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| Comments from other readers: |
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| Nicole - 4/4/2007 1:30:37 PM |
| Thanks for all your comments. I think we can all agree that different customers want different things there is room for all of us to fulfill each of their car care needs. I do have to defend myself on what Tom wrote, however. We really try to offer the best quality possible. That includes (1) Using fresh water on every car. It comes straight from the city line, not sure how "fresh" it is but it is definitely clean! (2) We use freshly washed mitts towels on each car. This translates into 2000+ mitts 5000+ towels in our shop and a lot of laundry, but we wouldn't have it any other way.(3)Our soap is fresh-we mix it ourselves and apply it with a foamer. Anyway, I know we all try to do the best we can in our shops, no matter what the type. Best of luck to all of you in your businesses! |
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| Frank Canna - 4/3/2007 8:44:54 AM |
| When it comes to quality and building relationships with your customers, Nicole has clearly shown that people who say it cannot be done are usually interrupted by others doing it. |
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| Mark Gibson - 3/28/2007 6:47:39 AM |
| I feel that ppl are after quality and value for money this is important for all of us , were all consumers and have expectations of a fair and equitable purchase and this goes for what ever industry |
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| Tom - 3/22/2007 10:52:27 PM |
For Nicole:
I am willing to bet your quality in not as good as you think it is.
Do you use fresh water on every single car?
Do you use a fresh mit on every single car?
Is the soap you put on every car fresh or does it come from the bucket (like every othet hand carwash)that your staff just throws the mit towards and misses 50% of the time and that results in picking up something off the ground and scratching the surface of the car.
Check out a few EEO and see the output - also I wouldn't be surprised if you ate yesterday's leftovers at a 5-star restaraunt and thought it was the best meal ever. |
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| Dan - 3/22/2007 10:02:56 AM |
| nice comment rick. Grow up!!! |
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| washing@comcast.net - 3/16/2007 10:50:30 PM |
| I think we need more cute ladies like Nicole in this industry. |
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| rick porter - 3/13/2007 1:10:26 PM |
| IF YOU CHARGE 3.00 FOR WASH . AND YOUR COSTS ARE 2.75 YOU ARE AN IDIOT AND A WHORE. |
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| Bill Consolo - 3/3/2007 9:52:18 AM |
| Forget about the increased utility and soap costs, accelrated maintenance costs, increased labor costs that offset the volume increase. When you build a new state-of the art car wash and charge $3.00 you have a difficult time justifying a price increase. The $3.00 wash should be used only as a lost leader for a limited period of time to grab people and help establish your clientele. As a long term operating strategy? Would you rather wash 140,000 cars at $5 per car or 80,000 at $8 per car. After expenses what's the difference. Lastly how do you generate loyalty through book washes, club cards, etc. if you lowball the pricing? |
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| Earl Weiss - 3/2/2007 3:56:13 PM |
| For those commenting about 1970's or 20 year old prices, when we first went EE about 20+ years ago, the price was 99 cents to match local competing tunnel washes. One must also take note that costs / prices in general are often 25% higher than in the Chicago market whether it be car washes or restaurants. That is why I take note of regional variations. |
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| Dave Danzeisen - 3/1/2007 10:04:43 AM |
| We operate full service , exterior and flex serve tunnels. There is a place for all of them but no wash should be at $3.00 unless you are in the middle of nowhere or simply out to destroy your competitor .Our market like most markets accross the US in saturated with want to be car wash owners. They see or heard about a $3.00 wash that washes 500-1000 cars a day and with the encouragement of unscrupulous venders see only a make believe picture of this business. Our lowest price for our exterior operation is $6.00.Our investment in that site will reach almost $3,000,000. You may cover your costs at $3 or $4 and pay off your wash over a period of time but your return on self storage is better then that with no customer broken antenas. There is a fair price for any product or service . |
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| Frank Trilla of King Car Wash - 2/28/2007 12:03:36 PM |
| No reason not to have both.We run a 1st Class full serve wash and when we saw declining numbers 6 years ago we dropped our exterior from $7.99 to $4.99 and it exploded the revenue side of our business without effecting the expense side(much). We added 40,000 cars exterior to our count ,gave our employees more to do,and very few people spend $4.99. |
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| Bruce Bejsovec - 2/28/2007 8:42:45 AM |
| The carwash industry is stuck in the 1970's with their pricing structure and quality(or lack of)objectives. Instead of doing a better job, so they can charge a more appropriate fee, they try to do a quicker job to be more profitable with their same prices that don't change accordingly. The sure way to a substandard and not very profitable business is the high-volume and low-price mantra. This is also the mentality of carwash's detailing prices and services that has plagued the detailing industry with their same high-volume and low-price driven attitude. Maybe now that the minimum wage is increasing substantially the carwash industry will wake up and become a viable profession for carwash workers instead of just the cash cow that the owners have had for so many years.It is about time! |
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| Michael Ceritano - 2/27/2007 6:28:24 PM |
| The cheap car wash providers have ruined a potentially profitable business. While it is difficult to find the perfect price point, it is silly to wash cars for $3 or under. This is especially true when customerts are willing to pay more for good service. This provides little to no variable profit margin per car. I am in Detroit and provide express services for $4 to $7. I have raised full service and detail prices 2x in the past year and our volume is up. I attribute this increase to the level of service we provide. |
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| Don Carlson - 2/27/2007 5:55:29 PM |
| Anyone can provide CHEAP service. Value is in the eye of the beholder...in the case of low price(extreme low price in the example provided)...why prove to a customer that your service is not worth much. I sell washes for $8, $10 and $12...and advertise $2 discounts. Customers love to get discounts. 52% of all customers pay by credit card. 75% of the folks that use credit cards by the top wash. duh! |
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| Mike Cornell - 2/27/2007 5:43:12 PM |
| Having been in the business since 1979, I don't understand charging $20 year old prices when ALL of our costs have gone up. How can you afford to replace worn out items, or hire good help? If you had a price correction and charge less in hopes of higher volume, it's like admitting that you've been charging too much in the past. I would rather offer more (wheel cleaner, tire shiner etc.) and charge what I have. Mike |
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| Scott - 2/27/2007 4:46:28 PM |
| Running a business on 1970's pricing is not a good idea because: Cost of everything from Gas, electric, water, sewer property taxes, labor etc has risen steadily. Charge a fair price for your market and reinvest in labor saving equipment. Tire shiners etc. |
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When it comes to the conveyor carwash business there are no absolutes. Whether you should jump on the low-price, high-volume bandwagon is no exception. There are many who have found it helps the bottom line. You need to consider the factors before jumping on, though. These include your expense breakdown, potential market and competition.
In addition to being a carwash operator, I've also been accused of being somewhat of a foodie. So I beg forgiveness in advance for bringing this analogy to start my argument for not jumping on the low-cost high-volume bandwagon.