VOL. 42, NO.

3, FALL 2015

Also Inside!!!

FALL SHOW ROUND-UP, A LOOK AT SSCWN

FOUNDER JOE CAMPBELL'S MILITARY
SERVICE, INSURANCE Q&A, AND
OF COURSE, MORE DUMB CRIMINALS...

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2FALL2

CONTENTS
Insurance Q&A .......................4
Think Like a Criminal.........8
Tricks of the Trade ..............17
Industry Dirt..........................26
Extra! Extra! ...........................28
Veterans in Our Mist ..........34
Fall Show Round-Up ............56
Walls Walls Walls..................71
Darwin at the Carwash .....92

VOL. 42, NO. 4, FALL 2015

Publisher Jackson Vahaly

Editor Kate Carr
Design Katy Barret-Alley
Editor Emeritus
Jarret J. Jakubowski
Editor Emeritus
Joseph J. Campbell
Editor Posthumous
Julia E. Campbell
Self Serve Carwash News is
published 4 times per year
and is independently owned
by Jackson Vahaly. Web address
is www.sscwn.com.

All inquiries should be directed to:

Self Serve Car Wash News

110 Childs Ln., Franklin, TN 37067
jacksonv@sscwn.com
Copyright 2014.
2 Dollar Enterprises/SSCWN. All Rights Reserved

Carrs Corner
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Show Me
the Data!
At a few different points during the educational
sessions at the Northeast Regional Carwash Convention this past October it became clear that one
of the biggest hurdles our industry is facing is the
lack of reliable industry statistics and data. I know
youve heard me beat this drum before -- but its
too important an issue to ignore.
For example, in a conversation about the new
tax law affecting Connecticut operators, it was
obvious that not even the International Carwash
Association knows how many states have similar
tariffs. And at one point during an educational
panel discussion, I realized no one really believes
the average bay revenues being touted by the
trade magazines are truly representative of the self
serve industry.
Thats not to blame the ICA or any other organization or publication for our troubles collecting and analyzing data. In fact, the ICA has truly
been at the front of any progress weve made; from
their WashCount program to the consumer studies conducted every three years that give us our
only veriable and measurable glimpse into who
the American car wash consumer is and isnt. And
I know rsthand that the larger trade magazines
have fought hard to maintain their benchmarking
surveys, year after year, in order to provide our industry with the operational and management data
it so desperately craves.
I think whats really at the root of the problem is
the proliferation of surveys in our day-to-day lives.
You cant go to Wal-Mart or Applebees or even
the local Italian restaurant without being urged to
use a survey code at the bottom of your receipt.
Mystery shoppers abound and your opinion suddenly means everything -- and nothing -- to these
companies that have hired large armies of customer service representatives to Tweet and post and
survey. In fact, you may even be using such tactics at your car wash. The problem is, of course,
that because we are asked for our opinion at every
transaction, we more than likely end up offering
no opinion at all.
In this quest to know more about our customers
and how to better serve them, I think were forgetting some other methods of taking our businesss
pulse and temperature. To wit: How many of you
are tracking the services in your bay? How many

of you know the average time spent using the

handheld dryer as opposed to the foaming brush
or spot-free rinse?
Your customer might be able to tell you how she
feels when she drives on the car wash lot -- and
she might even be able to guesstimate at how she
spends her time there, but a simple meter installed
in your equipment room might tell a few more
(non-ction) chapters of her story.
Another simple test? Take a page from Dan Callihan of Glen Burnie Car Wash in Glen Burnie,
MD, who presented during the NRCC as part
of a panel discussion with other stellar self-serve
operators. Dan has made a practice of listing the
improvements hes made over the years at his car
wash and then tracking that against revenues and
expenses. Its a simple idea -- and certainly not
foolproof -- but I dont know many other operators who are as diligent and organized as Dan presented his information to be.
So much of our industry is anecdotal evidence
passed on from operator to operator, generation to
generation. We have a few face-to-face interactions
with our customers and we think we can guess the
rest. Im as guilty of this as the next guy. Because
Im a suburban mother, I think I can tell you all
there is to know about all the other suburban
mothers. Just a few conversations at the suburban
mom watercooler tell me this isnt true. I think
we all use express exteriors because theyre easy, I
think were all shopping for a bargain, I think we
all like to buy the tri foam for the pretty colors -its not true. At least not from what theyre telling
me at the watercooler.
And so I ask you: Start paying attention. Start
collecting your data. Start crunching the numbers.
And if you have a spare moment, please consider taking our survey. Youll nd the link at www.
autocareforum.com in the SSCWN section. I cant
offer you a rafe prize drawing, but I assure you,
our ve question survey wont take more than ve
minutes of your time. And it just might provide
some valuable information to help you better direct and manage your carwash.

Happy washing!

Kate

FALL 2

QA
&

with Insurance

Experts

We address two reader questions

regarding insurance issues.
Is my son/daughter
covered by my
Homeowners policy
while at school?
ANSWER
DAN THARP, RWCS, VICE
PRESIDENT OF SALES,
INSURANCENTER:
Remember when you went off to collegeloading
up the family car with just a couple of boxes to
take to school. Those days are long gone! Now,
students bring laptops, televisions, bicycles, musical
instruments, cell phones and other digital devices
into their new dorm rooms. And while we want
to believe that Junior is incredibly responsible, the
truth is, he or she is bound to forget to lock their
dorm door at least once or forget their backpack
somewhere and his or her laptop may get stolen.
Or they may leave their belongings unattended in
the library while they take a phone call. Or burn
popcorn in the microwave and set off sprinklers,
causing water damage to his or her computer
and a panicked call to Dad. (Thats a true story
happened to a friend).
Its time to refresh the insurance considerations
that a college studentaway from homebrings.
The Insurance Information Institute (III) recommends creating a dorm inventory. Keep a list of all
of the items the student will bring to school, along
with their estimated value. You can download the
free app Know Your Stuff to itemize belongs at
www.knowyourstuff.org.
Following are 4 common Homeowners and Auto
questions that arise when a student leaves home for
college.

4 FALL 2015

1) Does a Homeowners policy provide

coverage for college students?
A parent/guardians Homeowners insurance policy does provide some
coverage for a student who is away
at school but
its limited. The
common Homeowners
form
(ISO #HO 00
03) extends the
denition of insured to:
A student enrolled in school full
time, as dened by
the school, who was a
resident of your household
before moving out to attend
school, provided the student is under the age of 24 an 21 and in your care or the
care of your residents of your household who are
relatives.
This is where you need to be careful. A student
may start a semester as a full-time student, but
dropped a class or two over the course of that semester. Or the student may have turned 24 years
old during the semester or be in grad schoolat
which point coverage may no longer apply.

2) What type of insurance coverage is

provided for college students?
Coverages extended to applicable college students under a Homeowners policy are:
s Coverage C - Personal Property: provides coverage for personal property owned or used
by an insured while it is outside of the home.
However, the limit of insurance is generally
speaking somewhere around $1,000. Note

that coverage does not apply if the students dorm has been unoccupied
for more than 60 consecutive
days. In other words, if Junior leaves his belongings in his dorm room
over the summer,
and comes back to
nd his television
missing, coverage
would not apply.
s
C o v e rage E Personal
Liability: covers
the student for
legal defense costs
or coverage from an
accident
(excluding
auto, boat or aircraft)
that causes bodily injury or
property damage. Their college
kids use your imagination here.
s Coverage F Medical Payments: This
provides for the medical expenses of others
because of bodily injury occurring at the students dwelling.

3) Will the student live on or off campus?

If your college student doesnt live in college-owned housing, an insureds Homeowners policy may not provide coverage. Insurance issues arise
depending on if the child is in a dorm, apartment
or rented house. These variables, especially for older students, can impact your current protection and
dictate a need to modify your policy or purchase a
new one. And nd out how many roommates Junior will haveinsurance companies need to know
this for coverage considerations. To avoid on-again/
off-again insurance issues, a separate Renters policy
for college students may be necessary.
{continued }

 FALL 2015

6 FALL 2015

QA
&

with Insurance

4) Will the student take a car to college?

If so, does the parent/guardian own it or is the car
in the students name? An insurance agent must be
made aware of the new garaging addressif the
student attends college in a less populous area, it
may save the insured money. Your agent should be
able to advise you on minimum insurance requirements for out of state students.
If the student is not taking a car to school, it may
not be the best choice to remove the child from an
existing Auto policy to reduce cost. Keeping the
child listed on the Auto policy ensures coverage
during school breaks and also provides coverage if
he or she drives a friends car at school.
Dan is licensed in all states (except Alaska &
Hawaii) and is the Vice President of Sales for The
Insurancenter. Dan has been assisting business
owners protect their operations, customers
and employees for over 25 years. For questions
regarding this article or other insurance matters
he can be reached at DTharp@theinsurancenter.
com or by calling 800-444-8675.

How can I reduce

the risks associated
with handling and
using chemicals at
my car wash?
ANSWER
MIKE BENMOSCHE,
CAR WASH
PROGRAM
SPECIALIST
AT MCNEIL & CO.:
At McNeil & Co., we work to educate our
clients about the risks associated with chemicals, prepare them for unusual circumstances
and prevent catastrophe from happening. McNeil & Co.s recommendations for reducing the
risks associated with chemicals at the car wash
include:
s Car wash employees should wear appropriate Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) at all times.
s When exposed to corrosive chemicals,
employees should wear medium to heavyweight neoprene, natural rubber viton or
niterile gloves. McNeil & Co. highly recommends gauntlet gloves. Latex gloves should

Experts

not be worn, as they will not provide adequate protection.

s Employees should wear acid-resistant aprons
and waterproof, steel-toed boots to protect
against accidental chemical spills and guard
against unexpected injury to the feet from the
weight of a container.
s Goggles or a full-face shield are recommended. Safety glasses are not acceptable since
they do not protect chemicals from accidentally entering ones eyes from the bottom or
the top of the glasses.
s Understand the chemical exposure.
s Most chemicals will come with a Material
Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) or a Safety Data
Sheet (SDS), which includes vital information
about the chemical risks and how to work
safely around these substances. McNeil & Co.
recommends storing these documents in a
plastic sleeve attached to the hoses or chemical container so that they are readily accessible. In case of an emergency, they can be easily
taken out to bring to the emergency facility to
assist the medical personnel with instructions
on proper treatment procedures. A binder
should also be kept in a conspicuous area so
employees have them available at all times.
s Chemical labels must be properly positioned
so they are always visible for quick reference.
McNeil recommends placing the label on the
top of the container for easy viewing.

s Anyone designated to handle these substances should participate in a full chemical review
with the manufacturers representative.
s Safely store chemicals.
s The equipment room where chemicals are
stored should be well ventilated, and containers should not be overstacked.
s Certain chemicals are not compatible and
may combust when stored near each other.
Car wash owners and operators should be
aware of these chemicals and be sure to store
them far away from each other.
s To prevent potential freezing, chemicals
should be raised above the oor level.
s Safely move chemicals.
s Chemicals at the car wash are often stored in
55 gallon drums, which can pose many hazards. These containers should be tightly closed
to prevent spillage.
s When moving these heavy containers, McNeil
& Co. recommends using drum trucks or pail
trucks, which are better equipped to handle
the weight than hand trucks. This will help
prevent the containers from falling on someone and will also reduce the risk of back injuries.
s Car wash owners should work with the chemicals manufacturer to determine the proper
disposal procedure for each substance.
s Old and empty containers should be stored
in a secure area to prevent them from being
stolen or taken without permission. Some
of these drums may pose a threat if they
previously contained a corrosive substance.
Under these circumstances, it is possible the
car wash owner may be held responsible for
any injuries that may occur as a result.
s Have rst aid ready.
s All facilities should have appropriate rst aid
kits available, an approved eye wash station
and an emergency action plan.
s All eye wash stations should have a minimum
of 15 minutes of continuous water ow to
comply with OSHA requirements.
s Employees should avoid working with chemicals alone. Depending on the severity of the
injury, it could be very difcult to take care
of oneself and safely get medical assistance.

McNeil & Co. is a nationwide leader in specialized

insurance programs, drawing on deep industry
expertise to develop and deliver policies and risk
management services that meet the unique needs
of clients. For more information about McNeil
& Co., visit mcneilandcompany.com. For more
information about McNeils Car Wash Insurance
Program, visit mcneilandcompany.com/carwash.

FALL 2015

Think Like a
Criminal!
Preventing theft and improving security at the self serve car wash.
by Heather Ashley
The following article is adapted from a presentation
given at Northeast Regional Carwash Convention.

As owners, we all have the same concerns about

theft and security at our wash locations. In order
to truly understand how to prevent theft, we need
to learn more about criminals. Once you do, you
can start to anticipate and prevent the criminals
next move.
Mike and I have owned our three self service carwash locations for over 12 years. We also own two
laundromats. In that time we have experienced
several break-ins; including a very timely one that
happened the day before this years Northeast Regional Carwash Convention! (It seems to happen
before any travel event.) Mike has over 10 years
of experience as deputy Sheriff and his dad was a
retired Virginia State Police Agent. Mike learned a
lot in his younger years including a special skill for
thinking like a criminal.
Crime has many causes and so does theft. Many
believe you see an increase in crime when and
where there is a decline in morals and values. The
breakdown of core family values, society glamorizing crime, human dysfunction and poverty all
are root causes. Theft itself means that one takes
property that belongs to someone else. They want
what they believe we have.
Keeping in mind that they are wanting to take
something from us as owners, you need to be
aware of your environment. We tend to have a low
level of awareness when we are in the connes of
our daily routine. A moderate level of awareness
should be had when you are in a familiar area
(such as your business) but there are people you
do not know (customers, etc.). If your business
is heavily populated and there is an exchange of
money happening then you need what we would
describe as a high level of awareness.
In terms of preventing a crime, anticipation and
recognizing there is a risk is key. Crime prevention is proactive rather than reactive. Proactive
actions are meant to prevent the crime in the rst
place. Reactive actions take place after the crime
has occurred.
Any business owner in any industry should have a
mental plan of preparedness. We should have in our
minds a plan if they are physically present when the
crime occurs. This plan should also be shared with
others that work alongside you. The best plan is not
to resist; this may be contrary to how you would
like to act -- but it is the safest course of action. Regardless of your plan, you should be prepared and
know that the consequences of your actions could
be prosecution or civil lawsuit.

8 FALL 2015

There is a long standing triangle of crime prevention that law enforcement investigators have used
for years with good success. Any part of the three
components could result in crime If all three are
true, then it is only a matter of time before crime
occurs. They include desire, ability, and opportunity. Take away any or all of them and you have reduced the chances that a crime will be committed.

Another prevention technique is

something called the four Ds:
Deter, Detect, Delay, Deny.
Another prevention technique is something
called the four Ds: Deter, Detect, Delay, Deny.
All of us can think of ways to deter crime at our
wash; many of us already have cameras in place
to detect, but there are other options that can be
used in addition to cameras. Just delaying a criminal's exit by making it harder to get what they are
after could be enough to deter a crime. And nally,
if you can make your car wash so secure that they
cannot gain entry or take anything, then you have
denied them access.
Be proactive. Learn more about the elements
of crime and keeping abreast of crimes that have
been happening in the industry. Do your homework. Also, learn to read your environment by focusing and paying attention to certain details.
If we could cut out the opportunity or a crime
to happen then we would be able to reduce crime.
Some good examples of opportunity crimes that
happen to wash owners include:
s doors that were left unlocked,
s inadequate lighting,
s landscaping that blocks the view of cameras,
s a building layout/design which provides access to vulnerable areas, and
s incorrectly installed cameras.
You would be shocked to learn just how we
overlook these key things as the years go by.
There are prevention resources. Dont forget
that there are neighborhood watches for businesses. Also your own association might offer crime
alerts via email. If none of these are in your area,
consider reaching out and talking to or leaving a
message for others if you have information on the
types of recent crimes in your area. Connecting
with your competition at least in that one area can
save you lots of money. Whatever you do, make
sure you report all crimes -- this includes tampering, which may not show that a theft has occurred,
but instead that a criminal has been checking out
your business and looking for signs of weakness.

Look for marks on doors from crow bars or scuff

marks in secured areas that may indicate someone
has been trying to break in.
Think about your daily routine. Do you have a
checklist of items to look for and make notes of any
changes? For example, checking all of the locks and
making note of any new marks on a diagram.
Do you walk a certain path, take note of customers versus strangers that are hanging around, and
use a critical eye to identify areas of vulnerability.
Check out the downloadable checklist for wash
owners available on www.thecarwashblog.com.
So who is a criminal? A criminal could be an
employee, a neighbor, a stranger, your friend or
family member, a business partner, a customer -basically, anyone. We have even seen parents bring
their children along for the theft.
A criminal predator has several characteristics
including low self esteem. They have selsh attitudes, lack a conscience or mercy, view kindness as
weakness, they blend in well, appear innocent and
they constantly seek attention to achieve a criminal goal. Sadly, most of the time they look like us.
Then there is the criminal no one wants to talk
about. The person who runs the business alongside
you whether it be a partner or manager. We trust
them and it seems as though they would never
steal from us. However, small thefts that they may
not see as a problem will add up and eventually
lead to higher level crimes. Just a couple wash tokens to wash a personal vehicle, a few quarters everyday for the vending machine and soon you are
convinced that skimming off the top of the day's
deposit so you and your partner can go to lunch
seems like a great idea.
Do your best to create an environment of honesty. For example, writing down when change is
taken for a drink and keeping a running total. Also
beware of those employees who never take a vacation. A recent study showed that those who never
take vacation are often so into managing the business that they do not want someone else seeing
the numbers while they are out. Your rst indication as to a problem should be low deposits and
lack of increasing deposit totals. Another would be
a higher than normal utility bill.
Additional ways to implement internal controls
to prevent embezzlement types of crime include
screening all the applicants before hiring. Also giving a second look to the bank accounts to see if
there is anything unusual. Monitor those utility
bills to make sure your usage is matched in prots.
Take precautions with payroll and make it so that
two people are used in the process. Have two people sign off on all checks.
{continued }

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Call or email
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FALL 2015

Think Like a Criminal

Other methods to employ so that you have an
honest work environment include letting them see
and know about the systems in place. Inventory
control , receiving forms, purchasing forms and
rules, bookkeeping policies and a method for cash
disbursements. Encourage them to participate in
writing down information that you later review.
Then make sure they know you have reviewed it.
Surveillance with cameras is a large portion of
lessening the threat of harm to your business. But
rest assured that it is not the only method and even
we do not have them at all of our rural locations.
If you do have them, make sure they are installed
properly and in focus. Review you camera footage
even when there is not a
crime as criminals sometimes change the angle or
tamper with the camera
in advance. Of course
you want to be able to
view your live cameras on your smartphone.
And nally, learn
how to extract
footage onto a
ash drive before there is a
need. Practice
and write down
simplied directions then tape

them to the system!

Surveillance has many parameters but there
are several key objections no matter if you have
cameras or not. Having better lighting is a must.
Any windows in your business need to face the
road and not be obscured with signs. Mot that
the police are lazy, but this makes it easier to see
into your business as they drive by. Locate staff to
monitor high risk areas . Cash registers should be
at the front. Any fencing should be see through
so you can see if someone is lurking. Also, make
sure your bushes and shrubs (thorny shrubs add an
extra level of protection) are not too large so as to
hide a person or area from your camera.
Take note of the types of doors at your facility. For example, if exterior hinges are not recommended for doors as they can be easily removed
and then they simply take your door off. If you
have glass in your door or if it is a special door that
is not a steel door, consider and roll down door or
bars for extra night protection. A simple addition
to any door is a peep hole. Ours has come in handy
while working at the wash.
There are many lock choices on the market, but
most all can be broken. As the saying going locks
only keep the honest people out. Secure metal
plates in front of door locks so that criminals cannot
try to pry or jimmy their way in. And dont forget
the windows should have an extra locking system
in place with special rods that prevent sliding windows from being opened. Regular windows can be

secured with a dowel pin to prevent opening. With

so many locks available you really need to research
and nd what others have found effective.
We can never talk enough about lighting and I am
not sure you can get too much lighting. Solar lights
are now allowing us to bring light to any location
no matter how small. Motion detection lights have
continued to be a great option as well for those
dimly lit corners where customers should not be.
Security alarms are something most owners
invest in right away. However, some systems are
olders and yet others are so basic that they are really of minimal use. Try thinking in different ways.
Apply window sensors to the change machines
so that the moment the unit is moved, the alarm
will sound. Audible alarms are still the best choice.
Smaller components can help you monitor when
coins are low in a changer by sending you a message with an auto dialer. In one case, that was the
rst indication that a unit was removed as the motion sensor caused the alarm to go off next. Finally,
look at your alarm keypad. Make sure the alarm
code is not evident from the dirty keys used most
frequently. Clean the keypad.
Cybercrime has taken on new meaning for those
of us in the carwash industry. Did you know that
there are now fake suppliers pretending to be a
legit company? While fraud and identity theft are
always common, there is the chance you will be
caught up in an online auction fraud. Using a rep{continued }

The Foam Brush System has EVOLVED!

79

NOW

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"
80##-&)&"%
*//07"5*0/

BEFORE For ages, we all set up our foam-brush system the same way. Bring foam to the
brush through a drop line and a handle. Simple. This however, allowed customers to
use and ABUSE the system. Some would under pay or pay
NOTHING at all to use the system.
THEN In 2011 The Wobblehead
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But the handle was heavy, expensive,
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10 FALL 2015

Order Yours Today:

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Microcoin QL

The MICROCOIN QL is a high speed,

multi-coin, eld programmable electronic
coin acceptor that can be used in many
applications in your car wash including
your:
WASH BAYS
AUTOCASHIERS
VACUUMS
FRAGRANCE MACHINES
CHANGE MACHINES

Its features are many. Here are just a few:

Quick Learn On Board Programming
Single and multi-coin programming
Programmable for Multiple Currencies
Programmable for up to dierent coins
Universal sie - one sie ts all
High speed, multi-coin acceptance up to cps
New, revolutionary coin discrimination
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Highly critical and unique coin path design which
virtually eliminates the possibility of coin jams.
Maximum fraud coin rejection
For more information on the MICROCOIN QL contact Hi-Performance Wash Systems or one of the distributors listed
below.
Advanced Car Wash Systems GA JE Adams IA
National Pride Equipment OH
Auto Wash Concepts CA
Jim Coleman Company TX
Ryko IA
Dultmeier NE
Kleen-Rite PA
U-Wash Equipment IL
Etowah Valley NC
Laurel Metal Products, Inc. IL
Water Conservation Services CA
Fragramatics AR
Mark VII CO
Windtrax - KS

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FALL 2015

11

YOU
Mini Tunnel
CANT
FAKE
INNOVATION.
The Original

Xtreme Xpress Mini Tunnel

35 feet
50 cars per hour
Xtreme Throughput
50+ clean, dry, shiny cars per hour
lets you capitalize on spikes in volume
without slowing production.

35-Foot Bay
50 Cars Per Hour

Were up 75% in volume some

months and thats in less than one
year. With the Mini Tunnel, were able
to wash 40 cars an hour compared
to 10 cars an hour from the rollover
it replaced. Sonnys has been
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Chris Dudar
Operations Manager
Edwards Station
Service Center
Edwards Station, CO

Xtreme Size
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Exclusive shallow pit conveyor and
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Xtreme Prot
Standard triple foam, total body
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without slowing production.

12 FALL 2015

For this and other case studies visit and

subscribe to our video channel

/sonnyscarwashfactory

The Tunnel Experts

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When I converted our rst in-bay automatic to
an Express Mini Tunnel, the jump in revenue far
exceeded my projections. Now with the second
conversion complete I can conrm that SONNYS
proformas are woefully conservative. Be sure to share that with
your new customers. Of our 15 locations, we have permits out for
another two Express tunnel conversions. The proof is there.
The model works.

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45ft Tunnel

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American Pride Car Wash
Wake Forest, NC

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FALL 2015

13

Think Like a Criminal

utable service like eBay and choosing Paypal for
payments will provide some protection, but you
can still have problems. Your best bet is to talk
with others and nd a friend who also dabbles in
auctions/online ordering. Good business people
have been duped. Learn from their mistakes.
On-line classied ads are great avenues for fraud
and murder. The criminal starts out by asking if
your product is still available then asks you to hold
it for them. They then offer to wire you the money.
I am reminded of the time when I thought I had
found the perfect motorcoach. The person could
not send me any more pictures because it was in
storage (should have been a red ag) but it was in
wonderful condition and looked to be wrapped in
plastic lm to protect the paint. Trouble is, it was
not his to sell and was a picture that he had stolen
from another site. Do you due diligence in these
matters and if you decide to proceed with a sale,
tell someone your plan before the meeting and
choose a public space. Google Craigslist murder
and you will see a list of reasons why need to be
careful. Bringing them to your place of business
might just have them returning later to take whatever they want.
Metal theft is very common in our area. For a
while the melt down price was great and many of
us were cleaning up our places, but the criminals
were cleaning up too. One of our friends had his
car wash grate stolen. Talk about dangerous. Not
many of us have a spare so he was down a few days

Make sure the alarm code is not evident from the

dirty keys used most frequently. Clean the keypad.
while another custom one was made.
The most shocking crime of the decade has
got to be the new cybersquatting. Do you have
a website? Do you own your own .com site? A
man in our town explained his new business. He
nds local folks who do not have a web presence.
He buys the website that represent their business
name because it is a free country and you can buy
any name you want, not just your own. He makes
them a website site without their knowledge and
then goes to them and offers to sell his services.
We later learned that when a local food vendor

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could not afford his service (it seemed overly

priced) he became irate and proceeded to pose
as the business with fake pictures of customers, a
fake menu, and even running daily fake specials. It
was like cyber extortion and current laws are not
in place to protect you. Her only possible solution
would have been if he used a copyrighted logo.
Secure all the basic internet extensions association
with your business name today. (Email me if you
would like further advice on this matter.)
Finally, the Internet has changed everything. YouTube has become the go to place for coin operated
crimes. They even give tricks for getting free carwashes! Sadly, when news channels post real crime
video, it often gives other criminals ideas. When
it is saved to YouTube it can be reposted shared,
paused and learned from. However, we can learn
from them as well. Take a moment to look up free
car wash and see what the results reveal. Staying
knowledgeable about these scams might be frustrating and aggravating to the honest, hardworking car wash owner -- but it will also allow you to
think like a criminal and in turn anticipate and
prevent similar crimes at your car wash.
This article is based on a presentation given by Mike and Heather
Ashley at the NRCC Convention 2016. The Ashleys are both private
investigators with Commonwealth Investigation Services which
specialize in theft and security issues. They are also owners of
three wash locations and two coin laundromats. Both Mike and
Heather are active with the Mid-Atlantic Carwash Association with
Heather being the current President and Mike a former president.

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16 FALL 2015

TRICKS TRADE
OF
THE

Presenting some of the best discussions of the self serve industrys

headaches and solutions from ACF. You can nd more discussions like
these on AutoCareForum.com.

Saving a few $$ with Zoro Tools

cfcw: I know we are all trying to save money. I just wanted to make you guys
aware of Zoro tools. You may have seen them advertising a lot on ebay. If you are
not familiar with them, they are owned by Grainger and carry Graingers most
popular products. Although pricing is usually the same or a little less than grainger,
the savings over Grainger comes in several ways.
1)Orders over $50 ships free, and so far my orders have shipped very quickly.
2) Unlike Grainger (which has a physical presence in my State) Sales tax is not
applied to my order.
3) The biggest savings is for those who can plan their purchases. Get on their email
list. Every 6-8 weeks they will have a 20% off ash sale. It is usually good for one
day. I just bought some delineator posts for my water wizards. About every threefour months they will have a 30% off sale. They have very competitive prices on some
items, and an additional 30% can make them a real deal. Some guys on a forum I go
to (garagejournal.com) are buying Miller welders. with the 30% off sales and Miller

washnvac: I have bought 3 rinnai water heaters with the 30% off ash sale.(as well as countless other items--motors, procon pumps, plumbing
supplies) That brings it to $851 with free shipping.
My plumbing/heating guy said the lowest he gets
them is $1100. Have had awesome experiences
with Zoro. I would highly recommend.
mjwalsh: We have also received some good
deals from Zoro ... especially when I was prepared
& ready to pounce for one of those ash 3 hour
or one day promo codes. On some items I sprung
for the next level of a specic product because of
the promo. Like the time we upped for the stainless version of the Xlerator hand dryer for the rest
room we have for our customers during a 30% off
3 hr promo plus free shipping!
slash007: I rst found them when I needed to
replace my Rheem storage tank. They already had
the best price, then I got an additional 20% off. I
have used them several times since then and all
my orders arrive the next day!
cfcw: By the way guys, if trying to ll your cart
to reach a discount or shipping threshold, try these
Knipex pliers. Made in Germany & my favorite...
http://www.zoro.com/knipex-water-pump-pliers-10-in-88-02-250-sba/i/G0471852/
cfcw: Got an email this morning from Zoro20% off a purchase of 250.00 or more. Valid until
Sept 9th enter code LABORDAYSALE at checkout
JMMUSTANG: This is my big secret. Greg why
you want to tell the world for. Last week I bought
a billy goat vacuum that normally sells for $1400.
Got it shipped to my door with no tax and free
shipping in 3 days and 20% off . You cant beat that.
I make a list of items and wait for discount special.

rebates they
are getting
quite a good
deal.
Ive found
electric motors, relays,
ashlights, hardware,
sump pumps, and quality
knipex and proto hand tools,
etc. All at better than amazon pricing. Not everything
is competitively priced , so do your shopping. Also, their search
engine sucks. Manufacturer part numbers usually dont work. Often a search
with the grainger part number will bring up the same item.
Anyway, check them out at Zoro.com

They have also the jim coleman carpet shampoo

pump for $129 and I wait for 30% discount to get
them for $85. I buy tool, compressor oil, grease,
acid sprayer. Be patient for the 30% it come every
3 -4 months. 20% happens every month.
Kleen-rite and other vendors should be nervous.
The billy goat vacuum is an awesome machine
for cleaning carwash lot. I have to start a new
thread.
mjwalsh: vinh,
You mentioned tax-free. In our state of north
dakota, being a business ... there are state tax department auditors ... who are on standby to audit
& make sure you pay the equivalent plus as if sold
in the state. The reason I say not just equivalent,
but also plus is because the auditor in our case
went back 7 years & charged us 12% compounded
interest. I suppose we should be thankful we did
not have an exorbitant ignorance of the law ne
in addition ... but there are limits to our gratitude.
JMMUSTANG: Bought 250 Self Regulating
Heat Cable and some accessories from Zoro yesterday.
Price was around $1,100 before using the
LABORDAYSALE code ended up at $809 but
was charged $34.26.
Tax or no tax I couldnt be happier.
Thanks guys for bringing this site and code to
our attention.
wash4me: I believe they are owned by
Grainger and even ship from the same warehouses.
GoBuckeyes: I have bought a few things from
Zoro in the past year or so such as Federal Signal sounders for my in-bay. With the free shipping
they were the cheapest I could nd. Slash, thanks
for the heads up on the Rheem storage tank. I just

used the Labordaysale promo myself and ordered

one, $756 out the door...cant beat that!
cfcw: They are owned by Grainger. The last
shipment I got from them was in Grainger-labeled
boxes. I usually get my order in two days.
mjwalsh: We have ordered from www.drillspot.com who also sent their product in Grainger
labeled boxes. It seems like other companies besides Amazon use some kind of a third party marketplace which may explain the boxes??? I notice
even Walmart & Best Buy have some kind of association with all sorts of companies so they are
included in administration & prot from some
sales???. Just to clarify about the sales tax audit
that we experienced. Some states both have & enforce what is called use tax ... that way presence
in the state does not stop the auditor from doing
his thing later on ... even several years down the
road.
Earl Weiss: I ordered a shampoo machine little Giant Pump from Drill spot after an internet
search. for lowest cost. Came in a Grainger box.
Why does Grainger do this? They are 10 minutes
from me. They would have made more money
charging me what Drillspot charged instead of
only getting the lesser amount they got from Drillspot.
Recently bought a Square D relay needed in a
hurry from Grainger. Zoro and other on line sources were $31.00 I know where to get the next ones.
MEP001: Grainger is primarily in the business
to supply other companies. They do over-thecounter sales but the vast majority of their sales is
to contractors and other retailers. They give massive discounts to their larger accounts - we used to
{continued }
FALL 2015

17

Saving a few $$ with Zoro Tools

get 65% off list on motors.
mjwalsh: We very recently here in Bismarck
had a Harbor Freight Outlet set up a good sized
store within a few miles of us. I actually was somewhat impressed by their selection of different
items that could be useful to us car wash operators. The brands are not that familiar so I am not
sure about the quality. We bought some varibits
that were way less expensive than at the electrical
distributorships here in town but have not had a
chance to put them through a test yet. Any car
wash operators willing to go out on a limb bragging about Harbor Freight???
Another item that we bought that had a good
price was a nifty versatile vise for our drill press.
Earl Weiss: If I want a basic item that gets occasional use I like Harbor Freight stuff. I weigh
quarters on a Harbor freight scale, keep change in
a Harbor freight Safe, use open end wrench sets
from them - Never had one break. I have some
Vises and bench top grinders, screwdrivers grinding wheels, Blade type electrical ttings, nylon
wire ties, step type drill bits, Cobalt bit sets, and I
am sure some other stuff as well.
Randy: Harbor Freight sells mostly junk, Ive
got a store not far from my house. Its normally
the last place I go for anything. If I need a tool
for a one time use and Ill never use again or Im

18 FALL 2015

going to toss it after Ive used it than I might buy

something there.

txheat: (in reference to the billygoat post)

Use a backpack husqvarna backpack blower.

cfcw: TODAY ONLY Sept 22nd 30% off a

$300.00 purchase or 25% off $175 purchase enter
coupon code STEPUPSALE at checkout.
If anyone wants a welder, They have competitive prices on Miller 211 Welders, and the %30
off makes them a bargain. Plus Miller is offering
a rebate program: http://www.millerwelds.com/
landing/build-with-blue/files/pdf/Build-WithBlue-Rebate.pdf

vinh: I been using the backpack blower for 10

years. A wise carwash owner told be about the billy goat and now I am hooked. Bought another billygoat with 30% coupon code. I have a lot of trees
at my locations and it takes time to blow them to
a pile and bag them. The billygoat save time, bags
and is much cleaner. I also like to use the billy goat
in the corners in the bays and around the vacs. It
picks up all the sand and rock debris. So much of
my life has been wasted.
That Milwaukee 12V 3/8 ratchet is my most
used tool. It saves time in changing motors and taking off and putting on spray tips. No more scraping
your knuckles when changing drive motor.

Im thinking about a Pelican Cooler. Some of their

models are priced competitively, others are not......
Ric: Im thinking about a Pelican Cooler. Some of
their models are priced competitively, others are
not...
Thanks! Ordered some Raychem heat cables.
cfcw: Ive got a efuent pump that is old and
going out. It is working intermittently right now.
I bought a replacement dayton branded 1/2 HP
sump pump, AND a Milwaukee fuel 12V 3/8
ratchet set up, another pair of knipex pliers, and a
pelican single AAA light I like to keep in my pocket. Total price for all the goodies delivered with
discount was 373.23
If I had walked into my local grainger and
bought just the very same efuent pump by itself,
it would have cost 423.00 with tax.

cfcw: I thought I would grab one and try it after

you bragged on yours so much. Ive got a big impact wrench but I could have used this little one
when replacing the starter on my truck. I think it
worked out to 120.00 with discount.
txheat: For tools goto toolbarn

Dumpster Service
copperglobe: Call me un-attentive. Recently I
learned how much we were paying for our dumpster service
with Waste Management. Been with them for 25 years and
little by little theyve raised my price to $375 per month for
every other week dumping (no, I dont pay the bills- secretary does all that). Unreal. I got bids from a couple of other services and theyre quoting me $70 per month for the
same thing- saving $305 per month with no contract. Also,
I learned this week, that Waste Management automatically
renews my contract for three years if I dont cancel it during a

window toward the end of my three-year contract. Do

it in writing, certied mail, mailed to an ofce in Colorado - is what they require. Also, if I want to cancel
my contract early there is a penalty of 6 months worth
of charges. In other words, $2,250!
Lesson Learned: watch your monthly dumpster fees
and keep track of your contract.
Anyone have any other alternatives to the normal
dumpster services out there? Anyone have their own dump
trailer, roll-off dumpsters, etc?

chaz: That cant be right. Is It????

I pay 80$ a month for weekly pickup. I was paying a bit more for a 6yd, but negotiated a few bucks
less for an 8yd.
I learned not to request an occasional extra pickup, even though the truck passes my place everyday
they charged me 75$ for the extra dump.

mrfixit: It also gets expensive when you nd out

another shady business has been dumping 1/4 of a
dumpster or more of their business garbage in your
dumpster every week.
So watch the contents if its not locked up.
My lord they really stick it to you 350 for two
pick-ups.

copperglobe: Its correct. $375 for every other week. Plus extra pickup is $200. Again, Waste
Management.

MEP001: They may offer you a low initial rate

but theyll increase it over time until youre paying
as much as you were before. BTDT. Look for a contract that guarantees no price increase.
chaz: And then there is the fuel surcharge. Another way to make a bit more $ especially with the
current fuel pricing. At least I have a cap on that fee.

Jim L.: When I rst opened Waste Management

tried that 3 year contract with me too and threatened to sue me for breaking it. My lawyer wrote
them a letter stating a contract is a 2 way street...
they pick up the trash and I would pay the bill.
They picked up their dumpster never to be heard
from again.

Car_Wash_Guy: Im about $115/mo for a 6yd

from WM with weekly pickup
Eric H: Ask them to get you a copy of the contract

you signed 25 years ago and/or the signed contract

that states automatic 3 year renewal on it. If they
cannot produce the signed contract then i would
think it would be hard for them to enforce the early
cancellation clause.
JMMUSTANG: I have never signed a contract for
trash pickup. They drop off the dumpster and then
send me the contract and I never sign it.
They call me for it back (signed) and I tell them
that I will pay the amount they quoted or they can
pick the dumpster up.
They play hardball over the phone for a month or
two but never have they picked up the dumpster.
Randy: In the state of Washington there are
no garbage contacts. Garbage service is regulated
by the state. We have Waste Connections and we
{continued p.25}

SOFTGLOSS XS
NEOGLIDE
BRUSHES

FALL 2015

19

20 FALL 2015

At my wits end with tankless water heaters.

Need help from those who use them.
lighthousecarwash: So Ive posted a couple threads about tankless boilers for my oor heat and tankless water heaters for my auto, but I am still not sure I
know which route to take. First of all, the oor heat is going to be on hold as I think its
getting too close to winter to start tinkering with oor heat. Here is my issue with the hot
water and what my opinions are. Tell me if Im on track or way off base.
1. I want to install a dedicated tankless water heater for my new Razor. I think this
will be an easy t because I can mount one of these units on the wall about 2 feet away
from the pumping station. This should provide almost instant hot water to the auto.
Im looking at an AO Smith 540 (199,000 btu)unit that I believe is actually a Takagi.
I have the option of adding a second Razor if this one gets too busy. I would put the
second pumping station in the same vicinity of the tankless water heater. Im hoping
that by doing this, I can utilize the same tankless unit to feed both autos as its only
the solutions that will be hot and should not require that much GPM. Im hoping for
solutions around 120-130 degrees. The whole gray area with these things are the temperature rise and the GPM. With my current system with a boiler and 75 gal holding
tank, none of that is a problem. I have ample reserve of hot water as the boiler catches
up. So is a 6.6-10 GPM system enough to raise the temperature 70-80 degrees and not
run out of water supply. If the demand is too much for the WH to supply that much of
a temperature rise, then do I just get lower temperature water, or do I get lesser ow and
still the same temp of water. I dont want to starve any pumps. What say you?

Eric H: I have a similar setup to this but using

2 199k btu Navian units. The system has more
than enough capacity to provide hot water all day
long BUT it simply does not work to supply the
hot water holding tank. When the oat valve drops
the cold water in the pipe begins to ll the holding
tank while the burner takes a few second to turn
on. Then, by the time the hot water reaches the
holding tank the oat has already lled the tank
part way. What ends up happening is that the 120
water that you are trying to get is diluted by colder
water so you end up with 100 water and then by
the time it gets out to the bays the water has lost a
couple more degrees. Go with the 6 gal tank and a
circ pump or the new Navian units have a small circulator pump in them that you could use and just
add a 6 gal tank to the return line. OR Check out
this thread: http://www.autocareforum.com/showthread.php?11000-Need-want-to-replace-hot-water-heater-with-tankless&highlight=navien
Be sure to read 2bizs reply, it s the third one. If
I were to do it again this is the way I would do it!
2biz reply from earlier thread: I just
had one of these delivered yesterday. Its the best
unit I could nd online. SS Tank, 199K BTU Modulating-condensing...The one I purchased was the
PH199-55. Its a 55 gallon tank style and has a
300GPH heating capacity at 80 temp rise (130 set
temp). The capacity increases by about 100 gallons
if you temper the water back to 100-110 which I
plan on doing. More than enough for my 4 bay, but
hopefully its the last time Ill ever have to do this...
http://bostonheatingsupply.com/phoenixph199-55.aspx

This is the best place I found to purchase. It came

packaged very good on a pallet. Shrink wrapped.
Not a scratch. $200 to ship.
I evaluated going tankless since My Takagi is doing SO good at handling the oor heat. But I would
have needed 2 tankless units wired/plumbed together to handle max load and it made much more
sense to go the Phoenix route. Plus it has 2 extra

2. My self serve bays all operate out of a Magic Wand pump stand. This stand has
a mixing tank for all the soap/wax solutions, and a clean hot water tank that feeds to
pumps. Now my issue with this system is that the mixing tanks cool down overnight
and take a little bit of time to heat up once hot water starts owing into them. With my
75 gal holding tank, there is still a delay in hot water getting to the mixing tanks. Ive
been told that if I eliminate my boiler, that I still need to have the 75 gal holding tank
with the circulation pump to keep it heated. Why? If I place 2 of the above mentioned
units, only a few feet from the mixing stand, then I should be achieving the same results.
I would think a few seconds of ow and we would have instant hot water. Since I have
the mixing tank with clear hot water, I shouldnt have an issue with starving the pumps
because I would have 10-15 gals of hot water in that tank as a buffer. I have not done
any calculations, but I think 2 units linked together should be able to support the 4 self
serve bays. They will only be using hot water for the low pressure functions and the HP
wax. I also was told we could go to a 6 gal holding tank and eliminate the 75 gal tank.
That way we would have an instant reserve of 6 gals to get started when the mixing
tank calls for water. But this would require the need for circulation pumps again, and
heating that tank whenever it dropped below 115 degrees. I know I could use a timer
and probably make that more efcient, but I dont think I even need it. Ok, help me out
people. What do you use and how does it work for you?
In need of help!

1 ports for space-heating or for whatever you

want to use them for. Im going to use the extra ports to put a heat exchanger in the hot
water oat tank to keep it hot during off
peak hours....
You might want to consider this route
for many reasons...Its the best I could
come up with!
2Biz: If you read my post in Erics link,
I want to clarify something. When going
the HTP route, I thought it would be
necessary to have a heat exchanger in
the hot water oat tank. So I bought an
expensive SS circulator, t-stat, and designed/made an elaborate copper heat
exchanger. BUT I never installed it! It
wasnt needed! CB80 suggested I was waiting my time and money....He was right! What I
did do was insulate the hot water oat tank with
foil bubble wrap. At worst case....the hot water only
cools off to the ER temperature and quickly recovers
from there.
Another thing to consider..Most demand heaters
restrict ow to obtain the desired output temp. My
takagi 199k oor heater (supposed 10gpm) only
puts out 6.6 gpm at only 30-40 deg rise. Thats at
40 psi inlet pressure. Heating colder city water will
cause your demand heater to perform even worse.
Every manual has a chart that gives you gpm output at a given temp rise. The chart is very close. Its
all there if you do your homework.
Another thing to contend with is the very small
screen lter on the inlet water supply of the heater.
It doesnt take much to block ow! I ended up having to put a 5 micron lter on my oor heat return
temporarily to clean the antifreeze. This was another
determining factor when replacing my pump stand
heater. A clogged lter would starve a pump stand!
Do yourself a favor and consider a hybrid high
efcient heater like the HTP I have. I couldnt be
happier with the performance and how cheap it is

to operate.
Fyi. I heat the hp soap and
wax cycles. The best day
I ever had with my 4 bay
self serve used 3500 gallons
of water. I never once ran out of
hot water....that is with the 55 gal tank
model.
lighthousecarwash: Well Im
nally starting to see the light. I think
my solution is going to be 3 Navien
tankless units with the built in circulation pump. Ill plumb in a short re
circulation loop right up to the mixing tank and auto and this should be
able to supply hot water within a few
seconds. I can also program the pump
to only start circulating at a certain time so it
wont keep the pipe hot all night. Am I on the right
track? Have to give credit to Chris at carwashboilers also. Great guy and a wealth of information.
2Biz: Do you know how many gpm of hot water
(most possible) your equipment can use at a given
time? With the navian 240, 199k condensing heater, you get about 5.1 gpm at 77 deg. Temp rise. 3
of these heaters in parallel gives you little over 15
gpm heated water @ 70-80 temp rise. Is this going
to be enough?
lighthousecarwash: Well I calculated 18
GPM if every single hot water function was running at the same time. Im being told that will never
happen. In fact they told me 2 would be enough
but I want the third one to make sure. Do you think
4 is the minimum? Soap and wax are the only HP
functions with hot water and the rest, including the
autos, are all low pressure.
wash4me: You could install 2 and just have tees
for the third so its prepared just in case. I have often thought this would work 90% of the time. Put
{continued }
FALL 2015

21

Dumpster Service
pay $205 a month for 1.5 cu. Yd. dumpster thats
dumped twice a week or $25.62 a dump. A lot of
times I have to wait for the garbage truck to come,
he comes just about the time we are leaving. He
never charges us more for any extra and he doesnt
say anything when dumpster has a lot of dirt in it.
The happiest of people dont necessarily have the
best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes their way!
2Biz: Another possible option to investigate in
the future. I was given the option to purchase a 2
cu yd dumpster to reduce my monthly rate. Full
rate including dumpster rental was right at $100 a
month, pickup once a week. I purchased the dumpster for $800. Rate went to $52 a month. Payback
less than 2 years. The kicker....Since I now own the
dumpster, I share/rent the dumpster to Dominos
that borders the cw for $40 month. They pay me!
My total is $12 month....Explore all options!
Car_Wash_Guy: Wow. Sounds like youre getting the shaft from your state.
Randy: We dont have the option of buying our
own dumpsters and theres no way we could let any
other business use our dumpsters, they are maxed
out every time they are dumped. I looked into getting a bigger dumpster but the large garbage truck
cant get into the back of my lot and Im not about
to put the dumpster out front, the larger dumpsters are front load, the dumpster I have now my

dumpster is a rear load on wheels,. The garbage

haulers have a monopoly on the trash hauling business. Their areas are protected by the state so other haulers cant come in and under bid them. So I
cant buy my own garbage truck and start hauling
trash, Geez! I always wanted to do that. Everyone
in town is required to have garbage service, whether
you want it or not. At my house the city runs the
garbage pickup we have a small 30 gallon can, its
emptied every 2 weeks, costs $29.70 a month.
Turbo: 1. When I sign contracts for garbage, uniforms, alarm, etc I write: no auto renewal by hand
by my signature. It works. 2. I separate recycling out
and save signicantly on that. 3. I split my 2 recycling and 1 trash dumpster with another business
My net cost is $150/month for the three 2 yard
dumpsters
Waxman: I keep an eye on dumpster cost and
tips etc. Im at $115/mo to tip a 4 yd dumpster twice
a month. Last company I had called if the bill was a
couple days late. They also frequently lost my locks
during tip process. I sent them a letter cancelling
their service. They sent a letter back with a statement
of account, listing all my late payments. (To me, late
is 30 days past due). They came and picked up the
dumpster and brought me 4 new locks.
New company is great; some late tips but they come
when I call. No collections calls, ever. They email my invoice. I also use them at my 8 plex apartment building.
cdreed06: When we started there was a nation-

al company that already had the dumpster at our

location. I think it was around 275 a month but not
sure. We called the company to get the thing in our
name and was told a rep would call us. We waited
a few days and called again, and again, and again.
Called the corporate ofce and they apologized and
said the upper people would call us back. They never
did. We then just found a local guy who put his 4
yard in back and dumps it twice a week for $95 a
month. We left a message with the other company to
pick up their dumpster which they nally did after a
few weeks. Their poor business practices saved us a
lot of money. We would have just kept it with them
if they had contacted us back. We had no idea.
mmurra: I pay the same amount every year in
one annual payment. I took a 10% discount and
prepaid the fee in advance for the year. I send them
a check every year for the same amount, prior to
getting billed. I like it that way. Helps me control
my costs. Mark
Randy: Thanks Mark, that give me an idea. I
think call them and see about paying a year in advance and ask again about buying my own dumpster. They just replaced my dumpster a few months
ago, it took 6 years for the bottom to rot out.
slash007: I pay Republic Services $26/month
to rent the dumpster (6yd) and then pay the city
$36/month to dump it twice a week. Seems like a
steal compared to what you guys are paying. For my
4yd, I only pay $24.10/month to the city.

At my wits end with tankless water heaters. Need help from those who use them.
2 oats in the tank. High oat is from the tankless
hot water unit and if the level gets below say 3/4 of
the way down you have a second oat that would
be supplied from either cold water or a 50 gallon
residential water heater. If you dont want to install
a second oat put in an electric oat and solenoid
valve. Personally I would try this with one tankless
and you may be surprised how infrequently the second oat would come on because you have the benet of several gallons of storage in your holding tank.
2Biz: If you are considering installing 3 demand
heaters, at minimum, I would install an additional
low water level solenoid or oat in case of a low water situation lIke wash4me suggested. Ive learned
to never say never owning a cw. If it can happen, it
will happen!
I can think of many reasons why going the htp or
similar route is the better choice. Have you considered it? If you have, whats your reasoning with the
decision youve made? Just curious?
lighthouscarwash: My biggest issue is
space. The equipment room is packed full and I
will alleviate some of that with the new razor as
its pumping station is half the size. But removing
that big boiler and 100 gallon holding tank will free
up a lot of space that Im going to need. Im really
leaning towards 4 of the Naviens and plumbing in a
recirculation loop. I have tossed around the idea of
keeping the holding tank and just going to tankless
for the energy savings, but there are drawbacks to
that route also. Keeping my current holding tank

22 FALL 2015

would certainly be cheaper as I could probably get

away with 2 or 3 tankless units since the holding
tank would act as such a large buffer.
Mr. Clean: I have three Navien 240s that adequately provides 120-125 degree water to six bays
using a 125 gal storage tank. They handle the busiest days w/o a problem.
lighthousecarwash: How many bays are
you running, at what temp, and are you using any
holding tanks?
washnvac: At one of my locations, I use a single
199,000btu Rinnai with a boiler coil on a closed
loop with an open 30 gallon storage tank to supply
9 self serve bays. Rinnai set at 160. Holding tank
set to maintain 120. No issues. This was previously done by a 700,000btu propane heater. Monthly
savings is about $400--quick payback.
At two other locations, using a single 199,000btu
Rinnai to direct feed 10 gallon holding tank for 5 s/s
bays and pre-soak for one automatic. I have a low level
water feed on the holding tank, in case water runs low
you get another cold feed in. Rinnai can only supply
8.5 gallons at set temp. Experience has shown normally only 2 bays running hot at the same time (hp soap
or hp wax) for 6 gpm. A third bay would run holding
tank down by 0.5 gpm until someone switches functions; or the low level feed would maintain water in
tank. Yes- possible the water drops below 120 for a
short period; but very infrequent.
I have been extremely happy with these set ups.
wash4me: Id be curious to know if you just

had two if that would keep up.

what is a boiler coil?
washnvac: Boiler coil--I may not have used the
exact term. But it is a spiral, nned copper tubed
thingy. It sits in the open tank. A grundfos circulator runs water through it up to the Rinnai. (closed
loop). Rinnai heater coil, which in turn heats water.
Tank is lled with cold water from a oat. I had to
do it that way at that location because it is 9 bays.
This saved me money, because I do not need multiple heaters now.
It defeats a little of the on demand concept, because I am keeping some water in a holding tank.
But otherwise I may have need another heater or
two. What I do know, is I am saving $300-400 per
month over the old propane boiler.
2Biz: The key to saving money is going from the
old dinosaur 70% or less efcient boilers to the newer
condensing/modulating heaters and getting the most
out of the fuel used. Whether tank style or on demand. I think my old 350k btu Jarco was about 30%
efcient because the coil ns had disintegrated from
condensation. So going from that to something 96%
efcient is bound to save you money! Lots of $$$.....
I like the idea of the heat exchanger method...basically the same thing as the htp and possibly a little
cheaper. Im still concerned about feeding a oat
tank with water direct from the demand heater.
It also seems like a lot of plumbing/venting if you
have to have multiple units. The htp was a much
easier install, Im sure.

 FALL 2015

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FALL 2015

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INDUSTRY DIRT
Steve Collins has joined the Mark VII
Equipment Inc. sales team and assumed responsibility for direct sales in Florida, replacing Al Cope,
who is entering retirement, according to a company
press release.
Mark VII Equipment Inc. is the North American
subsidiary of WashTec AG of Germany, the worlds
largest manufacturer of vehicle cleaning systems.
According to the release, Collins background includes sales experience and 28 years in operations
management at a multi-site carwash operator. He
will be based in Tampa.
I want to thank Al for his years of service to Mark
VII and wish him well in his retirement, said Larry
McCarty, Mark VIIs US Direct Sales Manager. And
I want to welcome Steve to the team. His carwash
management experience and proven track record in
sales will make him a valuable contributor to our
growth plans.
Pat Hoggan is the new Lustra Regional
Sales Manager, covering central and northern California, as well as the state of Nevada, for Cleaning
Systems, Inc. (CSI) of De Pere, WI. CSI is a manufacturer of cleaning and protection chemical products,
including the Lustra product line for the professional
carwash industry.
After proudly serving in the United States Air
Force, Hogan began his career in the car wash industry in 1983, and currently resides in Orangevale, CA.
I am genuinely excited to be joining the Lustra
team. I am not only impressed by the supreme quality of our products, but by the high quality of every
individual within the CSI organization. At every tier
of CSI, there is a clear commitment to delivering the
highest quality product, backed with top-notch service, chemistry, and technology.
Dave Krause, president and CEO of CSI, said in
the release, We are proud to welcome Pat to CSI.
We are condent in his ability to deliver outstanding
service to our customers across California and Nevada, and we feel his knowledge and experience will be
a tremendous asset to our organization.

Mike Wiggins has joined CSI as a new

sales consultant as part of the companys planned
increased market penetration across the state of Texas. Wiggins has over 10 years of experience in the
car wash industry, having previously owned a tunnel
and self-serve car wash, the press release noted. In
addition, he was previously employed by a current
CSI distributor offering Lustra products working
with car washes across Texas.
I am excited to join the CSI team, Wiggins said
in the release. I am passionate about providing the
highest quality products and the ultimate in service
to my customers, and I look forward to building lasting relationships with washes across the state.

26 FALL 2015

Happenings In & Around

Self Serve Carwashing

Dave Krause, President and CEO of CSI was quoted, We are proud to welcome Mike to CSI. His deep
commitment to service and energy for the industry
and CSI products make him an exciting addition to
our team.

every county in South Carolina, forcing the displacement of thousands of residents across the state.
Autobell is a chain of full-service carwashes in VA,
SC, NC and GA. It is the second largest conveyor
carwash chain in the nation.

Steve Welch is the new territory accounts

manager for the car care division of C. K. Enterprises
Inc.
We are excited Steve has joined our car care
team and believe Steve brings enormous value with
his many years of experience, said Charles Kunkel,
president of C K Enterprises, in a press release announcing his hire.
C K Enterprises is a manufacturer and national
distributor of carwash detergents.

Stoner Inc., a manufacturer of high perfor-

G&G LED, manufacturer of LED lighting solutions for carwash and wet environment markets,
has moved to a new 6,500-square-foot warehouse
and ofce space in Albany, NY.
Noting that the company has added extensively
to its executive staff and released several new waterproof lines, president Jason Baright also explained
the move would also improve the companys customer service.
This move offers even greater customer and distributor support through the addition of more stock inventory, increased service staff and decreased lead and
transit times, Baright noted, adding, We also have a
much larger R&D area containing larger testing chambers, manufacturing capabilities and equipment.
Autobell Car Wash donated $1 from
the sale of every Super Polyprocess and Managers
Special carwash sold from October 12-18 to the
American Red Cross to assist with disaster relief for
ood victims in South Carolina. The charity fundraiser encompassed all 70 locations of the Autobell
Car Wash chain throughout four states.
Currently, we are in the midst of one of the most
severe and costly ooding events in South Carolina history, stated Jason Gudzunas of the Western
North Carolina Region of the American Red Cross,
with which Autobell is an ongoing community partner. Red Cross employees and volunteers are working tirelessly alongside local community groups after
historic rainfall caused unprecedented ooding in

EDITORS NOTE:
Are you participating in Grace for Vets this
year? Please send us your stories, experiences
and photos! If you are interested in learning
more about the program, which seeks to honor
and recognize veterans with free car wash
services on Veterans Day each year, please
visit www.graceforvets.org. Registration and
promotional materials are absolutely free!

mance products for the home, automotive, industrial cleaning, and molding industries, has acquired
Mtsenbckers Lift Off. According to a press
release about the acquisition, Mtsenbckers Lift
Off will add over 10 new environmentally friendly
product offerings for professional and consumer use
including patented, environmentally friendly removers for stains, adhesives, paints, varnishes, and caulks.
The acquisition was nalized July 31, 2015.
Mtsenbckers Lift Off products will be distributed through the Stoner Inc. facilities located in
Lancaster County, PA. Dr. Gregg Motsenbocker will
continue an active role in future product development. This is the next step in my professional journey, which will allow me to continue to do what I
am passionate about, research and development. I
am excited to be working with a company that is still
young and growing and that also opens the door for
me to work on the automotive side of the industry,
Dr. Motsenbocker said in the release.
According to the release, Mtsenbckers Lift Off
uses safe science that works to break the molecular
bond of stains, adhesives, paints, varnishes, and caulks,
removing the problem while maintaining the integrity
of the surface they are adhered to. Lift Off products
are biodegradable, sustainable, and contain low or no
VOCs, making them safe for the environment, user,
and the surfaces to which they are applied. M
tsenbckers Lift Off was developed by Dr.
Gregg The Wizard Motsenbocker in 1980. Dr. Motsenbocker holds over 50 US and foreign patents and
is the recipient of the Patent & Trade Ofces Invention of the Year Award in Chemistry. Mtsenbckers Lift Off products are sold nationally at Home
Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware,and True Value.

UNITI expo, a biennial trade show for the

retail petroleum sector in Europe -- including a carwash equipment exhibition -- has increased its exhibition space by adding another hall for its June 2016
event in Suttgart, Germany.
According to a press release about the event, UNITI expo launched in 2014 and attracted 11,000 visitors from 92 countries, as well as 344 exhibitors from
29 countries.
The carwash & car care sector has registered the
biggest growth of all areas, recording more than a
100-percent increase in exhibitor bookings compared to 2014, the release noted. Organizers have
set a big focus on the carwash industry by bringing
professionals into the discussion and working on tailor-made services.

 FALL 2015

27

EXTRA! EXTRA!
Read all
about it ...
Interesting operator news and tidbits
from around the industry water cooler.
It was a special delivery for
Canyon Car Wash in Canyon
Country, CA -- but instead of soaps and
spare parts, the car wash signed for a bouncing
baby girl. The baby was safely delivered with the
assistance of a Los Angeles County sheriff who
was alerted by the father who yelled Baby! Baby!
at the ofcer to get his attention before pulling
into the car washs parking lot, where a woman
-- identied only by her rst name, Mariela -- gave
birth in the front seat.
At rst, I was trying to help the mother get
comfortable but she made it very clear she didnt
want me to recline the front seat, and I certainly
wasnt about to debate anything with her, Depu-

The long reach of the tentacle

is no longer in Madison, WI,
or Illinois, now that Mister Car Wash has
purchased ve Octopus Car Wash locations in
those areas. Octopus, a well known chain of car
washes founded in 1956 by John Jurkens in Rock

ty Roger Bertola said in a press release about the

event.
I told them that I had to push, and he was like,
Just try to hold it. So I did, but then, I couldnt
hold it anymore, the mother explained. The deputy helped guide the baby on and deliver it, according to a local news station, then tapping on
the babys back to clear its airway.
The parents were so excited and happy. The father was jumping up and down and overjoyed, he
recalled in the release.
Fireghters, paramedics and an ambulance arrived at the car wash shortly after to transport the
mother and child to a local hospital where they
were both reported to be in good condition.

Rain may be coming, but experts caution theres still no

practical end in sight for the
California drought -- which means

Island, Illinois, was continued in operation by his

sons and known for its iconic sign and -- at some
locations -- three dimensional statue.
Mister Car Wash is the largest conveyor car
wash chain in the nation, with 157 car washes in
18 states.

theres no end in sight for stories about car washes

in the California press.
We start you off with a feel good story from the
San Mateo County Health System, which is proselytizing the benets of commercial car washes to
the public there -- and even sweetening the offer
with $5 coupons to area car washes -- in an effort
to get residents to stop washing their cars at home.
The purpose is two-fold, according to the county, which explained to a local newspaper that
washing vehicles at home not only wastes a significant amount of water (they estimated 150 gallons
per vehicle), but also pollutes local waterways, including the San Francisco Bay. The article warned
that some local governments may even levy nes
against residents who pollute the storm drains.
Water is so vital to San Mateo County; it is
indispensable in our daily lives and we have the
good fortune to be surrounded by beautiful water
on both sides. We all play a role in saving and protecting water now and for future generations, and
were pleased to partner with 10 local car washes
{continued }

28 FALL 2015

Replace or upgrade your ACW.

Installs inside an existing ACW cabinet!
Accepts Cash, Coins and Credit Cards
The most economical 24hr Automatic Entry System!
CryptoPay provides secure credit card processing that
Simply Stops Fraud
Features CryptoPay Consolidation reducing
Merchant Fees
Compatible with CryptoPay In-Bay credit card system*

PayStation Features:
z 4 - Selection Large backlit LCD display and voice prompts.
z Accepts cash, coins and credit cards securely
with CryptoPay!
z Connect this Paystation CryptoPay to your existing
CryptoPay system or add CryptoPay to your In-bay boxes
for one complete credit card solution*. (*CryptoPay
Coordinator is required for each car wash location)
z Program up to 25 discount codes. Add an optional
2nd hopper to vend a bonus token that can be redeemed
for a free vacuum or a discount on your next
car wash purchase.

CryptoPay Security: Prevents credit card data from

being in the clear and at risk by encrypting the credit
card data at the moment, and point, of the credit card
swipe. CryptoPay provides secure credit card
processing that Simply Stops Fraud.
CryptoPay Consolidation: Reduces merchant
and credit cards fees which are essential for small
ticket purchases. Heres an example of CryptoPay
Consolidation: Imagine that a customer visits your
carwash. He swipes his credit card at the PayStation and
purchases an $8.00 wash. Ten minutes later
swipes his card again at the vacuum, and is charged
$1.00. CryptoPay combines these two charges into
one $9.00 charge that is submitted to the credit card
company, which results in only one merchant fee
for the purchase.
CryptoPay GoGreen Receipt Service: Allows your
customers to get their receipts from credit card
purchases made at your car wash. Receipts are
available online 24/7, two hours after last usage.
It provides end-to-end encryption delivering
receipts safely online.
American Changer Corp.

(800) 741-9840

for more information visit: www.americanchanger.com

FALL 2015

29

Great People, Quality Equipment, Reliable Service

Elite Plus: Self-Serve System

The latest innovation from Hydro-Spray enables you to add
value and create efficiencies with the most powerful and flexible
options available in self-serve car wash equipment. A unique
modular design saves you space in your equipment room and
provides new services that your customers will enjoy.
Engineering at its Best, the Future is Now.

Premium High Security Meter Box

This High Security Stainless Steel Meter Box offers 10 or 12
push button selections and optional Smart Card Reader and
Key Pad upgrades. The integrated hinged face plate promotes
easy maintenance and service of your meter box that adds an
additional layer of security.
True Peace of Mind.

Elite Pro: Self-Serve System

Hydro-Spray manufactures the best self-serve carwash
equipment in the industry. For more than 30 years Hydro-Spray
has continued to develop and innovate ways to wash cars better.
The Elite Series Self-Serve Systems: An All-In-One Design that
provides Advanced Product Delivery on All Functions.
Think Self-Serve, Think Hydro-Spray.

Tri-Foam Delivery Panel System

Stay ahead of your competition with our Tri-Foam Delivery
System. This Stainless Steel compact wall mount comes
completely assembled and is easy to install. Your customers
will be impressed when they see the colorful and thick foam
that is produced.
Practical & Sensible Solutions.

contact us

TO DAY
30 FALL 2015

800-528-5733
w w w.hydrospray.com

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Read all about it ... Interesting operator news

and tidbits from around the industry water cooler.

that are committed to reducing water use and preventing pollution, San Mateo County Supervisor
Don Horsley wrote in a statement.
For more information about the program, visit
owstobay.org/carwash.

While the San Mateo government was out shouting the good
news, Los Angeles County employees were walking around
with bowed heads after a very
public drought shaming, according to The Daily News.
In a knee jerk reaction, Supervisor Don Knabe
announced a proposal to limit county vehicle
eets to a once-monthly car wash and told the
Board of Supervisors to reduce their car wash
habits (alleged to be thrice-weekly -- an increase
in frequency since Governor Jerry Brown ordered
a 25 percent cut of urban water use in April) to
once a week. According to the article, Los Angeles
County is the largest local government in the nation and has roughly 12,500 vehicles.
The County owns three car washing facilities,
but only one makes use of recycled water.

Our final report born out of

the California drought takes
us to Napa Valley, where some
high school cheerleaders have
turned to a waterless car wash
solution in order to raise funds for their
cheer and dance program.
A newspaper report said the 24 high schoolers
garnered about $1,000 using an eco-friendly solution and although squad coach Myka Galovic admitted she was a bit skeptical at rst, in the end
every customer was happy.
One adult volunteer suggested the fundraiser
might have been so successful since residents are
avoiding washing their cars during the drought,
and there was less competition from other car
wash fundraisers this year for the same reason.

Pollen? Road salt? Love bugs?

For Divisadero Touchless Car Wash, the seasonal
volume driver is Burning Man, an annual weeklong music festival and party event in Black Rock
Desert, Nevada, that results in tens of thousands
of Burners cars being coated in sand and dust.
Well see about 500 Burning Man cars over the
next week, owner Patty Shimek explained to a
local news station, adding that shell schedule extra workers to deal with the volume and offer a
special service specically for Burning Man partiers -- priced at $100 a pop for the inside/outside
treatment.
Our policy has evolved and our price has
evolved, Shimek said. The washs policy includes

Talk about going under! An Athens, GA, car wash lost a wall and an ice machine
when a 15-foot wide, 8-foot deep sinkhole oc-

curred on its property. The owner has installed

some reinforcements to prevent further collapse
and luckily no injuries were reported.

warning Burners about longer wait times and

asking them to arrive several hours before closing
to avoid being turned away. This year, the festival
attracted over 65,000 attendees.

Heres a new one (we think),

managers at Moo Moo Car Wash in Hilliard, GA, are
warning the public about a scam thats happening on
their lot -- but denitely without their permission.
According to a local television report, con artists will
approach the car wash customer with a magic goo.
They will look to see if you have any damage on
your car, like a dent or a scratch or anything, and
they will come up to you and be like, Hey, I can x
that way better than any body shop can, said Cameron Morris, a manager at Moo Moo Car Wash.
For a few hundred bucks, the scammers will pretend to use a magic goo to x the vehicles imperfection. He puts on like duct tape, black or silver
duct tape, depending on the color of the car, and
then he puts like this green yucky putty stuff and
calls it his magic stuff.
The car wash has led a report with Columbus
Police, according to the report.
You need to watch out, just watch out, somebody
walk up to you and say they can x something, just
say no, said Shardai Morrison, a Moo Moo manager.

Theres a new competitor coming to town -- or perhaps we

should say coming house to
house. Spiffy is a smart phone app (available
on Apple and Google Play stores) that allows users to order and pay for mobile detailing services.
Services include interior and exterior treatments
{continued }

I know what Im wearing to Car

Wash Show 16 Car wash has nally hit
high-end fashion now that the car wash skirt has
been featured in at least 15 runway shows this season, according to Who What Wear.
The style is so-named because its wide strips of
fabric resemble car wash mitters.
The car wash skirt is perfect for dressing up
decently while teasing a little skin, according to
one fashion blog. Its also ideal for transitioning
between warm summer weathers and the cooler
breeze of fall.
FALL 2015

31

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Read all about it ... Interesting operator news

and tidbits from around the industry water cooler.

Last but not least, we give you

this blast from a past (editor):

which are priced between $19.99 and $299. Currently its services are limited to the Charlotte,
NC, area, but the company has set its sights on
expansion in relatively quick fashion.

Editor Emeritus Jarrett J. Jakubowski sent us this

beauty from the pages of Popular Science. He explains: [While] clearing out Colleens folks house
to prepare it for sale, I discovered huge piles of
old Popular Science magazines (from 1940s to
1970s). Fascinating reading! To wit: in the course
of my perusing I discovered an article in the July
1950 issue of PS. It featured the Auto Shower --a device that promised to wash your car in your
own garage just the way big auto laundries do. I
thought you and your readers might be interested,
so I attached a copy.

Remember those working girls

we highlighted from the 2014
Car Wash Show in Chicago? Im referring, of course, to those hard working, never-take-abreak, always-smiling booth babes we photographed
and displayed in our Spring 2014 cover story.
Oh, quit the heavy breathing -- Im talking about
the mannequins!
Well, it looks like we werent the only ones that
took notice of these lovely ladies, a local television
station in Indianapolis was also quite struck by the
new employee at Rama Car Wash and in fact devoted an entire tongue-in-cheek story to her hiring.
Co-workers will tell you shes a model employee,
but even with only a week on the job, shes made a
big difference, the story noted.
My manager likes her because she takes no
breaks (and doesnt) complain, Walter Reid, an
employee there told The Indy Channel.
And at least one customer almost lost a spouse to
the sign spinner: My husband thought she was real.
He was about to jump out of the car, one customer
told the news station.

Its a case of missing common

sense for authorities who confiscated a toy gun left out at a
car wash in Lincolnshire, England. According to a report from The Boston
Standard, the plastic toy gun belonged to a nineyear-old boy who is the son of the car washs owner and was reported by an anonymous observer to
the police.
Two members of the Roads and Armed Policing
Team visited Mr. Shine Car Wash -- the newspaper
described it as a swoop -- and took the weapon for processing. The car wash owner and his son
were not present at the time, but a manager called
him soon after the raid.
Whats confusing is that the toy -- which has
an orange cap and is made of lightweight plastic
-- was not obviously identied as such and left in
place. Instead, police have conscated it and, according to the family, have not contacted them
about the incident.
The carwashs owner was also concerned because customers were present and CCTV footage
makes the event seem rather dramatic and without any explanation given from the authorities.
A police spokesman did tell a local reporter that
the family will most likely be contacted in a few
days regarding the property. Adding, Any incident
which involves a report of rearms is taken very
seriously, with the safety of the public and ofcers
of foremost consideration.

32 FALL 2015

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FALL 2015

33

Veterans in our Mist

Joes Air
Force Life
Joe Campbell, Kadena AFB, Okinawa 1950

An in-depth look
at SSCWNs
founding
publishers
military service.
In our last issue we announced a new feature, Veterans in our Mist, created to recognize and honor
military service veterans who are part of the car
wash industry. I can think of no better way to kick
off this semi-regular column than by acknowledging and expressing gratitude for the military
service of our founding publisher, Joe Campbell.
Joe has graciously provided these photos and commentary detailing his military career. I hope you
will nd it as inspiring and informative as I have.
As a nal note, if you are a service member who
would like to share their story, or would like to
nominate one that you know, please contact me at
katec@sscwn.com so that we can maintain this tradition of honoring our industrys military veterans
in the pages of SSCWN.

34 FALL 2015

Navigators Wings

Joe Campbell, 2014

A pilots compass
Flying East

During WW2 I was in the Army Air Force. I trained to become a

Navigator. I got my wings at Hondo AAF (Army Air Field), Hondo,
Texas, about 50 miles west of San Antonio. Above is an AT-7 Navigator
training plane. It was set up for 3 students at a time. We ew training
ights all over Texas, day and night. You can tell its over Texas. See
how at it is. After I nished training I was assigned to a Troop Carrier
Group, C-47 and C-46 aircraft.

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FALL 2015

35

Veterans in our Mist

E6B Flight Computer

Inside a navigation
trainer. The far student
is taking celestial shot
through the astrodome.
The center student is
checking a star chart. The
near student is using an
E-6B computer to gure
the planes position. Over
400,000 E-6Bs were
manufactured during
WW2. Its a circular slide
rule with aeronautical
markings. Each student
had a drift meter and a 6
inch compass.

C-47

C-47

C-46

C-46

It would have been impossible to win WW2 with out these planes.
They were the Big Rigs of the sky. They went every where and carried
most anything . The C-46 is much larger. A few C-47s still y today.
Why are they called Gooney Birds. Because they did unusual and
unexpected things like the real Gooney Birds on Midway Island, in
the Pacic Ocean.

A week after WW2 ended I was sent to China. There, another war was being fought
between the Nationalist and Communist. The Communist nally won in 1949. When
ying, we had blood chits just in case.

My rst ight as a Navigator

in China was from Kunming to
Shanghai, 1200 miles, in a brand
new, shinny B-24, made in Detroit,
Michigan. Since WW2 was over, our
surplus airplanes were destroyed,
cut in half and melted down. The
Chinese made pots, pans and woks
out of them. I wonder if the people
in Detroit know this?

36 FALL 2015

 FALL 2015

37

Veterans in our Mist

Based in Shanghai, we ew over
China, Indo-China, Hainan and
Formosa. We carried anything
that would t into a C-46. Our
crew, 2 pilots and myself, were
armed with Colt .45s. One
day we picked up 45 Japanese
Ofcers for repatriation with
their pistols and Samurai
swords. They had to leave the
pistols and store their swords
in the belly compartment. After
landing we taxied away and
kept their swords. I got a nice
one. When in Peking, we ate
Peking Roast Duck (Not like
todays Fast Duck in L.A.).

China
Burma
India
Shoulder
Patch

A Troop Carrier C-46 CurUss Commando

Heres what Chinas

money looked like in
1945. I still have these
bills. They lost their value
due to ination, so to buy
anything, you had to have
a stack of them. A wallet
wouldnt do. Generally
you carried them in a
large shoulder bag.

North American AT-6

I started pilot training in 1948, at Goodfellow AFB, San Angelo, Texas. The Air
Force used our class 49-A, as an experiment. For years, the Air Force had used
small airplanes with xed landing gear to train and solo students. Instead, we
skipped the small planes and started out in an advanced trainer, the AT-6. It
wasnt a P-51 by any means, but it has a lot of horsepower, was fully acrobatic
and had retractable landing gear. The big problem was that students would forget
to lower the landing gear and make a belly landing . Luckily this never happened,
the experiment worked and became the blueprint for future pilots.

Heres a couple of T-6 trainers that didnt make it back home be-cause of
mechanical problems or pilot errors. They say that any landing you can
walk away from is a good landing. Forced landings can happen at anytime,
so its a good idea to be prepared . But wooded areas arent the best. Cotton
elds are better. Look at the difference.

38 FALL 2015

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FALL 2015

39

Veterans in our Mist

Eddie Rickenbacker,
World War I Ace,
and President Of
Capital Airlines gave
me my Pilots Wings
when I graduated
from ight school
in Class 49-A, at
Barksdale Air Force
Base, Shreveport,
Louisiana. There
I learned to y the
twin engine B-25.

One of Doolihles Raiders

Heres a photo of a fully armed B-25 on the deck of the USS Hornet, waiting to
take off on a bombing run over Japan, on April 18, 1942. This was the type of
airplane I learned to y at Barksdale Air Force Base in 1948-49. in class 49-A.
Our training B-25s were stripped of all armament, which made them much
lighter and easier to y. As far as I know our class had no accidents.

Next was learning to y B-29s at McDill AFB, Tampa, Florida. Then on to

Castle AFB, Merced, California, for crew training. Emergency and survival
training was highly stressed. So, I had to take Artic Survival Training in
Nome, Alaska, for 2 weeks. That consisted of living on the ice cap with
only a parachute and a survival kit. Igloo living is best, but you have to
build it. No nails required!

40 FALL 2015

MacDill Air Force Base Tampa

Florida See the B-29s

Veterans in our Mist

Boeing B-50

One day our crew

was own to Seattle to
pick up a brand new
B-50. A snow storm
stranded us there for
7 days. While taxiing
out for takeoff, our left
wing tip hit something.
That ended the ight
right there and then.
However, a large group
of mechanics ran out
of the factory and
repaired the wing (Just
like NASCAR) and we
were ready for takeoff
again. When we got
home, all was quite for
a few days until some
one found out about
our accident. Thank
goodness it blew
over quickly.

Heres Joe building an igloo near Nome, Alaska, in 1949. No nails required! That was way before Global Warming. Each morning an Eskimo would arrive
with his dog sled, searching for any of our discards. Believe it or not, the Eskimo clothing was better than ours. The dogs were fed frozen sh, bones and all.
We ate K rations from our survival kits.

Heres Fi Fi, the last B-29 still able to y today

(2014). I saw Fi Fi in June at the Air Show in
Sacramento, CA.

Heres a head on shot of the B-29, Fi Fi, at the

Sacramento , 2014, Air Show. This gives a better
view of its size. Notice how large the propellers
are. They are huge! Before starting engines, each
propeller has to be rotated around completely
several times by hand. Thats a Big Job!

FALL 2015

41

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42 FALL 2015

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FALL 2015

43

Veterans in our Mist

B-29s were used
through out the
Korean War. I was
in the 19th Bomb
Group, 28th Bomb
Squadron, at Kadena
AFB, Okinawa. Our
crew ew 65 bombing
missions over North
Korea in the Outlaw.
The crew following us
crashed the Outlaw
on takeoff one day.
So, the Outlaw never
made it to a museum
or a static display. But
there is a picture of it
at one of the museums
in Washington D.C.

B-29 Outlaw Crew Kadena AFB, Okinawa 1950

19th Bomb Group B-29 over North Korea 1950

Classic WWII military bomber

nose art featuring a likeness
of actress Jane Russell on
the B-29 Superfortress The
Outlaw from the 1941 movie
of the same name. The nose
art was painted on B-29 S/N
42-65306 of the 28th Bomb
Squadron, 19th Bomb Group.
The aircraft later crashed on
takeoff in 1951. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force)

A 19th Bomb Group, 28th Bomb Squadron,

B-29, from Kadena Air Force Base,
Okinawa, on a bombing run over North
Korea, 1950. The Outlaw was leading this
formation of three B-29s . Altitude was
about 20,000 feet with the bomb bay doors
open. I cant remember what the target
was. Some were heavily defended with anti
aircraft re, while others werent, depending
on their importance.

19th Bomb Group, Kadena AFB, Okinawa

I almost fell over when I found this photo on the internet. It was all beat up, crushed, torn, faded and crooked. My daughter had to photo shop it quite a bit.
As far as I could tell, there was no nose art on this B-29. Instead, there was just 3 large, bold letters..BUB . What that stands for I dont know. Evidently
BUB did something unusual to honor the entire 19th B. G.

44 FALL 2015

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FALL 2015

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46 FALL 2015

Veterans in our Mist

Mig 15

In case you were wondering,

heres a Russian built Mig-15 from
Mig Alley. It was one of the rst
ghters built in the Jet Age. Its
Pilot, a North Korean, defected to
South Korea, and landed at Kimpo
Air Base. This event enabled our
Air Force to learn about the Migs
ability and saved many lives.

This is Mig Alley, where the Yalu River divides North Korea and China. One of
our main targets were bridges to cut Chinas supply routes into North Korea.
Our aircraft were not allowed to cross the Yalu to hit targets, or to chase down
Migs based in China. This provided a sanctuary for the N. Korea Air Force, really
Chinese and Russian. This is one of the main reasons we couldnt win the war.

TARZON
This is a TARZON, radio guided, bunker buster, 13 thousand pound, 21 foot long
bomb used for hardened targets like underground bunkers, bridges, submarine
pens and etc. Developed in World War 2 but forgotten until The Korean War. It
was an early attempt to guide bombs to a target that conventional free falls would
miss. Only a few were ever built. The TARZON was too large to t inside a B-29,
so it partially extended outside. This changed the aerodynamics of the B-29. One
day our Group Commander and his B-29 were lost at sea, thought to be from this
TARZON characteristic. Never the less, the TARZON did get some big targets
before it was discontinued in late 1951.

This is a post strike photo (1950) of a bombing mission. Notice the downed
bridge spans. Since we werent allowed to y over China, our bombing runs
were somewhat awkward. Both bridges were built by the Japanese when
they owned Korea and Manchuria, one in 1911 and the other in 1937.

The Broken Bridge

and the Friendship
Bridge are big
tourist attractions
today. Pedestrians
are not allowed
on the Friendship
Bridge. It was
named that in
1990. It has a one
track rail road and
a one lane road
across it.

Night photos of the Friendship Bridge between North Korea and China, Circa
2010. You can see why its such a tourist attraction. No music or rides like
Disneyland, but plenty of Chinese restaurants on the west side.
FALL 2015

47

48 FALL 2015

 FALL 2015

49

Veterans in our Mist

I often wondered
what ever happened
to the Outlaw. Well
this is it! About 50
years later, after
I left Okinawa, I
received a letter with
this picture (Not an
email) from someone I didnt know.
The Outlaw had
crashed on take off
and broke in two. I
imagine it was melted down and made
into pots, pans and
woks, as all good
planes in Asia were.

Command Pilots Wings

Joe Campbell, Kimpo AFB, Soul, South Korea, 1951. Getting ready for a
reconnaissance ight over North Korea. I have a parachute on my back
but its not connected up yet.

Douglas B-26

Since all of our planes were painted black, they were called Blackbirds.
There was no time to build an elaborate runway, instead, it was made
out of PSP, pierced steel planking. It was like landing on a tin roof but it
worked. Korea is very cold in the winter. When ying, we wore electric
suits to keep warm.

50 FALL 2015

Veterans in our Mist

Next, I spent 3 years in
Germany with B-26s. Once
I landed at Gibraltar, on the
Southern tip of Spain. Its so
small that both ends of the
runway are right on the ocean.
If your brakes dont work,
you take a bath. Apes live on
top of the Rock of Gibraltar.
I just had to see them. They
are just big monkeys, and will
steal you blind. Next, I was
assigned to the Strategic Air
Command (SAC) and learned
to y the KC-135 , an aerial
refueling plane. SAC was my
last assignment in the Air Force.
Since we were in a Cold War
with Russia, most of my time
was spent on alert (Like a
reman waiting for a re), a
ight simulator instructor and
other related duties.

Boeing KC-135

The Air Force offered many educational

opportunities. In 1950 I graduated from Modesto
Junior College, California, with an AA degree.
Next I took college courses on base offered by the
University of Maryland. For instance, I had a real
German Professor for German language, and a
real Russian Professor for Russian History. When
I had enough credits, I attended the University
of Maryland, 1958, and graduated with a B.S.
Degree in Military Science.

B-26 Cockpit

A KC-135 refueling a B-52

In late 1951, I went through B-26 Combat Crew Training at Langley AFB,
Virginia. Next, to a Escape and Survival School at Reno AFB, Nevada.
Just in case! Then to Kimpo AFB, Soul, South Korea. Once there I ew 55
reconnaissance (Spy) missions over North Korea.

A B-26 calibrating its 14, 50 caliber machine guns. I trained in this type of
plane. The rst time I red all 14 guns at once, it felt like plane stopped in
mid air. In Korea, there was a shortage of reconnaissance pilots, so I was
switched to an unarmed, glass nosed B-26.
FALL 2015

51

Veterans in our Mist

This is one place I dont want to see

again! I made 3 ferry trips in B-26s across
the Atlantic from New Foundland, to
Greenland, to Iceland, and to Scotland.
Flying up a 50 mile fjord in bad weather
is hairy! Then if you cant land you
have to go back to where you came from
providing you have enough fuel. Of the
top 10 scariest approaches and landings
in the world, this is rated as one of them.

DeHavilland Caribou

After retiring from the Air Force in

1965, I ew Caribous for Air America,
a covert group of aircraft directed by
the CIA, in Laos. The Caribou was
designed for short eld landings and
takeoffs. It also had a back door ramp
for fast drive in or walk in loading. This
was the last airplane I ever ew.

In 1953, or 54, while at Larson AFB,

Washington, I received orders to go to
Munich, Germany, for 3 years. Butan
old farmer had sold me his Ryan ST-A.
Ferrying It to Southern California, I got
weathered in at Bend, Oregon. Thats
the last time I saw the Ryan. Several
months later, in spring, a friend of mine,
retrieved the Ryan and continued the
ferry trip. He ground looped in Chico,
California. That was the end of the
Ryan. Pots and pans again? Maybe
but no woks this time!

52 FALL 2015

Army Air Force Ryan

Similar to a Ryan ST-A

Century 6
Century 2

BC-1400

BC-1200

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FALL 2015

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FALL 2015

55

Fall Show Round-Up

We go around the world in 80 days to review trade show events in
Australia, Amsterdam, Atlantic City, California and South Carolina.
Car wash operators throughout the United States, Europe and
Australia were offered a bevy of opportunities to network, learn,
and kick tires at Fall trade show events this season. Most of these
events had record-breaking turnout -- even in instances where

Well start our round-up in Riverside,

CA, where the Western Carwash
Association (WCA) hosted their Inland
Empire Roadshow on October 20-21, 2015 at
the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside, CA. The
event brought together more than one hundred car
wash operators, managers and suppliers for two days
of networking, education and industry comradery.
As part of the kick-off evening reception and
dinner program, the WCA board honored outgoing board members for their service to the association, and also recognized incoming board members as they ofcially took their new positions. In
addition to recognizing the WCA board of directors, Matt Clayton, from Terrible Herbst Carwash,
was awarded with the Manager of the Year Award.
For the education portion of the program, attendees experienced a spirited presentation from Ron
Cates, director of digital marketing at Constant Contact. Cates spoke to the importance of utilizing email
marketing as an effective tool to reach new car wash

Jumping across the Pacic, we nd

ourselves in Melbourne, Australia, for
the Australian Car Wash Association
Expo 2015. Although a bit smaller than some
of the regional shows we enjoy here in the States,
the ACWA certainly enjoyed a banner year by
their own metrics, breaking all existing records for
attendance and exhibition numbers, including 64

opportunities overlapped -- and reports from all shows seemed

to indicate that the car wash market is healthy and poised for
growth heading into 2016 and beyond.

customers and retain current and returning clients.

The roadshow portion of the tour took place
the following day, with attendees visiting the following carwash sites, as well as the K-VAC water
treatment plant for lunch:
s Shell Rapid Lube & Carwash
s Matts Express Carwash
s Zipline Express Carwash

exhibit booths and 130 exhibitors, 280 attendees,

and 30 international visitors from USA, Europe,
Taiwan, and New Zealand. The events Opening
Breakfast and Gala Dinner were both sold out
and 80 attendees participated in the Associations
bus tour at Melbourne car wash sites held in
conjunction with the show.
The ACWA, which has made a name for itself

s Mills Circle Carwash

s Spotless Express Carwash
Miss this roadshow and want to be sure to register for the next installment? Be sure to check back
on the WCA website for updated information on
the next roadshow taking place in April 2016 in
San Diego, CA, or contact Danielle Roe at Danielle@WCWA.org.

by spearheading government policy in regards to

car washes and drought, as well as leading industry
research and activism in promoting the benets of
commercial car washing and the environmental dangers of at-home car washing, had a lot to celebrate,
including feedback from exhibitors which ranked its
fth annual expo as probably the best ever expo in
terms of good sales leads and booth trafc.

{continued }

56 FALL 2015

 FALL 2015

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FALL 2015

59

Fall Show Round-Up

Now a quick pit stop in Europe to catch
up with the International Carwash
Association as they hosted their rst
ever international expo in Amsterdam
this October 5-7. According to a press release
from the ICA, the show attracted more than twice the
expected participation, with 2,100 total participants.
It included car wash tours, seminars and receptions in
addition to the two-day expo.
The Association said more than 70 nationalities
were represented at the event, with approximately
80 percent of attendees from Europe, 15 percent
from North America and 5 percent from other
markets around the globe. The nearly 90 exhibiting companies represented twice the number of
car wash companies ever assembled in Europe.
Occurring as part of Car Wash Show Europe was
a meeting of car wash association leaders from seven countries, the presentation of the International Carwash Associations Car Wash Hall of Fame
Awards to Dr. Joseph Enning and Mr. Ger Loogman, and a membership meeting for BOVAG, the
Dutch car wash organization.
Dates for the next edition of Car Wash Show
Europe, to be held in the autumn of 2017, will
be announced soon. For additional information,
please contact International Carwash Association.

The Northeast Regional Carwash

Convention was celebrating similar
good news in Atlantic City, NJ, as they
hosted their 26th annual show on those same
dates (October 5-7). The NRCC attracted 31
more exhibitors in their new space at the Atlantic
City Convention Center for a total of 301 booth
-- an all-time record -- and 1,629 attendees.
The move to the Convention Center was ideal, said Show Chairman, David DuGoff of the
Mid-Atlantic Carwash Association There was
space to walk around on the show oor, exhibits
with more hardware, tables that you could use to
get business done (or just take a break), and the
entire environment was comfortable, bright and
easy to use. We went out of our way to take care of
our exhibitors and attendees, said DuGoff. That
is the NRCC way of running a trade show.
In addition to the move to the Convention Center,
the NRCC also had a new host hotel, The Borgata.
But as we always nd with these regional events,
The best part of any show is the people, said DuGoff. There were lots of operators happy to be
in the industry and they were eager to learn and
grow through our educational seminars that began

at 7am. The energy I felt on the oor and in the

seminars was palpable.
(As one of those attendees, I completely concur.)
Another highlight of the show was seeing longtime organizer and NRCC board member Walt
Hartl of Hoffman Car Wash in Albany, NY, honored as the 2015 recipient of the shows Hall of
Fame award. Hartl is the current New York State
Car Wash Association president and two-time
NRCC Chairman, received the honor in a heartfelt tribute by Mike Benmosche, last years honoree, who has worked closely with him on the two
shows they have co-chaired.
For those who didnt attend, you missed out on
some really great educational sessions, said Ron
Bousquet, the 2016 Show Chairman. But we will
do everything we can to raise the bar a little higher
in 2016. You can be sure of that!
The 2016 NRCC is slated for September 19-21
at the Atlantic City Convention Center with the
Borgata as the host hotel. The New England Carwash Association is the host and Ron Bousquet is
the Chairman. For exhibitor information contact
800/868-8590 or visit nrccshow.com.

We conclude our wrap-up with a visit down South to the

Southeastern Car Wash Associations annual trade show event
in Myrtle Beach, SC, where publisher Jackson Vahaly was on
hand to record this panel discussion:
SECWA PANELISTS: DALE REYNOLDS, BRAD RAY, TIM JONES

Brad: This gentleman knows some of the odd

things other people are doing, because, its changing. What have you changed to keep up with the
times?
Tim: We all try to stay up with technology and
how we can grow our business. Its all about making
money. Of course, having a good location theres
still a lot of good sites out there but you see people
let them go. They dont reinvest in their business.
Im a big believer in reinvesting in your business to
make your business better. Its about customer experience, and any time you can create that customer its almost like we have to create a Disneyland
these days, to keep the customer interested so that
theyll come back. So, we appeal to their sense of
sight, smell, their kids, to keep people coming back
to your carwash.
Dale: You bring up some good points about reinvesting in your business. Thats probably the one
thing we see that people are slow to do. For example, if you look at the petroleum industry years

60 FALL 2015

ago, they used to replace their automatic carwash

systems every 7 years. Then they slowed down to
about every 10 years. But if you looked at Shell,
Exxon, etc. they would reimage their whole stores
every 7 to 10 years. They wanted them to be fresh
and inviting and to look like something new. And
my experience in the carwash industry has been the
slowest to rebrand and reimage ourselves, to add
new services, and even to replace new equipment.
A lot of people keep riding that dead ole horse forever they dont want to spend the money to make
it new again. Tim, youve done some reinvesting in
your washes recently, do you mind telling us what
youve done?
Tim: I had done my rst conversions of in-bays to
short-tunnels back in 08, and that was about the
time of the recession and we were going through
some tough times economically. But, I just happened to be in it at the right time and when I invested that my business grew through that entire
{continued }

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Fall Show Round-Up

time period. My expresses were averaging $7.50/
car because my price point was $5,8,10. Well, back
in 13, I went back in and reinvested and added the
latest things in technology in tunnels and changed
to price points to $5,10,12 and 15. My per-car average when from $7.50/car to almost $10/car. Thats
a pretty good jump.
Brad: Theres still carwashes out there with a toggle switch, soap/rinse/wax. You can only sell what
youve got. How many of you have actually gone
back and added new functions? I think the self
serve market kinda got stuck in a mindset that this
is what I got. I was talking to a guy earlier who took
a triple foam gun and now applies his tire cleaner
and presoak through the triple foam gun as a foam.
He said you would be amazed at how much my

Brad: Thats what we were talking about. One guy

over in the express side said his kid doesnt even
know what a self serve looks like. Does anybody
have a kid they think would spend 45 minutes
washing a car themselves? But yet I was at one of
my washes (the gated) in a lower demographic area
but there was a 75 year old lady in a 16 Mercedes
Coup washing her car with a foam brush. Where
did she come from? She said, my husband brings
his Corvette here and washes it twice a week and
its a good value. She could have afforded anything
she wanted but it was a good value. So the perceived
value with the gated has now come back. Granted I charge $5 to get in and eventually Ill have to
charge more, but its a perceived value thing.
Dale: Do you all ever notice that the people who

self serve model by itself, an express wash can only

wash what ts in their envelope. You start talking
about an in-bay, and now youre open 24/7, so that
opens a little bit more. A self serve wash is an open
platform. If your bays tall enough, anything out
there that can be washed can be accommodated.
I had a lady washing a pair of her kids baseball
pants because they dont come clean at home so
theyll take the high pressure and wash them. Eighteen wheelers. I watched a guy wash a toilet. He
was rehabbing a house. I just said please wash the
bay down when youre done. Were looking for stuff
outside the norm and we can wash anything possible in a self serve carwash as long as they can get it
in that bay or if that hose is long enough they can
wash it outside. We need to market to that better.
Dale: Every new house thats built today, they put
a dishwasher in it. But they still put a sink in there
also. You cant wash everything in that dishwasher.
Its the same thing with carwashes. We see a lot of
people that are building automatics and self serves
you dont see the 10 20 bay self serves that you
did years ago, but youre still seeing 2,3,4 bay self
serve locations with an automatic and with tunnels
and its a good combination. Self serves going to be
here for a long time as long as you provide reason
for the customer to use it. Theres always going to
be a need for it.
Tim: Have people seen a lot of grown in credit
cards over the past few years? Ive seen tremendous
growth in credit cards.

income went up. He said he doesnt put it through

the regular gun anymore. So, Ive got washes I take
pride in and look at and say, It looks as good as the
day I rst built it. That was 15 years ago. You let
somebody else look at it and they say, he hasnt
modernized in 15 years. But to me it looks brand
new. So look at the new equipment and the new
theories. I got seven of them. I was an old self serve/
in bay guy. I got a self serve thats a dud. Red brick.
Single wall. I gotta do something with it. I put a gate
around it. Guess what? The incomes doubled. It
was the dud. I could either bulldoze it or do something with it. Theres also a different demographic
using it, too.
Brad: I had an old timer over in Texas who had
over 100 self serve bays and I asked him what he
thinks about these expresses and where he thinks
this is going and whats going to happen. And he
said, When I was young I went and washed my car
over at the self serve and rubbed on it on Friday.
Picked my girl up on Saturday. He said, Look at
your kids now. What do they do when they meet
each other? They pull out their technologies. Their
car no longer denes them. What we thought our
customers were has changed and we need to gure
that out.
Tim: Most kids dont even know how to use a self
serve.

62 FALL 2015

drive the Mercedes and the BMWs and all, when

they go through the automatic they choose the
cheaper wash? And people with the older vehicles
buy the top wash? I love it but that customer that
hes talking about will come to your wash when
you provide the great services that they want.
Tim: The biggest thing that bothers me about the
self serve side of the business is I feel like were so
undervalued. They dont realize what we, as operators, have to deal with to keep that carwash running. And, we undervalue ourselves. We should be
charging a lot more for what were providing the
customer.
Brad: How many of us have raised our prices in
the past 5 years? How many of us have had our
power go up in the past 2 years? Your income to
expense ratio right now is through the roof. The self
serve has not kept pace with that. If I wanted to
charge what I should be worth, theyd be putting
$5 - $10 worth or quarters, dollars or credit card
into that self serve bay. But were scared of it. Heck
I am, too. If I charge $10 they might go down to the
express I dont know. Its called the cost of goods
sold. When that goes up, you need to change your
price point.
Brad: Customers realize that. Ill tell you something else, I dont know if everybodys got all the
models but I do, but when you start looking at the

Brad: My partners my 70 year old dad and he says,

you just use that credit card to buy a coke with I
said its a check card. He doesnt realize that. You
take my generation or my kids generation and statistics say Ive got less than $5 on hand. Kids generation dont have any cash on hand. So you just
wiped that entire market out if you dont take credit cards. I sold my self serve carwash about 10 years
ago and had to take it back. Were in the process of
upgrading and remodeling and credit cards are one
of the changes were going to make. My question is,
has it increased your volume?
Brad: I can tell you it increases the average ticket,
because I track that.
Dale: What weve seen is the average person spends
$1.50 higher per car with the credit card than the
person whos paying with cash. Do they maintain
the same time ratio as your cash customers?
Brad: We charge more to start. But its the same
price/minute. Because of credit card fees, instead of
charging $2 to start we charge $5 to start. We give
them the same value for their money but I want a
higher start ticket. We do get people that come into
our wash who say, I saw your credit card sign. Naturally, thats the guy with the bobcat on the back of
his truck, the guy with the company truck but hey,
it takes quarters to make mud and I dont care what
hes drivingas long as he spends enough money then
Im happy.
Dave Richards (Crytopay): My wife Jackie is
the one who washes the cars. She goes to a self serve
and all the bays are stacked up. Theres one bay
thats open, so we go to that bay and the credit card
acceptor was broken. Its important to have credit
card right now. The other thing that can raise your

Fall Show Round-Up

average ticket and get more money in the carwash
is things like doing count-up on your timer or advanced count-down where you can swipe the card
and let people buy more time. What I see is theyll
start with a higher ticket and theyll buy as much
time as they think theyll need. They dont want
to be rushed. A few years ago, McDonalds did a
study where they looked at the difference between
a cash customer and a credit card customer. What
they found was that when cash leaves your wallet,
theres a more personal loss there. But with credit
cards, its plastic and you dont part with it. So the
issue here is people will buy more with credit cards.
They will spend more money.
Brad: It also starts bringing in the corporate customer, the lone service guy that wants the receipt
it just brings in more trafc and a wider variety. In
the self serve business, weve got about 3 customers
we had. Weve got the guy that loves his car. The
guy thats trying to do it cheap-skate that thinks
its cheaper. And then youve got the guy that just
thinks its fun to get out in the sun and wash. Weve
got to get a broader spectrum of customers. I want
the guy thats remodeling the house thats got a toilet and a kitchen sink to wash. I dont get the cheapskates anymore because they can put down $3 and
go through the express. But guess what? Hes still
got a 55 Cadillac that he wants to wash and loveon himself. I still get him. So I think we need to
broaden the market that we get. I put up pictures
on my walls of odd things that you can wash. Hey,
Summers coming and I need to wash my barbeque
grill (granted they make a mess, but). I can take it
to my carwash and wash it.

two of the three models now. Add an in-bay and

youve got three of the three models. Guess what
they dont have? Theyve got one model and one
model alone. They cant add it to their lot their
lots built-in. Those guys are going to be approaching you asking if you want to sell because theres a
whole lot more of us then there are of them and
theyre running out of $750K sites. Were sitting on
a secondary or in some cases a primary site. Weve
got what they want.
Dale: Tim, you were saying youve got location
with a tunnel and a self serve, and you were looking
to add an automatic to that?
Tim: Yeah, the rst site that I converted was back
in 08. It had one automatic and 6 self serve bays,
and I took out the automatic and put in a short tun-

to embrace the friction model but also we wanted

to grow and wash faster so this year well do close
to 70,000 cars on the site. Our ticket average has
changed quite a bit also. On the in-bay automatic we were averaging $9.75/car and on the tunnel
were $12/car. You do the math on those numbers
and theres a nice improvement there. But the inbay automatic is open 24 hours a day.
Tim: Lets go back to this. We all have valuable real
estate out there. If you look at the footprint that our
self serves have in comparison to, say our in-bay automatics and our express tunnels, what can we do
to generate more revenue out of our self serve bays
to get it closer to what were generating out of our
in-bays and our express tunnels? Do we add a vacuum to it? Youve got em cornered and you dont

Dale: Whats the wildest thing youve seen somebody wash at your carwash?
Brad: Animals. Different animals. I had a lady call
me and ask me if Ive got a pet wash. I said, no, but
weve got a marine ush. She called me back and
said she washed her dog and I think she used the
high pressure! She said it was a little strong!
Dale: I dont necessarily want to be cleaning up
manure behind a horse or anything else, but
Brad: But that man probably has a $75,000 trailer
behind it and it wouldnt be anything for him to
swipe that credit card for $20. If you can get between a man and his hobby then you can make
money. If you can get between him and his boat, or
him and his 4-wheeler or any of that, then you can
make money.
Dale: So one of the things that people are starting
to face the challenge of is the express model. Express tunnels are popping up and people are concerned, so how have you guys handled that with
your self serve?
Brad: How many have more than one (business)
model on your lot? Anybody have a self serve with
an express on their lot? Over on the express side,
weve got a guy thats got 70 washes. Were talking
big, big money people. Those guys are hunting locations right now to put in washes. Those guys wont
bat an eye about dropping $750,000 for the dirt.
Do you know that you probably have the most
valuable thing out there? When those guys build
its on a square lot thats landlocked in on 3 sides.
You can put an express on your lot and youve got

nel. Now Im looking at converting one of those 6

self serve bays into a touch-free automatic because
there are still those people who dont want anything
to touch their car. Theyll line up for it. Plus, I have
the opportunity to be open 24 hours. I know some
people keep their express tunnel open 24 hours
dont know how they do it, but Thats my next
project. Im a glutton for punishment.
Dale: I had a twin, high-pressure automatic site
and ran it for many years since 06 and then in 12
put one of the automatics up and converted it to
a mini-express also. The best year with the twin
automatics I did 40,000 cars a year and the great
recession kicked in and it dropped down to 36,000.
One of the things that Ive noticed with my washes
is that all of our customers have become more impatient. People used to stack up in line 7 10 cars
deep, and after about 3 years ago people would see
3 cars in line and theyd turn around wouldnt wait
anymore. I blame the smart phones and all that kind
of stuff for it, but another thing about that time is
that people werent washing their cars as frequently and cars were coming in dirtier and it was becoming more challenging to clean touch-free. So,
I was really looking at the friction model and the
mini-tunnels were just coming out at that time so I
made that change pulled one automatic out and
put in an express mini-tunnel in there. We wanted

have vacuums out here. Do you offer glass cleaner?

Do you offer RFID? Were not getting the return
we should be getting on that piece of property as
much as that self serve bay takes up.
Dale: You might take a site that was a 6 bay and
now you only need 4 bays. The models changed,
the demographics change and your customer base
changes. Just because it was built as a 6 bay doesnt
mean it has to stay that way. How many operators
have actually surveyed their customers to see what
theyre doing and what they want? Ask you customers what you can do to improve your services.
You can ask them the questions about the things
youre thinking about adding like wheel cleaner, a
dryer to the bay, maybe a hot wax. Even on your
automatics what can we do better? Your customers will tell you what theyd like to have. Its a really
simple thing to do just spend a Saturday. Give
them a window-wipe or a sponge pack or something like that to just take one minute to answer a
survey because we want to do a better job for you.
Tim: But dont to it in the bay!
Brad: To build a full blown express its going to
take $2 million. They just paid $700K for the dirt.
You have an approved site. Youve already got the
infrastructure. And if you want to add that third
model, and if you want to put that mini-express
on your lot you can still have the income off your
FALL 2015

63

64 FALL 2015

Fall Show Round-Up

existing location thats doing $160K/month. Now,
you have added an express to that same location
and only spent $800K. Guess what? Down the
street, just the express portion is worth $2 million.
So now youve got $2 million plus your self serve
and in-bay. Plus if I look at my income, Ive got
$160K of existing income and I just added another
$40K/month on an express. So the numbers work
a whole lot better for the self serve bunch than the
guys who are painted in on a square lot with nothing but an express on it. I guarantee you 3 years
from now theyll be knocking on your door to buy
your location if we dont adjust our own models.
Theres more opportunity with your location than
there is down the street. Weve still got to keep our
self serve going and all that, but the opportunity
that this room has is just amazing. The value is still
there in what we have.
Dale: When youre looking to add a new service,
everybodys looking to add new revenue, right?
One of the things Ive noticed at a lot of carwashes
is that people will add a new service, but they dont
promote it. That old model of, build it and they
will come doesnt necessarily t today. And our industry as a whole, and particularly the self serve
side, is probably the least properly marketed segment there is and Im guilty of it myself. What do
we do? We put a sign on the wall. Thats out marketing plan. We dont do anything else other than
that. One of the things Ive seen with the express
models is you see a lot more people using digital
signs and were not doing that in self serve bays.
You can do that and make yourself more noticeable
and change the venue a bit and bring people in to
promote that new service. We need to look at more
ways to directly market on our site to the motoring
public. Thats where our opportunity to grow is we all want to bring in that new customer.
Brad: Does anybody give tokens out in their self
serve bay? Where if they buy a wash they get a
token? Doesnt have to be for a vacuum. I take one
meter and put it on site and it serves every bay now
because they just got a token. Put a $5 bill in and
you get a token. Its good for a vacuum. Its good
for a carpet shampoo. Its good for whatever. We
look back at the express and ask what is our answer
to them? Well, at our in-bay we said we had to add
tire shiner and free vacuum and we gotta do all this.
Well look at the self serve and ask the same thing.
My guys gone down the street to the express for
$5. How am I going to compete with that? Well, if
he buys $5 worth of wash at the self serve bay, Im
going to give him a vacuum token for free. Anything
that you can do to answer that nowadays theyve
got the free-standing tire shiners. Maybe the tokens
good for that. He can get his tires shined. He can
vacuum. Everything that theyre offering, how can
we offer it in the self serve? With the token, you can
do all sorts of things. Once youve added that value
to it, you can make it good for anything on the lot.
Tim: How may have their sites attended? Its all
about reaching people. One of the better marketing
tools Ive found is I send a free wash to all the new
movers in my zip codes. Im giving them the best
wash that Ive got. There are certain companies it
costs about 75 cents to do the mailing but you can
dene the radius around your site as big or irregular,

how many you want to send out, or however you

want to do it. Every month theyll send out a card
for a free wash. They bring it to the wash and the
attendant takes care of it.
Brad: Theres some stuff coming in the industry
now and its ltered down. When youve got a $2
million express you can afford the technology. The
technologys been in the self serve but weve just
never standardized it. Theres not enough out there
that you can justify to market it to everybody, but
theres stuff now where you can join something
with your cell phone and pull up to that self serve
bay and type the phone number of that self serve
bay and that bay turn on. So then kids with the cell
phones now you can tap that market. That kind
of stuff is coming to the self serve, and the cost of
all that stuff is coming down but I dont know that
our equipment is capable of handling it but its getting more that it will interface with our stuff with
timers and different stuff like that. Can you image
if a person can drive up to your wash and types in
a number and it turns on? Anything they can do at

the high end, we can now do in the self serve.

Tim: What about having a keypad on your bay
where you come up and like youre on Facebook,
send them a code for 2 free minutes, a free cycle or
whatever, just to get them in there.
Brad: Self serves didnt used to be capable of that.
We used to have to have a guy to drop quarters in
it. Now all that is automated. Anything that they
can do at the high end we can do at the self serve.
Tim: But getting people to your wash is the biggest thing. Birthdays. I send out 200300 birthdays
a month Happy Birthday, come in for a free wash.
Dale: Im going to direct this question to the ladies in here. How many of you have a credit or
shopping card for your favorite stores? Delk, Nordstroms, grocery stores, places like that. You dont
count them, but you can measure them (theyre
about that thick!). Those are loyalty programs. Do
you have a loyalty program for your carwash? How
can you design and implement one to keep bringing
them back? All these major retailers have gured
out that thats a great way to get repeat business,
and we need to be doing the same thing. Maybe

its on the phone, or maybe its a card program

however you get there. You have to look at the ways
you continually market to your customers. You go
into any store today, and you want to buy something and they ask you if youd like to do it with a
Delk card or whatever. J.C. Penney will give you a
10% discount to pay for it with their card. Theyre
going to make more money on nance fees when
people start using that card and not paying it off.
A guy in nance told me that over 80% of people
that use credit cards dont pay them off that month.
So I started extrapolating how many people were
using credit cards, especially in the automatics and
we gured that 65% of the people that were getting
their cars washed with us we gured were nancing
getting their car washed and paying interest on that
because they werent paying their credit card bills
off. Does anybody have an idea how you would do
a loyalty program with the self serve?
Brad: There are different programs out there.
Electronic punch cards. Check-in cards. WashCard
systems.

Tim: A lot of your automatic tellers and stuff these

days have keypads on them and you can put out a
code. Is that worth looking at on a self serve bay?
Brad: Ive got a gated, and Im getting ready to
do a texting program. So, I pick out a zip code
you dont need a name and I say, text in for a free
wash. Costs me 17 cents a name. When they show
up they type the code in and the gate opens so now
Ive gotten them at least one time to try it. Again,
my partners my dad, a 1970s banker, and with
all this social media stuff he wants to know, put
me a dollar gure on it. How much money are we
making on it? I cant tell ya, but I know everybody
else is doing it, and its almost a necessary evil now.
Youve got to do it. I never thought about using my
text club to grab a self serve customer, but weve
seen people washing their carpets, their baseball
pants. Ive been guilty of doing that myself when
my kids were young.
Brad: Express is an impulse. In-bay is an impulse.
Self serve is a planned activity. If you can affect
their plan there are three ways to make money.
You can increase the average ticket of your present
FALL 2015

65

Fall Show Round-Up

customer. You can bring in new blood. Or you can
increase the frequency. New bloods wonderful, I
love that, but if you can use the credit card or use a
loyalty program and get the average ticket up. What
if you took all your customers and increased them
one more frequency? In the self serve, thats hard
to do. You do it with the marketing and the new
technology.
Dale: Has anybody done time-of-day pricing? Or
specials during the week? You see all these specials
that people do especially in tunnels marketing ladies day, and so forth. But we dont do anything like
that in self serve, typically. Some people are doing it.
Brad: A lot of the timers have stuff like that built
into them with capabilities to automate that stuff.

T
WES CAR W
TH

AS

H
AS

SO
U

Dale: How do you market to your customers to

get them to come to you at off-peak hours? At
nighttime when youre doing the least amount
of business but your costs are still going youve
got your lights to turn on. I know some people
who are actually cutting their price in half from
say, 8pm to 8am to get people to come in and use
the wash more at that time. It might not be at the
margin that they want but it increases volume and
is better than nothing at all. It gives them a chance
to grow their market base as well. Im just saying
weve got to get our head out of the sand weve
been stuck in the old ways for so long. Weve got
to look at anything. It might not work for you but
give it a try. Marketing-wise it may be hard to mea-

SOC

I AT I O

sure, but until you give it a try, youll never know.

Perry Powell (washideas.com): I have a really good customer who is buying his 3rd location
now and typically has 3 & 2s, sometimes there
are more self serve bays attached, and I was doing some work last year and I never thought about
doing it with self serves until that moment when
I had this epiphany. We have no built a sales presentation and marketing program to go after eet
business and we have hired an outside sales representative to go to the eld and sell these products.
Id love to have some empirical data, but its actually being kicked off next month. We hired a serious salesman to do the selling from the insurance
industry. We worked out the nancial models and
built the presentation to go with it. We can take
credit cards and did all the things we need to do to
be able to go out and sell to them. And quickly behind that, we are going to be adding a component
that allows us to go after charity business in a similar fashion. There are actually some 3rd and 4th
legs were going to be going after. Apartment complex communities. Rather than waiting for cars to
drive by and come to the business, you go out and
get them. At some point, theres the question of
what if you over-tax the bays? Were going to do
what some have done and put a conveyer in. So,
actually it was the idea of how do I go from being
a self serve to putting a conveyer in and the best
thing is create a demand instead of putting one in
and saying, I hope they come. Lets have demand

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66 FALL 2015

say we have to put one in. So starting next month,

were going to be going to the market. Were not
going to wait for them to come to us.
Brad: How many people in here do eets? How
many people are going after the business? Years ago
when we got in the business a guy told us, build
a self serve carwash and theyll come. And they
did! We did that for years until we got to the point
of building a $750K Taj Mahal and they came and
then the expresses came about and they went.
Youve got to go pursue the customer now. Who
does eets? We have eets with our express, but
never thought about a eet with the self serve.How
many plumbing trucks to you see driving down the
road? They cant go through that tunnel. That truck
with a ladder-rack on top? Hes got to wash it. And
he would love to have a receipt and his boss that
has 8 of those trucks would love to have accounting for it. So now, you get the gift card program or
the texting wash program or whatever and program
that you can track it for that owner. You just said
the apartment complexes. Itd be wonderful to approach the manager and say Ive got a wonderful
benet for all 800 of your tenants here. Ill sell you a
club plan that says when they join your apartment,
they get a club plan to come down and wash their
car. What about club plans for self serve? They do it
in the expresses.
Perry: We did it 4 years ago. In a self serve. How
was your tracking - was it code related? You can do
it either way.

Fall Show Round-Up

Brad: See, thats what I think the industrys got a
lot of little things and the manufacturers if we could
pull it together where weve got the marketing capabilities. Lets duplicate what theyre doing down
there on the high end for the self serves. Can we create a loyalty program? Can we create a club plan?
Perry: On that educational board, we had a number that corresponded with everything that was on
that machine and told them the proper way to wash
their car to get the best result. Again, I cant give
you anything empirical, but it did result in about
30% more time usage in the bay.
Dale: About 20 years ago we actually developed a
video meter. So when you turned the knob to tire
cleaner a video played, and this was before we had
this kind of technology. It showed you how to put
tire cleaner on and then it prompted you to go to
the next service, pre-soak and all that. We showed it
to the ICA at the time and people said, thats cool!
but nobody bought it.
Perry: We just do it with static signs put them on
the wall opposite from where
the meter is and just describe heres how to clean
a car. Everybody pulls in there and they start turning and ipping things.
Tim: I cant tell you how many times people have
asked me, how do I use this? You try to explain to
put your tire cleaner on rst
Brad: The general motoring public all have their
own way of doing it and Ill go show them and

theyll say, I never knew that. Not many of our

customers know.
Tim: But when you get them in that bay you dont
want them reading a list or watching TV, unless that
meters running - you want them putting in that
money!
Perry: For us, the idea was, at least on the conveyor
side, you have low ph, you have high ph, youve got
dwell times - there are things that need to happen.
All that, if it were going onin a self serve bay would
equal time and time is money. If I put the boards
up on the opposite interior wall and Im actually
teaching the consumer how to properly wash the
car then Im going to get more time out of it and
that was the whole concept.
Dale: There have been all kinds of variations of
signs in the bay, and actually, I think you can oversign a bay to a certain degree which one catches
your attention today? But we did the video thing
and tried to do exactly what youre talking about.
That video would only play after you put money
in. So if you want to educate them then they have
to pay to be educated, but youve got to change
over time on the different services. People didnt
really gravitate to it at that time. The biggest thing
that Ive ever seen that really worked is an operator out there at his own wash showing people how
to use things properly and taking his own money
out of his pocket and sticking it in there and saying,
here, let me show you how to get your tires clean.

Let me show you this service. One of my favorite customers Ive ever had was a gentleman from
South Carolina. He was the epitome of customer
service. When you came up to his self serve carwash
free coffee. All the police ofcers were hanging
out there. This guy, even at night, took his quarters
home and cleaned them. So all the quarters that
came out of his change machine looked like brand
new minted quarters. He and his wife would have
dinner and sit there and watch Jeopardy and clean
quarters while they sat there. But everybody would
come and get the quarters. When your kid looses a
tooth, everybody came to his wash to get the clean
quarters and say the tooth fairy brought them clean
quarters. Hed come out there with a big smile and
thank them for coming and hed show them how
to use anything and everything he had. He had the
best business in the world there. Are you doing the
best you can with your business? Thats a question
we all have to ask and challenge ourselves to be better tomorrow than we are today.

FALL 2015

67

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68 FALL 2015

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FALL 2015

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A Division of DuBois Chemicals

70 FALL 2015

DO YOUR

WALLS
LOOK

ANCIENT?

by Lisa
Lyons

Past ruminations on self serve walls may hold the secret to the future...
PREFACE FROM THE EDITOR: When we decided to resurface the SSCWN, I made a list of ten basic topics that
inevitably come up when you get a group of self serve
operators in a room together. We made it our goal to go
in-depth with two or three of these items each year. Since
weve already covered credit cards and water costs,
the next item to check off was walls.
In conversations at trade shows and via email with
seasoned operators about self serve car wash walls, they
would inevitably mention this highly-regarded article from

An Eternal
Question

I can trace the genesis of my involvement

with this article on bay walls to an interesting
and spirited exchange on the Auto Care Forum
(www.autocareforum.com). The thread that
pulled me in was the eternal, infernal question
that has long nagged at virtually every long time
owner of a SS carwash. If Shakespeares Hamlet
had been a SS operator, he mightve said it thus:
To paint or not to paint my bays walls -THAT is the question!

the much-lauded Lisa Lyons. Not wanting to reinvent the

wheel, I reached out to Lisa to see if she was interested
in updating this piece from a decade ago. The only hitch?
Not much has changed. At least not in the range of Lisas
experience, which still centers on painting existing concrete block walls.
The material which seems to have made the greatest
strides in terms of popularity in our industry and technology is PVC walls. SSCWN will go in-depth (really in-depth!)
on that topic in a later issue, but we didnt want to put the

Im a second generation SS carwash operator

who has picked the brains of innumerable other
operators at a slew of WCA and ICA expos over
the last couple decades. Over that time, Ive
heard of so any options for SS carwash walls and
there are as many different opinions on which
choice is the best one.
I do believe, however, that there would be consensus about my wish list of qualities the very
best -- the ultimate! -- wall product should be:
t
&"4:
50
*/45"-- -- taking only a couple
days to cover your walls...by yourself.
t
7&3:
%63"#-& -- last a long, loonnnng time...
about 20 years would be ideal. During that

cart before the horse. Instead weve decided to set the

stage by reprinting Lisas original article (rst printed in
Fall 2004) here with only minor edits for space and clarity.
It includes some out-dated pricing information (although
in some cases youll be surprised at how little those prices have changed!) but all-in-all this really is an exhaustive
study on car wash wall coverings, as well as an excellent
resource for measuring how much materials and options
have changed (or havent changed, as the case may be!)
over the last decade.

time, itd be virtually bullet-proof against

grafti, vandalism, and any climate conditions.
t
-08
."*/5&/"/$&
"/%
&"4:
50
$-&"/ -not too much more than a hi-pressure rinse
off would be great.
t
"&45)&5*$"--:
1-&"4*/( -- adding a dimension of design and color to improve the appearance and curbside appeal of your wash.
And last but not least, it would be
t
*/&91&/4*7& -- okay cheap...lets say less
than $2 a square foot!
Cmon now -- is that really too much to ask?!?
Well see...
{continued }
FALL 2015

71


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73

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DO YOUR WALLS LOOK ANCIENT?

Paint

Every spring, the community of City Heights in

San Diego has a fair where they close down the
street in front of my carwash. Ive been told the
fair is done so it will attract people to the area so
it will improve the business climate. Of course, every year the street is shut down on a weekend, so
I lose a prime time for business. But since I know
Ill be shut down then, its the time I choose to
put another coat of latex paint on my sad-looking, painted carwash walls. The yearly painting
had been going on for long, long before I took over
the wash four years ago. I cant even imagine how
many coats of paint are on the walls.
I use to follow the paint manufacturer's recommendations and spent a lot of time prepping the
walls. They would look great for a few weeks, then
someone would come along and get the walls dirty
and getting tar or cement on them, or grafti them
really bad. After about six months, they would
start looking a little Tired again. But then it was
the yearly fair and it was time to do it all over
again. The last couple of years, however, I decided
not to spend a lot of time prepping and the results
are just about the same. I am currently in the process of updating the carwash and a new type of
wall covering -- something considerably more permanent -- is on the top of my list of things to do.
One concrete block manufacturers website describe the proper way to paint their product was
to use latex epoxy paint. They also noted that it
would have to be repainted every three to ve
years to maintain its appearance. This was not for a
SS carwash where the environment is a lot harsher.
Well known operator Pat Crowe wrote a piece for
SSCWN back in 1991 which also recommended
latex epoxy paint as the only paint product that
paint companies would recommend for painting a
self serve car wash. Pat was a former painting contractor and had experienced the same problems I
have with paint in the carwash environment. He
also had the same opinion: namely, do not get on
the paint merry-go-round! Following are excerpts
from Pats article:

Carwash Paints of Choice

There are basically three types of paint used in
carwashes:
t
-"5&9 - the least expensive; water soluble and
the easiest to splash on; and the least durable.
t
"-,:%&/".&- - oil based; commonly used and
referred to as swimming pool paint; moderate
in cost, durability, and ease of application
t
&109: (plastic like) paint - most durable, most
expensive, and most demanding of skill, wall
prep and patience...and, we emphatically note:
Epoxy is the only paint recommended by all the
manufacturers for car wash walls.
Because oil base and latex paints expand and
contract at different rates, its generally recommended not to put one on over the other or peel-

ing and cracking can result -- especially in climates

with dramatic shifts in temperature. Dry surfaces
are absolutely essential to many paint applications
and not at all to some others. Some exterior paints
are designed to chalk, thus covering the dirt on
light colors, especially nice for urban areas. Paint
manufacturers vary their formulas for different
climates because weather conditions make a difference. In short, paint chemistry is high tech stuff.
For many owners, paint seems like it just has to
be least expensive. Most carwash owners have at
least limited experience with painting. And since
many owners do their own rehabbing, paint appears to be an appealing solution and well suited
to do-it-yourself application and inexpensive.
Having been a painting contractor, let me testify
unequivocally theres much more to it. In presenting
bids to potential customers I often said, im fairly
sure youre going to be pleasantly surprised at how
little it is going to cost to paint your building. But
Im afraid youll be absolutely shocked at the cost of
preparing. Often the cost of preparation exceeds the
cost of painting per se. Sandblasting is often recommended in wall prep. As Paul Edwards of Pittsburg
Paints told me, Surface preparation is extremely important. You must apply any paint on a solid base.
We recommend rst sandblasting the walls, then a
coat of ller, followed by two coats of our epoxy. It
will then take 7 to 10 days to be fully cured.
In many cases, sandblasting is the only practical
way to get a solid base on which to apply paint.
Sandblasting is time consuming, messy and not
cheap. Even though some rental stores will rent
sandblasters, its generally beyond what most doit-yourselfers would care to attempt. Protective

equipment is a must: beyond airtight eye covering,

you should also use a respirator/mask to prevent
breathing in silica dust -- which cause silicosis and
lead to lung cancer.
One can throw on a cheap coat of paint and redo
the job every six months or so. In todays world
of professional carwashing, that sure seems questionable. But 24 years ago thats exactly what I was
doing. It took a while, but Ive learned my lesson.
One nal observation: If painted walls were the
best answer to carwash wall coverings, Im sure that
we would see many more of them. Properly done,
paint is one way to cover walls in carwashes. But as
the industry has grown and evolved, painted walls
are becoming more and more rare every year.
The message should be clear.
After re-reading Pats information on paint, I
thought I would go and price some of his suggestions for good latex epoxy paints. The only problem I had was that none of them, believe it or not,
were available in California! California has lower
VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds/Chemicals)
standards for paint than most of the other states.
The most common denition of a VOC is any organic (carbon-based) compound that evaporates at
ambient temperatures. One paint contractor told
me its all the good stuff that makes paint stick to
walls and keep its gloss. What does this mean if
you are trying to nd a good paint for a self-serve
carwash bay in California? Well, I was given a sly
nod n a wink by two of the three paint suppliers
I went to who said that maybe I should try buying
my paint for my carwash in Arizona instead. Yeah
-- thanks a lot, guys, but thats illegal.
The third paint supplier at rst tried to sell me a
low-VOC version of a latex epoxy. He wanted me
to use a block ller rst, and also wanted me to put
an urethane coating on top of the paint. I think
we were up to approximately $151 a gallon when
he just looked at me and said, Here, try this oilbased waterproong paint. He said I would have
to sandblast rst, but it just might hold up.
Okay, enough horror stories about paint. Lets
talk about the good side of painting. Yes, there
really are some SS operators who are pleased as
punch with paint! For example Pat Hall in Bardstown, Kentucky, is well known on the Auto Care
Forum website for having a successful paint story.
He used both the latex epoxy and oil-based epoxy
on his carwashes. THe oil-base began to peel almost immediately. However, latex epoxy has held
up very well for him. It has been almost six years
since he painted. Looking at the picture of Pats
wash, Id be happy if my painted walls looked that
good after six months.
I also spoke to several operators who have used
the acrylic/enamel paints and after four years use
they are still looking good.
Another option often used is to paint just the
top and exterior walls of the carwash and then use
another kind of material (such as berglass pan{continued }
FALL 2015

75

DO YOUR WALLS LOOK ANCIENT?

Mural at Lisa Lyons Buggy Bath Car Wash

els) for the majority of the interior bay wall -- the
central splashwall sections on either side of a bay
which can be cleaned aggressively and replaced
easily. This leaves the option of using paint as a
means to bring different colors into and around
your carwash, without the headaches of dealing
with trying to keep painted bay walls clean.
At one of my washes, the Community Development Agency painted two murals on my exterior
wall as a project to spruce up the neighborhood. It
has been ve years and the murals still look great.
And similar to that -- in the Spring 2004 issue of
the SSCWN, there were photos of the Whale of a
Wash near Seattle. It too had a great mural painted
on an exterior wall that helped create a very distinctive identity for a wash surrounded by competitors. One of the undeniably best things about paint
is the wide variety of colors and design possibilities
it offers you to make your business appearance appealing and more unique looking and memorable.
I tried -- I really tried! -- to nd some things in
common with operators who have been happy with
their painted carwashes to see if there was a common thread so we could follow their example. The
only common thread I found was: The painted block
or brick walls that had never been painted before.
Other than that, there was such a variety of
types of paint used, block ller or no block ller,
dark or light color, dry walls or damp walls, extreme changes in temperature, etcetera, etcetera
-- just too darn many variables to get a denitive
answer. Although its worth the mention that operators in the almost perpetually arid Southwest,
such as those in Arizona, report more satisfactory
results with paint type products than any other
part of the country.

Update From Lisa, Fall 2015:

I tried the epoxy paint on my four bay car wash
in Linda Vista. It was a painted concrete block

76 FALL 2015

building that had been covered by cement (like

they use in a pool). Like all painted walls they
needed to be done about every 6 months to look
good. I was tired of painting so I tried the epoxy
paint. They had to power wash off the old paint
and then apply the two-part epoxy paint. I also
painted the vacuum islands. The whole process
took a week and cost was $20,000. The contractor didnt break down the cost of the paint, so
I dont have that number. The paint was from
Stratashield, but the one in the Kleen-Rite catalog
looked like the same kind of product. It has held
up pretty good. The guy told me it should last for
10 years without having to paint. I am not going
to try it at my other locations because I lease those
buildings and am not willing to spend that much
on a building I dont own.

Structural Tile/
Pre-Faced Block

There are a couple of structural masonry products

that have seen considerable use in SS bays and many
tunnel washes around the country. They are very
similar in look, installation, performance and price:
t
4536$563"-
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clay block suitable for weight-bearing, structural construction...not just a tile veneer.
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sides coated but uses a very durable plastic-like polymer coating that is applied and
baked on so it becomes an integral part of the
concrete block unit.
They both come in a great variety of colors -from white to black and every color in the rainbow -- and if you want to go rst class and have
the budget for it, these are very elegant looking
walls. They are generally used in new construction,

but they can be used in rehabbing existing plain

block walls. Danny Bryant at Elgin-Butler, a manufacturer of structural glazed tile described using a
standard 4 two-sided block and having your contractor cut it in half. This is called a soap unit.
A wall tie attached to the existing block is used,
then the soap unit is put on, using an epoxy grout
to make it impervious to water penetration. Obviously, all that brick cutting is going to add substantially to installation costs.
Glazed brick has an incredibly long history and
has been proven over time...over the ages. Elgin-Butler has been in the brick/tile business since
1873, and they have an interesting photo in their
brochure of an Egyptian glazed brick thats more
than 2,000 years old. Ive seen car wash walls less
than 10 years old that dont look much worse than
that ancient brick. Of course, being in such perfectly dry/arid and stable environment can help
preserve everything from glazed brick tile walls to
mummies. Which, yet again, underscores the advantage that operators in arid parts of the country
have when it comes to walls.
If youre looking to build or totally rehab a wash
on the cheap, this is probably not the way to go.
Ive received cost estimates ranging from $7-8 a
unit (one double-sided block) and an installed
price from $16 to $25 a square foot. The installation price varies dramatically, depending on what
part of the country you are in. For example, it can
easily cost 5-7 times as much in the Northeast
states and California versus the Southeast!
Regardless of the relatively high upfront cost
of structural tile or pre-faced brick, the operators
I spoke to who had a carwash with these products were quite satised. They take a long term
view. First of all , their walls are nished bright
and beautiful right from the get-go. And then consider that the cost of new installation is less with
a 2-sided nished faced block when compared to
the total cost of hiring masons to rst build a basic concrete block/brick walls and then (maybe six
years later) to cover that grungy block with new
tile veneer -- rst on one side of the wall and then
on the other. And, of course, not having to replace
or cover the walls for ten years or so with relatively easy maintenance along the way may make it
worth the investment for many operators.
Jim Coleman has been using Elgin Butler Brick
exclusively for almost 10 years now in their new
construction projects. The walls have held up really well...even in the nOrthern Freeze Belt. They
had been using a hydrouoric acid cleaner on the
walls, but had trouble with it removing the glaze.
They now recommend using the Kleen-Wall quarterly to clean the lm off the walls if you are a
picky carwash operator, or at least semi-annually. The walls remain clean by just a daily spraying
down with a hi-pressure rinse. The glaze is very
reective at night especially and has a great, classy
curbside appeal. The Elgin Butler bricks used by
Coleman resemble elegant ceramic tile veneer, but
{continued }

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DO YOUR WALLS LOOK ANCIENT?

given the unibody construction of structural tile,
its considerably more durable than the ceramic
look-alike wall covering.
Installation was challenging. Because this material is so tough, they were having some problems
with brick cracking using a masonry drill bit to attach the signage, so now they attach the signage in
the bays using silicone adhesive. When they must
drill the brick (for brackets for the wands, mat and
Bubble Brush holders) they use diamond bit drills
and nylon tapit anchors.
About 95 percent of the new washes the Jim
Coleman Company has built use ivory as the
main color. The bricks cost about $4.90 each for
a double-sided brick which are 8x8 block and 4
thick. THey then use accent color ($6.50 double-sided brick) in a checkerboard, stripe or zig
zag design. THe equipment room walls, however,
are done in a single sided brick which only cost
$3.50 each.
The bricks have held up amazingly well in the
SS environment and continue to look really nice.
Normal self serve dirt comes off easily. The bricks
can be scratched or broken, you really must try to
damage them.
One contractor I spoke with did point out a
couple of problems. This is very tough stuff! So
you will need to use a diamond tip drill bit to drill
holes in the walls. And you should be sure that
your building is made from the same lot because
there can be color variations. The pre-faced concrete block will have minimal color fading over
the years while the ceramic tile glaze keeps its
original color...but not forever. Afterall, I noticed
that after 2,000 years, that ancient Egyptian, white
glazed brick appears to be a bit faded.

impact, chemical, and temperature extremes).

There are established guidelines and minimum
performance levels for the manufacture of tile.
Tile guidelines made in the United States are done
by the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) together with the American Society of
Testing and Materials (ASTM). The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) cover
manufacturing standards for tiles made overseas.
These standards can be very helpful in choosing
the right tile for a carwash. Established guidelines
and criteria include:
t
8"5&3
"#40315*0/ -- very important in a wet
environment like a carwash.
t
#0/%
453&/(5) -- measures how well the tile
is able to remain adhered to mortar (Portland
Cement)
t
#3&",*/(
453&/(5) and *.1"$5
3&4*45"/$&
-- resistance to physical impact, weight, and
bending.
t
"#3"4*7&
)"3%/&44 -- species the surface
nishs tolerance to scratching and various
forms of abrasion.
t
$)&.*$"-
3&4*45"/$& -- the ability to withstand exposure to acid and base caustics.
t
$3";*/( -- establishes the tiles glaze resistance to forming very minute, tiny surface
cracks that somewhat resemble hazing.
t
'3&&;&5)"8
3&4*45"/$& -- a measure of the
tiles ability to withstand the expansion and
contraction cycles that come with changes in
temperature.
When selecting tile, the industry experts say

Ceramic Tile

Some of the very most beautiful carwashes Ive

seen have used tile as a wall cover. Tile can be a
dynamic, elegant choice for a carwash. Using different shapes, textures, colors, and patterns can
create a very attractive, clean and modern looking
carwash. A carwash near me used tile to renovate
their 30-year-old painted block walls. It looked
beautiful! Its gleaming white tiles really made the
place look sharp. I was jealous. However, its been
about ve years since they installed the tiles and
on a recent visit I saw one bay was missing about
half a wall of tile. The other bay tiles were covered
in soap scum and mildew, the tile was pitted, and
the glaze was just a memory. What went so terribly wrong?! It's true with virtually all wall coverings, but especially so with tile. And that is: Proper
material, installation and maintenance are all essential to achieve a long lasting nish.

Classes and Standards

Tiles in a SS carwash environment need to be
highly resistance to stress (mechanical/physical

80 FALL 2015

Tile car wash wall Grovedall Car Wash in

Australia

Tile car wash wall from Rub-a-Dub Car

Wash in New Zealand photo from
aptgroup.co.nz.jpg

that there is one most important to question to

ask your supplier. Namely: Is this tile manufactured in accordance with the stands specied in ANSI 137.1-1988?
If the answer to that question is yes, you will e
relying on your suppliers reputation and honesty
that your tile will perform as promised.
While there are no absolute industry standards,
the above criteria are factored in to a ve point
scale by the ASTM that the Porcelain Enamel Institute uses to classify title. Class 1 is specd for
Very Light interior use only with no foot trafc,
up to Class 5 tiles, which are suitable for Heavy
to Very Heavy trafc and exterior use.
Do you have to be absolutely familiar with all
those standards? Perhaps not, but your tile supplier
sure should be! Thats especially true in those areas
of the country that experience dramatic shifts in
temperature. Its an important question to ask before
choosing a tile for your carwash. You may expect
Class 5+ performance, but be disappointed in a bargain priced tile thats from a CLass 1 or even a defective lot. All tiles are certainly NOT created equal!

Ceramic Vs. Porcelain

So what is the best tile to use for a SS carwash?
Generally, red clay tile is classied as ceramic
or porcelain. But youll note that the title of this
section is Ceramic Tile. You should be aware
that technically, all red clay tiles come under the
broad classication ceramic -- even those processed into a porcelain product. So there can be
some confusion and concern when you hear some
suppliers refer to their porcelain products as ceramics. While all porcelain tiles are technically ceramic, all ceramic tiles are denitely not porcelain.
So whats the difference?!?
The basic difference between true porcelain tile
and ceramic tile is that porcelain is considerably
more dense and red to be more durable and, most
importantly -- much more resistant to water absorption.
There always seems to be exceptions in confront
and befuddling the carwash industry, and there
can be some exceptions in the case of tile. But as a
pretty sound rule of thumb: 100% of porcelain tile
is the best, most recommended tile for carwashes.
There are two types of porcelain tiles specd for
exterior use:
t
7*53*'*&% which is rated by the ANSI to have a
water absorption rate of 0.5% to 3%.
t
*.1&37*064 which only absorbs 0.0% to 0.5%
water.
The water absorption rating is very important in
selecting tile in a wet environment...especially so
in areas that are subject to freeze/thaw cycles. The
less water absorbed the better -- obviously. Its
also one of the major reasons some ceramic tiles
fail in a carwash environment. Besides being impervious to water absorption, porcelain tile holds
up very well to chemicals and also to chipping be{continued }

 FALL 2015

81

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82 FALL 2015

DO YOUR WALLS LOOK ANCIENT?

cause it is both very dense and strong, plus its the
same color throughout the tile.
Youll also nd that tile is also classied by its
application -- as either Wall or the more durable Floor. Weve heard from operators that they
have gotten the longest, best performance after
choosing Floor tile even though they were put
on bay walls.
Is tile a do-it-yourself project? Laying tile is not
difcult if you have had any experience with it.
However, unless you are familiar with all the correct material to use, the proper use of that material and the proper installation techniques, the
investment of tiling your carwash should probably
be left to the professionals.
The other important question to ask is -- does
your tile installer really know what hes doing?!
Before you choose an installer, familiarize yourself
with the proper techniques recommended for installing tile on an exterior wall in a wet environment. One website with a lot of detailed information on tile installation is www.thetiledoctor.com.
A few pointed questions can make sure you are
choosing a qualied installer.
Jim Reeks is the owner of T&K Carwash, a four
bay self-serve carwash in Sydney, New York. What
is unusual about Jim is he is also a tile distributor.
He installed porcelain tile on his carwash when he
built it in 1994. A 12x12 porcelain tile installed on
block walls (the equipment room) and on wood
studs 12 on center with Wonderboard as a backing. Wonderboard was used because it is impervious to water (several tile suppliers recommended
Wonderboard also as the best choice). Unglazed
porcelain tile was used and if he had to do it again,
Jim would use glazed tile because it would be easier to clean. THe ivory color tile with a blue strip
does look good after 10 years of use. It reects
light and was a good choice for the appearance of
his carwash.
The cost for installation of good porcelain tile is
about $4 to $8 a square foot (labor and materials).
Seconds at his carwash were used to save money.
He has only replaced one tile because of damage
in the 10 years he has had the wash. Jim noted
there has been no vertical damage to grout, but
there have been a few problems with the horizontal grout surfaces. Water in a few problem areas
tends to collect on the surface and has required
regrouting and also a silicone caulk to seal the
problem areas.
Jim also recommended using a mortar with a
latex additive to increase the dimensional exibility of the tile. All tile expands and contrasts with
temperature and moisture changes. The expansion
joints are a critical dimension in tile installation.
Greg Frey of Polynet (Sarasota, FL) has specialized in creating beautiful, imaginative SS carwash
walls using tile for over 15 years. Over those years,
the SSCWN has done several articles that have
featured numerous outstanding washes designed/
built/supplied by Freys company. He uses colored

epoxy resin grout that matches the accent tile in

the bay. By using the colored grout, it prevents the
dirt from showing easily. The tile they use is a re
ceramic tile usually 8x8, but recently they have
been using larger 10x10 or even 12x12. Greg recommends using Klean Wall, a mild acid cleaner to
prevent etching of the tile.
Bottom line: tile can work for a SS carwash, but
you must be prepared to pay what it takes to make
sure its done right and then maintain it properly. I
recall an On the Road story in a past issue of the
SSCWN that recounted what happened at a wahsh
where the owner didnt do his due diligence when
it came to tile walls. He bought bargain ceramic
tile which lost its glaze after only a few years. The
frustrated owner then added insult to injury and
put paint over the tile...which peeled like crazy!

FRP Panels

Pat Crowe covered FRP panels back in 1991. Back

then, the panels were taking the industry by storm
as a popular choice for remodels and even in some
new construction, too. The information he provided then still holds true:
The technical name for the panel material is
Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic -- a uniform mat of
glass bers embedded in an organic (plastic) resin.
So these panels are actually as much plastic as they
are berglass which is added to increase durability.
Yet they are most often referred to as just berglass or glass board.
They are available in a variety of colors and the
rst manufacturers listed also offer differing grades,
thicknesses, and sizes of this material. FRP has been
the product of choice as a wall covering material for
rehabbing many carwash walls around the country.
Just as a professional quality paint job involves
a good bit more than throwing on a quick coat of
paint, theres a bit more to the installation of these
panels than one might anticipate. The panels can be
glued on, screwed on, or attached with nylon truss
head drive rivets. The combination of rivets and ad-

hesives is the method most commonly suggested by

the manufacturers to cover carwash walls.
Once again, surface preparation is important.
The surface to which the panels are to be attached
should be smooth and at. Block walls may appear
to be at, but in installing these panels care must
be taken to avoid a wavy appearance. Some irregularities in block surface can become more noticeable when the large, smooth panels are laid down
over them. To totally avoid little waves or bulges
requires doing a number of things right. A awless
surface is possible if protruding surface irregularities are removed or recessions in the walls are lled.
One manufacturer says, Concrete block walls
(especially if irregular) may require a leveling coat
of plaster. Plastering to prep bay walls is certainly an extraordinary thing to do. If, however, the
walls are made nice and smooth, it may be possible to attach the panels with adhesive only -100 percent coverage with very thorough sealing
of seams and ends, thereby eliminating the time
and expense of drilling and hammering in many
hundreds of rivets. This technique is mentioned as
an option in some manufacturer literature, but as
far as we know its only a theory because weve
heard of no one who has actually done it.
Manufacturers provide numerous accessory pieces to use with the panels. There are division bars for
joining adjacent panels, end caps, inside and outside
corners, two piece vinyl moldings which snap into
place are available to cover the seams.
The panels do expand with heat and contract
with cold. In an 8-foot span one needs to allow
for expansion and contraction. Moreover, the
holes for fasteners must be drilled slightly oversize also to allow for expansion and contraction.
The head of the fasteners (truss head nylon rivets)
keeps the oversize holes from showing and the accessory pieces used t the seams hide the necessary
expansion space between panels.
The recommended method of installation is to
use both adhesive and fasteners on a clean, dry,
at surface. The fasteners should start about 1
{continued }

FALL 2015

83

DO YOUR WALLS LOOK ANCIENT?

from the edges of panels and should be staggered
at the seams. Pre-drilling of a stack of panels in a
symmetric layout will ensure a neatly organized
appearance. Start fastening at one edge and work
toward the other to avoid bulges.
It is possible for one man to install these panels.
But all by yourself, it is very difcult to wrestle,
position, hold and fasten such large sheets -- most
commonly 4x8 or 4x10 with even larger sheets
available. FRP installation is really a two man job,
and even a third could be kept busy cutting, drilling and trimming sheets while the other two focus
on attaching the panels to the walls.
In order to insure a moisture proof installation all the edges of the panels (which will be in
end caps or division bars at the seams) should be
sealed with a exible silicone caulking. The sealant
goes in the space allowed for expansion and contraction, but because its exible it allows for the
panels to shrink and expand.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: The above info regarding FRP
installation was what carwash owners were being
told by the FRP industry's suppliers in the early 90s.
By 2000, however, their instructions regarding adhesives have changed considerably. Youll now nd,
for example, in Sequentias latest installation manual
very specic new guidelines for high moisture applications. Namely:
Adhesives are NOT recommended for mounting
FRP on car wash walls -- rivets only they now say!
Nor should adhesives be used on any non-porous
walls (such as tile, glazed block, metal, etc.)
When it comes to allowing for expansion/contraction, these panels are less forgiving and you cannot be casual in installation. The panels can develop
unsightly bulges and even crack if there is insufcient clearance for the rivets and between panels.
Another aspect of FRP panels that some nd a
bit unsightly are the seams. There are those who
think that seams may be harder to clean. Or, perhaps, they just dont care for the way seam strips
interrupt the visual ow of a wall. Seuentia suggests that type of individual consider rolled FRP
which comes on rolls up to 500 long and 9 high.
It can be cut (on site or at the factory) into single
sheets large enough to cover an entire bay walls.
There are few operators who have avoided
seams and minimized rivets by installing long,
custom cut sheets of FRP (or cutting their own
to size from a continuous roll) that cover the entire length of a nice, smooth block wall. We note,
however, that the Spot Not SS wash franchise
(headquartered in Joplin, MS) has done a number
of their bay walls throughout the Midwest in that
slick, distinctive manner.

FRP Costs
Somewhat amazingly, the costs for FRP mentioned in the SSCWN article some 13 years ago
are still valid today...with the exception of labor.

84 FALL 2015

As you might expect, costs vary widely. In ricing the panels from several suppliers I was quoted
as low as 55 cents a square foot and a high price
of about $1.25 a square foot, with a half dozen
prices in between. Quite a spread! And bear in
mind to rehab walls one needs more than just hte
panels. There are also accessory pieces for top and
bottom, seams and corners; rivets, adhesive; and
caulking/sealant.
One can nd 4x8 sheets at local lumber yards at
about $30 a sheet. Seemingly good buys and deals
abound. But, as we saw with ceramic tiles -- all
FRP panels are not created equal, and there are
basically three things that affect FRP panel price:
t
$0-03 -- you can get virtually any color you
want, but there is a surcharge and minimum
quantity involved with custom colors apart
from white, cream and about 10 standard
colors.
t
5)*$,/&44 -- panels range in thickness from
about 4/100 to 12/100. The gauge universally recommended for carwash application is
9/100 (just under 1/10). Anything heavier is
unnecessary, but if you go any thinner *the next
size down is 6/100) you must have smooth,
solid wall to help reduce risk of damage.
t
26"/5*5: -- all manner of quantity price deals
can be cut with retailers. Many are willing to
negotiate down from suggested retail price. In
fact, weve heard that in large enough quantities (even less than two 6-bays worth) its possible to buy direct from some manufacturers.
Bought in quantities of 1000, the rivets should
be about six cents each with each 4x8 sheet requiring 28 rivets. The accessory pieces run about
$1 to $2 each depending on type. The adhesive
in ve gallon buckets using 100 percent coverage
should add about 20 cents a square foot to the
cost, plus theres a tube of silicone sealant ($3-$5)
needed for each couple of sheets.
A typical four-bay carwash with the panels put
on the 8 interior walls would need 2,000-3,000
square feet of material; 8-10 ve gallon buckets of
adhesives, accessory pieces for each top, bottom and
seam, and a half dozen or so tubes of sealing caulk.
That puts the overall material cost in the $2,000$4,000 range for a 4-bay carwash. Thats $500 to
$1,000 per bay for materials only -- no labor.
But, as usual, careful shopping can save tons
of money. Factory seconds (panels blemished by
chipped corners or perhaps a virtually invisible
pinhole, irregular sizes, etc.) are sometimes available. I was, for example, offered 44 wide panels
*cut down from the standard 48 and leftover
from a special order) at a deep discount.
For the person not inclined to do-it-yourself activities, the cost of labor has to be included. The
best source of contractors who do this type of work
is usually the supplier of the materials. In strong
union areas which craftsmen install the panels is
sometimes a point of jurisdictional dispute, but
generally the work goes to the carpenters.

To get a focus on the cost of a turn key installation of the panels I called Gordon Light. He is
a veteran carwash owner and recently outtted a
10-bay carwash. He rehabbed al the walls using
4x8 white panels. He shopped around for the
panels and hired a local carpenter he knew. The
carpenter had not done such panels before, but he
was a skilled craftsman and carefully read the instructions. The carpenter charged $10 an hour and
$5 an hour for his helper. Gordon said, The materials were about $500 a bay and the labor about
$300 a bay. And Ive gotten lots of compliments
on how it looks.
Most readers probably those labor rates are very
modest. But that does tell us that it takes about
40 man hours to do each bay. Perhaps a little less,
since these men hadnt done this exact type of
work before. The numbers also conrm that in areas where labor rates are $25 an hour the labor
alone could be $1,000 a bay.
I got much the same sort of cost information
from Ross Alexander, a Canadian car wash operator
who gives the FRP panels rave reviews. Ross said
he spent about $4,200 (American dollars) to get
his 6-bay covered with the panels. He used rivets
only (no adhesive) to mount his panels. Ross said,
Theyre a little loose and exible in places, but I
like that because we get so much ice in cold weather. All I have to do is hit the panels and since theyre
a bit exible, the ice cracks and falls right off.
Ross also mentioned that in addition to the daily
wash downs with the wand in the bay, that about
once a month the panels are cleaned with an acid
solution and a stiff nylon brush. That keeps them
shining and bright -- just like a new nickel, he
said. Depending on volume and ambient dirt
those cleanings with a good acidic solution are
more typically done every other month to as infrequently as twice a year.
Its clear the cost is higher than painting, even
when sandblasting is included in the cost of preparing walls for painting . But with a life expectancy that well exceeds most paints and such a
bright, neat, clean appearance, it's easy to understand the lasting popularity of FRP panels in the
carwash industry.

Some FRP Tips

I got this piece of advice from several operators:
as a hedge against expansion/contraction problems, try to pick the hottest, most humid day to
install your FRP panels and save yourself from
having to do it again.
Also, nowadays FRP panels come in designer
surfaces that look like granite and marble for a really fancy car wash bay.
One other benet worth mentioning is that you
dont have to close your whole wash to install the
FRP panels. Many of the other wall coverings require anywhere from 2 days to almost 2 weeks to
complete the installation When it comes to rehab{continued }

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FALL 2015

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86 FALL 2015

DO YOUR WALLS LOOK ANCIENT?

bing a wash, minimizing the downtime can be a
huge deciding factor in choosing FRP panels.
I also spoke to Scott Gray (Soapys Car Wash in
Idaho Falls) who put FRP panels on most of his SS
bay walls and some of his automatics about four
years ago. Scott said they clean up much easier
than painted walls and are much brighter, too. He
installed them himself and at his rst wash he used
a lot of adhesive and nylon rivets. This helped keep
panels from rippling. Scott said, We go from minus 20 degrees to over 100 degrees during the year
and they have held up ne.
He prefers to install at least 9 high panels in the
bays and has not always gone to the ceiling with
them. If the wall is painted white behind them,
you dont notice that they do not go all the way up
the wall, Scott explained.
Another big plus -- during our bitterly cold
winters, ice does not build up on the walls with
the FRP panels. Before I installed FRP, in the cold
winter months ice would sometimes build up over
one-foot thick on the bay walls. The only way to
get rid of it was to chop it off with an axe. One
time I did not get it done quick enough and on
a warm day a huge sheet of ice fell off the wall
and landed on the side of a car. It did over $1,600
damage to the car. The $1,600 would have paid to
install two bays worth of FRP. With FRP you can
just slap the wall with your hand and a small, thin
sheet of ice falls off with no fuss.

Spray-On Fiberglass
Several operators told me how they were searching for a sleek, modern looking wall treatment that
would allow them to incorporate more dynamic
colors into the design of their carwashes. Something like the effect you can achieve with paint,
but they denitely did not want to use paint. Their
solution was found in SOF -- Spray-On Fiberglass.
The existing walls must be sandblasted to remove
old paint, dirt, grease and grime before applying the
berglass. Generally, the process will take about one
week to prepare the walls and apply the material
to a typical existing masonry 5-6 bay wash. New
construction, however, can be coated in as little as
10 hours. The polymer can be applied to virtually
anything, but the berglass is not very compatible
with metal (corrugated especially).
Unlike FRP panels, paint, or even tile -- this is not
a do-it-yourself application! This form of berglass
coating is technically tricky to apply -- requiring
time, skill, and correct mix of proper materials. Its
a six-step process involving very thorough surface
prep followed by resin sealing coat; berglass and
resin; resin barrier coat; nish preparation; and nally a high build top coat. That creates a coating
about thick. The nished surface is not exactly
like glass -- not super smooth and at. The nished
product does have a slick, very hard surface and resembles ceramic tile in weight/density and nish.
It has a very subtle mottled or just barely percep-

tible dimpled look, which can only be discerned

on an angle in the right light. Actually it looks
better (to my eye) than a super high sheen
glass-glass look that is not so forgiving of
any impact damage or overspray lm/stain.
The warranty is for 10 years and the cost is
approximately $4 a square foot for both material and labor. The nished surface is bright, highly
light reective and seamless. Being such a smooth,
slick surface, SOF cleans up easily and bay algae
(mold and mildew) cannot easily get a toe hold
either. Another benet of SOF is the ability to add
different colors, logos, stripes and even signage
into the design.
Five years ago, Bill Sartor of San Antonio, TX,
had the berglass applied to the walls of one of
his older SS carwashes that needed renovating.
He picked a white background with a teal blue
and red stripe. Bill reports that the walls have
held up really well and only has had to repair one
spot where a customers vehicle hit his wall damaging the berglass coating. It was repaired with
berglass tape. Other operators have reported to
us that do-it-yourself repairs (certainly on more
major damage) are often not possible. Typically to
get a clean, discreet patch applied to a damaged
wall, youll need the services of the pro who did
the initial application.
To maintain that sleek, clean look of the walls,
once about every four months or so Bill uses Klean
Wall, which is manufactured by AP Formulators
Chemical Company and distributed by Jim Coleman Company. Klean Wall was developed by the
owner of AP Formulators, Allan Palermo, and does
not contain hydrouoric acid. It does contain,
however, phosphoric acid among other ingredients
to clean the walls. As with any product that has a
caustic acid component, it is important to follow
the companys safety data on wearing the correct
protective equipment when using the product.
Four years ago, Dean Smith in Fort Collins, CO,
also used the spray-on berglass with good results.
He had concrete block walls that were getting old
and tired looking. It took a week to complete and
process at his 3/1 SS/IBA carwash. The berglass
was blown on all the way from ceiling to oor to
prevent moisture from getting behind the berglass onto the walls. It has held up well against the
harsher climate. He is very pleased with the results
and agreed that it is labor intensive, specialized
skill and was more than happy to pay someone
to do it professionally...and guarantee the work.
Dean had tried several methods of maintaining
the walls. He has now settled on a simple formula for a brush-on, spray-off cleaning solution that
consist of one part muriatic acid and one part water used approximately every six months.

Spray-On Plastic
Spray-on plastic polymers are probably familiar to most everyone who is into pickup trucks.

These polymers are commonly

sprayed on to line/protect truck
beds. We should note that spray-on berglass and
spray-on plastics may appear to be somewhat similar, but they are distinctly different...especially in
the level of satisfaction from carwash operators.
I did not nd any operators who were pleased
with the results after having used the spray-on
plastic polymer material applied to their masonry
bay walls. For example, Scott Gray (in Idaho Falls)
paid $6,000 to have plastic polymer sprayed on his
automatic bay with split-faced block. He is very
dissatised. While the product sprayed-on white,
it soon discolored and in a few places has even
turned brown! And we spoke with two operators
(one from dry, hot Southwest and the other from
New England) who shared identical horror stories.
Both had Rhino (a plastic polymer brand) truck
bed lining sprayed on their walls. Within 8 months,
both said their walls looked terrible -- peeling and
splitting everywhere...especially all around the
edges. One of the very bitterly disappointed operators said he was going to have it all redone with
a spray-on wall coating done by a berglass wall
coating specialist.
Polymers do work quite well on metal or painted
truck beds because eliminating moisture is not a real
problem on non-porous surfaces. So we suspect that
those problems with polymer spray in carwashes
may have something to do with the deep, residual
moisture often found even in apparently dry masonry. That moisture could prevent perfect adhesion
and then precipitate peeling and discoloration.
The only operator we know of who has been
{continued }
FALL 2015

87

DO YOUR WALLS LOOK ANCIENT?

Bob made the decision to reduce the wattage in
his bays. He was using two 400 watt xtures per
bay which were replaced with only two 175 watt
xtures per bay. His canopy was using six 400
watt xtures and he reduced that to six 250 watt
xtures. He reduced his electrical load almost in
half - from 8000 watts down to 4300 watts. And
yet Bob is happy to report that the bays reect
about double the light! Saving almost 50 percent
on his electrical bills should pay for the panels in
a few years time. Hes become a very enthusiastic
convert to and proponent of PVC panels. Beyond
utility savings, Bobs really gung-ho on the fresh,
new and super clean look his bays have now.

My PVC Torture Test

PVC self serve wall

pleased with spray-on polymer is Corey Campbell,

owner of Classy Chassis and Car Wash Express in Tacoma, WA. Corey had the walls of an old, dilapidated
tin 3-bay coated with the material in blue. After a
couple years heavy use (and no shortage of moisture) his walls still look darn good. Apparently such
polymers were made to stick especially well to metal...as it does in truck beds. If any operator has had
sustained good performance from a polymer app -wed love to hear about it! But for now, apart from
possibly metal rehabs, we cannot recommend it.

PVC Walls

While FRP Panels and spray-on berglass walls have

their proponents, a number of operators are turning
away from berglass because of the need to use acid
products to clean them. They are trying PVC walls
and panels. While doing research for this article, I
was rather surprised at the number of operators
choosing to use this product. They all had tried several different options; including FRP panels, sprayon berglass, tile, and many different types of paint.
The other thing they had in common were the
reasons they decided to try PVC walls. They were
looking for something that was easy to install, did
not require closing their carwash for a long length
of time, easy to keep clean, and they also all like the
look of PVC walls after installation. The PVC walls
reect light very well and give an old carwash that
new, bright, shiny look.
PVC panels are relatively lightweight, easy to install, can be used on the ceiling, exterior and interior walls, and can be attached to cover just about
any building material. The rigid PVC does not
buckle like FRP panels and contains UV inhibitors
to prevent yellowing. Panels can be installed in any
climate area, even in extreme hot and cold climates.
My personal interest in this type of wall covering
product has increased for a couple reasons. First,
PVC panels have been creating a real growing

88 FALL 2015

buzz in the SS community over the last couple

years -- a lot of operators are talking about it, and
quite a few have been installing it. And secondly, I
have had a PVC door at one of my washes for ve
years and have been more than happy with the
results. It faces the truck bay, so it is always getting
dirty from the trucks and its always wet. I had to
replace two metal doors in 10 years and was looking for something that would hold up to the abuse
of being right next to my truck bay. The PVC door
is washed down daily with the hi-pressure gun and
I clean it once a month with 409 using a nylon
brush. After ve years, it still looks as good as the
day it was installed!
Jim Allen in Radcliff, KY, had the Extrutech panels installed on his All Star Carwash concrete block
walls almost one year ago. He had tried paint and
FRP board, but was not happy with the results. He
spent approximately a total of $20,000 for material
and labor to have the ExtruTech installed on the
walls of 6+2 carwash. Jim said, I installed all new
equipment, signage and have four lights in each bay
along with putting up the PVC panels. At night the
bays look like operating rooms they are so bright!
My customers tell me it looks great.
Jim used anchor lag bolts to install the signage
and tightened them down just before the panel
starts to dimple. He hasnt had any damage to
the panels except for one freaky incident. Pigeons
had been chronically splattering on his pristine,
sparkling wash bay with their doo-doo. One day,
Jim had enough and he went after one of the
mess-making birds -- swinging a broom handle
like a Louisville slugger. He missed the bird, but
whacked the heck out of the PVC and put a small
dent/hole into it.
Bob Ivory, owner of Buggy Bath Carwashes in
Utah and Arizona, also installed PVC wall panels
and at the same time changed out his light xtures. While most operators remodeling decide to
add higher watt xtures or put up more xtures,

I had a sample of the PVC paneling, so I decided

to do a few tests to see how well the material holds
up to torture in a real world carwash. My customers may be a little more rowdy than some, so I
wanted to see how well the panels held up doing
the various things my customers and vandals have
done to my walls over the years. My tests included:
using a permanent black marker, spray paint, crayon, wood stain, adhesive spray, joint compound,
wood glue, hammer and golf club, wand tip, screwdriver, grease, and grafti paint remover spray. I
even tried to set it on re using a lighter and kept
it in the freezer overnight.
Please note, there are recommended products to
clean the walls. So before using any cleaners, you
should check with the manufacturer to nd out if
it will damage the panels. I started by trying wiping
off the material with my hand, then moved on to a
moist cloth, then to using the recommended products to clean, and nally used non-recommended
products to see what it would do to the panel. Note:
I do not consider this a truly scientic test! But iat
least provided me with some tangible evidence as to
what I might expect from this material after some
pretty tough SS carwash vandalism and torture.

Results

As shown by the previous SSCWN test done on

spray-on berglass
t
1&3."/&/5
#-"$,
."3,&3 is one of the most
(if not THE most) difcult substance to remove. I started with a water-based cleaner as
recommended. I used the popular, multi-purpose stain remover Goof-Off which smeared
the ink. I reapplied and let it sit for a few minutes. I had to keep wiping it down with a cloth
and using the Goof-Off, but eventually most
of it came off with just a shadow of the marker readable. I also used a citrus-based cleaner with better results and also acetone. Both
got most of the marker off, but these are not
recommended products and over time would
dull the nish.
t
413":
1"*/5
was sprayed on and left overnight
{continued }

 FALL 2015

89

DO YOUR WALLS LOOK ANCIENT?

Lisa Lyons remodel paint job at Buggy Bath car wash in Linda VISTA
to dry. I then used just a water wetted cloth
and with my ngernail pressed on the cloth, I
got hte mjajority of the paint off easily! I used
Goof-Off to remove the last trace of hte paint
with no damage to the surface at all.
t
$3":0/ rubbed off very easily with just my
thumb. I buffed with a dry cloth to remove all
remaining color.
t
800% 45"*/ was a dark mahogany which I applied and let dry overnight. It came off with

METAL
HALIDE
(1200 Watts)

only a wet cloth and buffed up well with a dry

cloth. No remaining stain.
t
"%)&4*7& 413": I used 3-M Adhesive Spray
and let it dry for a few hours. There is a reason
this stuff is good -- its really, really sticky! I
started trying to wipe it off with a cloth, but
it wouldnt budge. I then used Goof-Off and
a cloth. It took a bit of time and effort, but
nally all glue was removed without damage
to the panel.

VS.

t
800% (-6& (water based) wiped off easily

with my thumb.
t
+0*/5 $0.106/% I have a lot of drywall companies coming to my carwashes so I get a lot of
this stuff plastered on the walls. Its a big pain
to remove dried joint compound from block
walls, but the PVC wiped off easily just using
my thumb.
t
(3&"4& Most of it came off with a dry cloth
rub. I then used the water-based cleaners to
remove the remaining residue.
t
4$3&8%3*7&3 I took a common, small slot
screwdriver and hit the panel. With just a
couple of hits the screwdriver penetrated the
panel easily. I also used the screwdriver tip to
write my tag (name) on the panel. The damage was easy to do and noticeable. Plugs can
be purchased from the supplier to x small
holes, but I do not know of any remedy for
gouging scratches.
t
)"..&3
"/%
(0-'
$-6# I had to whack the
hammer on the panel several times before getting a good dent in it. I also helped myself to
my husbands golf bag and took his sand wedge
and I banged the panel hard a few times with
that too. It dented it, but didnt break the panel. The golf club survived, too, but lets keep

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90 FALL 2015

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DO YOUR WALLS LOOK ANCIENT?

the fact that I used my husbands club just between us, okay?
t
8"/% I tried using the wand against the panel like a customer if they just accidentally hit
the wall. It either showed no damage or just a
slight scratch. If a customer really intended to
damage the wall, they could use the wand to
dent up the panel. And after three attempts to
do so, I was able to put a hole in it.
t
(3"''*5* 3&.07&3 This is a product from
Klean-Strip that is used for removing grafti off of concrete and masonry surfaces. It is
not recommended for plastic. My employees
dont seem to remember this. Even though
Ive written, DO NOT USE ON SIGNS! in
bright blue bold letters, they still do so occasionally. I used it on the panel and it damaged
the nish off the panel just like it said it would
on the label of the grafti remover.
t
-*()5&3 Tested by holding a lighter right next
to the panel rst for ve seconds. There was
a black residue and slight melting of the panel. Most of the residue wiped off easily with
Goof-Off but there remained a light burn
mark and slight damage to panel. Then tested
for 10 seconds. The panel started to blister at
9 seconds, residue did not come off and pan-

el was damaged (blistered) but did not melt

through. The panel never caught on re in
either test. (See the manufacturers specs for
more details on meeting re codes.)
t
'3&&;&3 5&45: I left the PVC panel overnight
in the freezer with some water poured on it.
The ice came off very easily, but it was also
80 degrees in San Diego so thats not really a
fair test. The panel did seem a little stiffer, but
not brittle. And when I tried hitting it, I didnt
notice any difference than when it was at normal temperature. I spoke to several operators
in cold climates and there did not seem to be a
problem using these panels in the cold weather. In fact, it was mentioned several times how
the ice was easy to remove from the panels.
Every customer has their own experience with
their customer base. I told other operators how
much painted graftis and scratched names I nd
on everything -- stainless steel vacs, signs, pole covers, meter boxes, etcetera, etcetera. But I nd those
problems are not a real concern for the majority of
SS operators Ive talked to over the years. I would
encourage you to request a sample of the panels
and run your own test on the problems you encounter to help determine if this is a good choice
for a wall covering for your operator. All the oper-

ators I spoke to were very happy with the choice

they had made and were planning on installing at
their other washes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Lyons has an exceptional SS resume and credentials.
Shes a second generation SS carwashers who was virtually born into the coin-op industry as the daughter of SS
pioneer Frank Piersall. Lisa cut her teeth in this business
as co-manager of her Dads chain of washes in Southern
California. She has independently owned and operated her
own three washes in the San Diego area for 25 years. Lisa is
a past president of the International Carwash Association, as
well as serving on numerous boards, including the Western
Carwash Association Board of Directors and the ICAs SS
Advisory Council and its Board of Directors.

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FALL 2015

91

Darwin
Carwash

at the

A collection of the most asinine antics and unusual criminal

events to be reported at carwashes around the country.
We have a few months left, but it looks
like we have a front runner for our
2015 Darwin of the Year Award: Throw
your hands together for Bonnie Wilson, a 34-yearold mother who claimed she was robbed at gunpoint
while stopped at a Mount Pleasant, PA, self serve car
wash with her 12-year-old daughter. Police later arrested Wilson and said the story was a cover-up for a
heroin deal gone bad.
According to authorities, it was Wilsons daughter
who nally revealed the true nature of the crime,
only a day after arresting Michael Pilato and charging
him with robbery and simple assault. Police believe
Pilato was involved, only in the role of drug dealer
instead of armed assailant.
In regards to the actual assailant, police think
Wilson suffered some sort of physical harm at the
hands of her boyfriend, Luke Trimmer, who may
have been trying to make it seem as though Wilson
had been attacked by Pilato. Trimmer has not been
charged in the case.
Before she was arrested and charged with fabricating the story, Wilson spoke to local reporters and
claimed her daughter was shaken up by the alleged
armed robbery.
Once it sunk in and she realized what could have
happened, shes taking it bad, Wilson said in a local
television report.
Her version of events then was that she had returned to the carwash to look for a pack of cigarettes
she had lost there earlier in the day. She alleged that
she and her preteen daughter were then approached
by Pilato, who asked to borrow some money. She
claimed she refused and that he struck her in the face.
Her comments to the local TV station suggest she
might have a future as a screenplay writer for Law
& Order:
And thats when he pulled out the gun and I actually said to him, Youre going to kill me in front of
my kid?
Somehow, he ended up in the backseat of her car
as she drove around town, but when he realized she
was headed for the police station, Wilson claimed he
became upset.
Thats when he cocked back the gun, and hes
like, Im serious, bullets are going to start ying. And
when he said that I noticed he had the gun kind of
pointed toward my daughter, Wilson told the television station.
Wilsons fantastical story nishes with an elaborate getaway, where she tosses $70 into the street for
an all-too-eager Pilato, who jumps out of the car to
fetch the money as she rushes away.
Unfortunately for Wilson, police were suspicious
of her story from the beginning and the true nature
of the incident became obvious after questioning her
poor daughter a few times.

92 FALL 2015

Desperate for gas money and willing

to get your hands dirty? We still wouldnt
recommend digging through a vacuum cleaner for
coins, like the four persons arrested for organized
criminal activity and burglary of a coin-operated
machine in Ownwood, TX. Despite their claims that
they werent aware it was a criminal activity, ofcers
arrested and charged the four Darwins after the
owner of Fast Lane Car Wash provided surveillance
video of the crime.
There must be something in that
Northeast water A 19-year-old carwash
worker in Buffalo, NY, was arrested for an eerily similar crime after she pocketed nearly $4,000
from a Delta Sonic Car Wash over the course of a
year. Alexandra J. Morgan may have been able to
stretch her crime out over a dozen or so months,
but shes been caught nonetheless -- and charged
with third-degree grand larceny.
A tip for Darwins trying to make a
clean getaway after a carwash robbery: Take your bodily uids with you. Joseph Michael Evenson has pled guilty to 1st degree burglary
in a case nearly ve years old after police were able to
perform DNA testing on a blood sample left behind
at Highway 106 Car Wash. According to authorities,
Evenson not only attempted to rob the carwash, but
also used a knife to cut a witness to his crime after
breaking into the ofce of the business and attempting to open a change machine in September 2011.
It may have taken four years, but justice has nally
been served.

Go on and take the money

and run -- but maybe
make sure your boss cant
easily identify you, first? A
carwash worker in Bethlehem, PA, has
been arrested and charged with theft
after stealing $919 dollars and skipping
out on work the next day. (Actually -whats the bigger crime here: Making out
with nearly a grand or leaving the owner
in a lurch for the next shift?)
Josiah Rashaun Moore-Newman was
easily caught after the manager audited
the register and safe the next morning
and realized the drawer had been shorted. Although she called Moore-Newman
several times the next day, he ignored her
calls and failed to show up for his shift.
From there, authorities were contacted
and the arrest was made.

felony count of aiding and abetting burglary.

The trio made out with nearly $400 from the carwash -- which one of the suspects later said was supposed to be used to buy drugs after the crime -- and
caused more than $800 in damages to a custom-made
metal box for the coin machine. Police were dispatched to the scene of the crime after suspicious
activity was reported and found a virtual cornucopia
of criminal paraphernalia in the vehicle the suspects
were driving (later reported stolen). Their search
turned up: a pry-bar, lock punches and drills, as well as
little baggies that contained a brown substance which
eld-tested positive for heroin. Also inside the vehicle was a backpack with several needles with blood in
them, a spoon with residue, a rubber stretch band and
alcohol prep pads, among other things.
And now, a special gallery of all the
Darwins caught on carwash cameras
these past three months

A rather serious and alarming report

from St. Louis, MO: A carwash owner here has
reported being robbed at gunpoint while collecting
coins at his Shenandoah Avenue self serve late at
night. This is a scary -- but important -- reminder
to all operators to be extra diligent when collecting
cash, and to switch up your routine every day.
Authorities said the owner was not hurt in the incident. The investigation is ongoing.
We know what theyd do for some heroin, now we wonder what theyd for a
Klondike bar. Three persons have been arrested
and charged after a string of robberies at Cliffords
Car Wash in Northeld, MI.
s Benjamin Jacob Hunt, 25, is charged with two
felony counts of second-degree burglary and
two felony counts of third-degree burglary;
s Joseph Lee Warner is charged with a single felony charge of possessing a controlled
substance, in addition to ve misdemeanor
charges; and
s Dana Marie Olness, 29, is charged with a single

Heres an Einstein doing his best James Dean impression while vandalizing a coin machine at Big
Wave Car Wash in Colorado Springs, CO.
Like most Darwins at the Carwash, this genius
didnt get away with much money, but caused a signicant amount of damage to the machine.
His condent walk suggests this might not be his
rst time.... but Philadelphia police have not only
this picture, but also surveillance images of the red
Pontiac Bonneville he arrived in to rob a carwash in
the citys Andorra section.

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FALL 2015

93

According to the video, the suspect walked

into a restricted area of
the car wash and stole
an undisclosed amount
of cash, as well as keys,
from the businesss register. He then ed the
scene in the Bonneville
with a female driver
and an unknown male
who remained in the
vehicle during the theft.

This trio of Darwins were caught on camera during

a late night robbery at R. J.s Car Wash in Statesville,
NC. Although Larry, Curly and Moe walked away
empty handed -- they ed the scene after tripping
an alarm as they kicked in the door to the ofce -police still want them for questioning on a breaking
and entering charge.

The couple that robs carwashes together...hopefully gets caught together.

Authorities in Louisville, KY, have charged a man
-- and suspect his wife was also involved -- in a string
of robberies at local car washes, including two Mobys Auto Spas. William Berkely was arrested after
surveillance video was released to the public and
aired on local television news programs. Security
cameras caught the couple pulling into the carwash
in a red SUV with Indiana tags (and later, a white
pickup trucks with Kentucky plates) and using a
drill to access the auto tellers on site, causing nearly
$2,000 worth of damage.
It wasn't his rst rodeo. He'd done this before.
And you guys watched him, did you see how quick
he was when he snatched them? said Tom Beard,
who owns six Mobys Auto Spas.
It makes me angry. I mean, we work hard for our
money. I work sometimes 18 hours a day to get my
stuff and then you have people coming and doing
this type of stuff. Here's what you feel, you feel violated, said Beard.
Not only that -- but the pair was bold, attacking
the washes in broad daylight. In one video, the criminals are approached by an employee, but the man
quickly starts to put coins into the machine, acting as
though he were a paying customer at the wash.
Despite having 12 cameras at the carwash, Beard
wasnt able to get a clear shot of the suspects license
plate. He told a local television station that he is considering beeng up security at the wash, which currently has an alarm that sounds if someone breaks

94 FALL 2015

into the pay station.

You can get them to spray mace when they open
them things up now. So we're kind of looking into
some of those things, said Beard.

or how much money was stolen from the business.

Ya gotta love that Darwin expression on his face

Authorities in Quincy, MA, are on the lookout
for this man (pictured above) who stole nearly
$400 in quarters from a car wash after using a pair
of pliers to vandalize the coin machine at Hancock
Street Car Wash. According to the video, he used
his t-shirt to collect the fruits of his (illegal) labor
and ed the scene.

A man ring shots at his victim at National Car

Wash in Nashville, TN, was caught on surveillance
camera, and police are looking for the gunman and a
female passenger who got away in a black/grey primered 2-door Chevrolet Camaro (that looks badly in
the need of a wash and some touch-up work)
According to police, the suspect approached a customer while he was vacuuming his car at the wash
and demanded money. A struggle ensued, according to one local report, and the victim was able to
break away. The suspect red several shots as the victim ran away, but he was unharmed.
Bizarrely, the gunman returned a little while later,
this time without his female passenger, and with the
license plates removed from the Camaro. He again
showed the victim his gun, before driving away.
Some witnesses believed the suspect may have been
under the inuence of alcohol or drugs.

At least this Darwin put on the appropriate uniform before breaking and entering into Kellys Car
Wash in Providence, RI, this September.
According to the washs manager, the suspect removed the garage window and smashed in the back
door of the business. His haul? Cigarettes and lottery tickets.

A cash reward is being offered for information

which may help identify or arrest two men who broken into coin machines at Bucket of Sudz car wash
in Tampa, FL.
The suspects, pictured above, made off with an
undisclosed amount of cash.

Police in Florence, AL, are on the lookout for two

men, one of whom is shown here on camera, who
robbed an auto teller at Super Sonic Car Wash this
August. The men were able to remove and steal the
entire money box, although no further details were
available regarding how much cash (if any) was stolen
or how much damage was caused by the criminals.

Hes perhaps our most famous Darwin

yet! NBAs favorite bad boy, Dennis Rodman was
caught acting wasted at a Costa Mesa, CA, carwash,
according to a report from celebrity news agency
TMZ -- and his behavior was erratic enough that
police showed up at the scene. Carwash employees
and patrons reported being concerned about his
stumbling and mumbling and bumbling at the wash.
According to TMZ, the authorities were contacted
because witnesses were afraid Rodman might try to
drive away from the carwash, although Rodman later accepted a ride from an unnamed woman.
Photo Credit: TMZ.com

After multiple robberies, police have released this

image of a suspect who is breaking into the coin machines at Supreme Clean Car Wash in Akron, OH.
There were no further details about damages caused

BIG DOG AIR

Exceed their expectation

Big Dog Air w/coin and ePort

$2,370.00

Digital Big Dog Air coin only

$2,370.00

'BDUPSZ
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Factory Direct Service

Were a phone call away

800-643-1574

$1.17 per SWIPENET (or Set it Higher)
KEEP 100% of the REVENUE
DIRECT DEPOSIT to YOUR ACCOUNT
Eliminates Theft Eliminates Collection
Real-Time On-line Reporting
Credit / Debit / Cashless
WIRELESS simpleNO wires
Free Air Check Attracts more customers
25 ft. coil or wire braid hose

2 HP high-output-continuous-use
(HOCU) industrial compressor
Dimensions: 22.25 w 20.25 h 14.25 d
16 gauge stainless
Wall, pedestal or vault mount
Digital model inflate or deflate tire
to desired pressure with
electronic push buttons; easy to read
LED display on digital units
Toll free support

Push button only. . . $1700.00

Coin only . . . . . . . . . $1850.00
ePort only . . . . . . . . $2000.00
Digital add . . . . . . . $0520.00
Pedestal . . . . . . . . . . $0250.00
ePort add . . . . . . . . . $0520.00

www.fragramatics.com
FALL 2015

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