our printable newsletter copy.

If you’d like to receive our newsletter in your inbox each month, subscribe to our newsletter in the form to the right!  Don’t worry we hate spam too and you will never receive spam from us. Ever.  We also promise we will never share or sell your information with any 3rd party.

View this month’s Newsletter here.

The newest LaserWash® in-bay automatic car wash raises the standard for touchless car wash equipment. With Revenue Enhancement and Total Cost of Ownership improvements being the main focus, this vehicle wash system delivers the industry’s best Return on Investment. Smart 360™ Technology enables the car wash system to be responsive to the dynamic conditions in the wash bay and allows it to “think for itself”, increasing up-time and optimizing the wash process.

Substantially faster wash speeds lead to increases in vehicle throughput and shorter lines that will make your customers happy. Simplified machine design and lower energy and utility usages reduce operating costs leading to a more profitable car wash operation.

Features Video

Benefits

• Increased Revenu
• Return on Investment
• Lower Cost of Ownership
• Read more about benefits…

In these tough economic times, money is tight, and car wash owners are, understandably, looking for every way to save money. It is a buyers’ market in most every industry including the vehicle wash industry…stand out from the competition by delivering the best product for the best value.

Here is some valuable advice: CHEAPER CHEMICALS ARE NOT ALWAYS BETTER! If you have already changed to a “cheaper” presoak in your Automatic, you may think you are saving money, but you may also be losing your customers. This isn’t happening just because the economy is struggling and gas prices are high (though you may be telling yourself that is the only reason). You may be losing customers because you have lowered your quality. Your loyal customers will notice the change and the presoak isn’t cleaning like it used to. They will be inclined to look elsewhere for a better deal and a better quality wash. Would you notice if your favorite restaurant changed your favorite meal to a low quality alternative? You bet, and you might not complain and just go somewhere else to find a restaurant that is giving you your money’s worth.

If your presoak isn’t producing a clean, shiny car, this is the time to change to a higher quality presoak and let your customers know you care about their business and will reward their loyalty.

Your detergent is only a small percentage of your total wash’s cost, but it leaves the most lasting impression with your customers. Make sure your Automatic wash produce a clean, dry and shiny car that you can be proud of.

To save money, look to other areas that do not directly impact the customer’s car:

Is your water being used as efficiently as possible?
Are you storing and reusing your spot free reject waste water?
Is your lighting in need of an upgrade to lower energy, high output lighting or motion sensor lighting?
Are you turning your hot water down during the hot weather months?

These are just a few ways to save money without impacting the quality of your wash.