4 ms·

I wouldn’t think they would be especially cheap to build though? Sophisticated machinery, lots of plumbing?

dboreham 3y ago
The machinery can be moved to another site.
diogenescynic 3y ago
I think there are companies that build/sell turnkey carwashes. I don't think it's very sophisticated to be honest. It's really just a couple of high pressure sprayers, some soap/foaming sprayers, and a track that pulls the car. It's all technology that's been available for decades. I bet there's a factory in China just pumping out car wash components.
- johnwalkr 3y ago
  You can buy them out of a catalogue, and if you need it in a building I think the building requirements are simpler than most other retail space. I used to work in the railroad industry and even train washes, a much rarer thing than car washes, were purchased practically as turnkey things.
- HillRat 3y ago
  There's a lot of unseen plumbing there, though, mostly underground tanks to handle storing graywater (cities have fairly stringent rules about discharge rate, so you have to store and slowly release a lot of water over time), plus (increasingly these days) reverse osmosis systems and graywater scrubbers for recycling. Most of the cost there goes into construction, not components, of course, but it's considerably more complex a build than older setups.
Kirby64 3y ago
There’s a car wash in my area that is one of the “upscale” hand wash places. At that point, you’re just paying for people to do the washing and some standard water hookups. No fancy machinery, just a few buildings and some basic equipment. They also have a giant sign in front of the building stating it’s for lease.
arbitrage 3y ago
The machinery is all commoditized and the same. Plumbing as a trade has been around for thousands of years. The level of sophistication here is limited.
dehrmann 3y ago
Here are some prices, but they vary a lot: https://www.carwashconsignment.com/equipment/automatics https://www.carwashconsignment.com/equipment/automatics

The machinery can be moved to another site.

I think there are companies that build/sell turnkey carwashes. I don't think it's very sophisticated to be honest. It's really just a couple of high pressure sprayers, some soap/foaming sprayers, and a track that pulls the car. It's all technology that's been available for decades. I bet there's a factory in China just pumping out car wash components.

johnwalkr 3y ago
You can buy them out of a catalogue, and if you need it in a building I think the building requirements are simpler than most other retail space. I used to work in the railroad industry and even train washes, a much rarer thing than car washes, were purchased practically as turnkey things.
HillRat 3y ago
There's a lot of unseen plumbing there, though, mostly underground tanks to handle storing graywater (cities have fairly stringent rules about discharge rate, so you have to store and slowly release a lot of water over time), plus (increasingly these days) reverse osmosis systems and graywater scrubbers for recycling. Most of the cost there goes into construction, not components, of course, but it's considerably more complex a build than older setups.

Kirby64 3y ago

There’s a car wash in my area that is one of the “upscale” hand wash places. At that point, you’re just paying for people to do the washing and some standard water hookups. No fancy machinery, just a few buildings and some basic equipment. They also have a giant sign in front of the building stating it’s for lease.

arbitrage 3y ago

The machinery is all commoditized and the same. Plumbing as a trade has been around for thousands of years. The level of sophistication here is limited.

dehrmann 3y ago

Here are some prices, but they vary a lot: https://www.carwashconsignment.com/equipment/automatics https://www.carwashconsignment.com/equipment/automatics