Well, it sounds like the car wash bay advice may have been poor since I seem to be affiliated with the only decent car wash owner East of the Mississippi.
I had no idea other operators were literally throwing money away refusing what is our standard business.
Pressure Washer = Fine.. Just don't get excited about the amount of pressure or distance and start blowing paint off.
[off topic... sorry this is getting so bad]
Obviously you want the "better" business (I did mention School Buses), but you don't turn away paying customers over a few minutes of work. That's just stupid. Especially at a business that starts its cost of services at $0.75 (the vacuums, which, btw are not wet/dry vacs at ANY car wash... stupid design, but they're not. You will be asked to stop sucking the water out of your boat and your money refunded if caught, but not bounced... most people simply don't know because it IS such a stupid thing for an outdoors vacuum).
Most of our better customers clean up after themselves or at least will pull their pick up forward in the bay (we used to have to ask, it seems most people are trained now... if we ask and they do it we give them another minute or so for the time it took them to do so) before they blow mud all over the parking lot... That is a pain to clean up but we don't throw people out over it. We rinse it as best we can and let the rain do its thing... One awesome customer in the place you would least expect it is an asphalt guy. He comes in EVERY DAY in the summer, washes ALL of his equipment for 2 hours, and 100% cleans up after himself. You'd think a dusty Camry was in the bay when his asphalt stuff left. He spends about $40 a day washing that stuff.. I've never even heard of that kind of maintenance before. You also meet all sorts of cool people. LOADS of hot rodders. One guy is big time into Studes and shows up with crazy stuff. It can be lots of fun if you treat people right.
I keep saying "our" and "we" as habit.. I haven't really worked there since high school and occasionally fill in when Mom and Dad go on trips. It's Dad's business and that's how he runs it. That's how I would do it too. Now... some of his equipment could use more maintenance and that I WOULD change. He's almost 70 and growing tired of it so I can't blame him. Those of you who have heard my rants about 10-12 hour days mowing (well, and transporting) when I was a kid, google the address and look at the land... It's the entire corner and both houses (not the house to the west, property line is about 50 feet west of the car wash). PLUS string trimming, PLUS going home and mowing/trimming... My 149 and I have seen some hours together. It's outlived *5* string trimmers since the late 80s when Grandpa brought it home. That's why its "semi-retired" now just doing my 1 hour of mowing at my house.
Ok.. There's all you ever wanted to know about the car wash business from the opposite side of your experiences! 5430 E. Dupont Rd. All are welcome if tracks stay off the ground!
I'll shut up now since I've been proven to be completely clueless about the poor habits of other businesses. I CAN tell epic horror stories if you want (some literally defy belief)... Send a PM.
Sorry for the massive derail, but wow, I just had no idea. We would have starved as kids with those business practices. The first $.25 the place ever earned was a class 8 vehicle (School Bus) and the next day saw a herd of dump trucks from the local concrete and stone outfit. It's been messes since day 2 for sure if not 1.
[/off topic]