Features

The main purpose of a commercial car wash is to remove the grime that coats the exterior surface areas of motor vehicles, which consist mostly of paint, glass, and rubber. »

I am grateful. The car wash industry attracts a different kind of entrepreneur. Everyone I meet who shares my passion for this business also shares a common trait: we are tinkerers. Some seek to constantly improve the wash... »

It has been a common practice in the detail business to pay employees “by the car.” This means a certain price to detail the entire car, treating the employee like a sub-contractor, paying no taxes, and providing no workmen’s... »

The contemporary payment card landscape can be bewildering once you leave the familiar neighborhood of the big four credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. There are debit cards, gift cards, quick pay... »

The Northeast Regional Carwash Convention (NRCC) is celebrating its 25th anniversary. For 2014, the annual event takes place at the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. The participating associations are the New... »

One of the downsides of consolidation is it tends to wreck consumer markets.

The tomato category has shown this over the past 15 years where lack of competition made big Florida tomato companies complacent and their product... »

I find myself having the following conversation with alarming frequency. The operator’s car wash is growing. They’ve installed one of the high-end online pay-wax-and-buffing services and have seen dollar-per-car averages... »

The best way to run a safe, secure, low-vandalism, profitable coin-operated car wash is to use tokens. Armed with the right information — and after a little planning — switching from coins to tokens can be done in a few hours.... »

According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, average car wash revenues at c-stores recently grew by 1.6 percent to $4,150 per month. The bad news: wash revenues were $6,400 in 2004. Moreover, there are now 25... »

The Holy Grail of the car wash industry has long been to deliver the cleanest possible vehicles to demanding customers in the gentlest, fastest, most profitable way. Touchless washes, one recent attempt to achieve that aim, have... »

Car washes come and go in the modern here-today-gone-tomorrow world — even those sites that are handed down from generation to generation rarely have more than a few decades under their belts. But on occasion a site is able to... »

Most professional detailers would agree that there is a set of staple equipment and tools that are used to provide quality detailing results. These would include a shop vacuum, polisher, brushes, buckets, hose, towels, and... »

A lifelong entrepreneur, Kevin Collette was a co-founder of Istobal USA, where he served as president, responsible for Istobal operations in the United States and Canada. In March of this year, he was appointed vice president of... »

With today’s clear-coat paint finishes, fallout damage has become the number one challenge for detailers. No matter how creative the automotive paint manufacturers have become in developing paint finishes that are more durable,... »

A customer calls your shop wanting a detail and you tell him about your free pick-up and delivery service. He says, “That sounds great, but are you insured?” »