Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

[rbh]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

It's been looked into in my neck of the woods too. Same situation. Except the water would have to go in holding tanks and would have to be pumped constantly. Getting permits, pumping and the DNR involved just seemed not to be worth the effort or very cost effective....

I've heard there are baffled scrapers you need to separate the water and oils???

Clean outs, screens and possibly recycle water instead of sewer or septic field??

 

[204 Escape]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

Bad in my area right now. There's a water shortage, and they have been closed down for over 2 months.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

I have not seen a new quarter car wash built in years and years. Nuff said.

A self service laundromat is a business that must be watched closely a few times per day. Unless I owned a large mobile home park, the hard work may not offset the profits. But in a trailer park, it's well worth the time and investment.

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

I worked with a lady that had a car wash with her husband, after numorous lawsuits they sold out. She told me was worth it but they found out that it was a magnet for lawsuits, claiming damage to car from equipment, slip-falls, and other injuries said it took time but was worth it when CVS bought them out.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

Most of the newer ones around here recycle their water. Little more expensive on the front end, but saves in regulations and then on water bill after complete.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

If it's a running business then the question has an answer in the books. Go over them very carefully.

LOL...yeah right! I wouldn't trust the books of someone trying to sell a business like that as far as I could throw them. When I bought one of my laundromats, the seller was claiming a certain gross. I figured the gross from the water bills. My number was half of what the guy was claiming and mine was pretty much dead on to what the actual gross was.

Now if they were willing to show the tax returns for the last 5 years, that might be a different story. They usually don't lie upwards on those.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

Because these car washes are used to clean engines and oily parts of vehicles, is there an issue with this type of waste water collection(costs, EPA, etc)?

I've heard there are baffled scrapers you need to separate the water and oils???

Clean outs, screens and possibly recycle water instead of sewer or septic field??

I looked into it a while ago. After hearing about all the red tape and the fact others had looked into it too and backed out, I didn't pursue it any further. As 'Speck said, water recycling may be the way to go. I can see how that could really add a lot to the startup costs. It's tough to take "the leap" when you live in the woods and businesses around you are closing down, which seems to be on a regular basis.

I'm sticking to what I do for now. I'm maxed out this year on plow accounts. So, if it snows at all this year, I'll be busy...

 

[rbh]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

If it's a running business then the question has an answer in the books. Go over them very carefully.

The business was not for sale, just something I thought was a great idea with three business rolled into one.

This business model I bet would be good in an area with a lot of transient construction workers.

 

[korygrandy]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

I made about $400-500/month on quarters that ran laundry for 6 families / tenants. It was a nice supplemental income and I used it to pay for lawn-care, cleaning services and property management. Basically I put it back into the business.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

One of the problems I could foresee with a drive through car wash is the staffing. You'd be dealing with low end help and have varied help requirements, ie, weather, days of the week, hours of the day, etc, etc. To me that would be a real headache.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: Is a car wash or laundromat a good or bad investment?

Because these car washes are used to clean engines and oily parts of vehicles, is there an issue with this type of waste water collection(costs, EPA, etc)?

Very good point. We've all done it, we go to the coin-op car wash to get wash off the really nasty stuff. A friend of mine owns one in TN. He got in a very serious pickle with the local authorities and the EPA over what was going down the drains. He believes that someone was actually dumping some nasty stuff down the drains in the middle of the night. A Security Guard seemed to solve that problem but put a serious dent in his profits.

He has also had issues with Mud Boggers washing the mud off and clogging drains. A constant battle.

Check with local laws and Environmental agencies before you take that plunge.