How Much It Costs to Build a Car Wash
Understanding the True Construction Costs of Car Washes
Are you considering building a car wash and looking to understand exactly how much it costs? If so, you are in the right place. This short but definitive guide will quickly walk through how much money it costs to build and construct a carwash.
Before diving into the numbers, it’s important to note and establish; this guide on the price to build a car wash is meant to be just that – a guide. As is true for most things, you can spend as much as you would like on anything. If you would like to build a four tunnel 140ft behemoth – you can. But that fantastical and unrealistic is not representative nor meaningful to you. This guide will focus on banding the average cost to build a tunnel carwash and how much each of the major cost components that go into such typically attribute to the overarching total build cost.
For individuals looking for information on the cost to build and / or construct other car wash models outside of the tunnel model, stay tuned. We’ll be coming out with concise definitive guides on the cost to build in-bay automatic / roll-over car washes as well as the cost to build self-service car washes soon.
For those considering getting involved with a car wash franchise model, such as Tommy’s Car Wash, and are currently weighing this option out in comparison to building a carwash on your own (non-franchise) – we at CWA have a piece covering exactly that coming out soon as well.
Start With Known Quantities
Some of the costs associated with building a car wash are highly variable, such as land costs. Underlying Real Estate costs vary greatly based on size of lot, micro geography, and macro geography in which the carwash is being built and the real estate is located. Let’s put those highest of all variability car wash construction costs to the side for now and focus on the more known (yet still somewhat variable costs) to start framing a true answer to the question at hand.
Building & Fixed Improvements
Building, Foundation, Doors, Walls, Roofing
Base Cost $1,250,000
Range of Variance +/- $250K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Length of Tunnel
- It costs more to build a 150ft conveyorized tunnel than an 80ft tunnel
- Total Sq. Ft. / Ancillary Business Segments
- Dependent on the sub-type of car wash model that you are building (full-service, express, flex, etc.) you may need more square footage and larger building to include the necessary functions and services that are required of said wash model (i.e. – an indoor waiting area for a full service car wash in a high temperature geographical climate).
- Material Decisions Chosen
- Not all car washes are made the same. Deciding between a see-through building vs. a concrete block constructed car wash can have significant price implications on your build
Tunnel & Support Equipment
Blowers, Tire Shine, Conveyor, Hydraulics, Pumping Stations, Arches, Boiler
Base Cost $650,000
Range of Variance +/- $150K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Type of Conveyor Mechanism
- Belt conveyors have some clear benefits over the tried and true chain conveyor car wash systems, but those benefits do come at a higher ticket price
- Length of Conveyor
- Which has implications on arches and other supplementary equipment as well
- Ancillary Equipment Choices and Levels
- High level of discretion up to the owner and car wash tunnel designer here
Water Treatment System
Water Reclaim System, Water Filtration System
Base Cost $150,000
Range of Variance +/- $100K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Whether you implement a reclaim system at all
- Level of water filtration and type of water filtration and softening system implemented
Electronic Components
Paystation(s), Tunnel Controller, Relay Station(s), Misc. Electrical
Base Cost $275,000
Range of Variance +/- $125K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Anticipated volume will have the largest impact due to the level of capacity your systems and payment terminals / auto-cashiers (if implemented) will have to be able and capable of processing
Site & Landscaping
Paving, Leving, Asphalt, Greenery, General Landscaping
Base Cost $200,000
Range of Variance +/- $100K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Size, shape, and frontage of lot
- Level of landscaping and extras desired by owner
Vacuum System
Motors, Drops, Accessories and Hoses, Plumbing, Related Cement Work
Base Cost $180,000
Range of Variance +/- $100K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Anticipated volume will have the largest impact due to the level of capacity your vacuum system and setup will need to be able to accommodate
- Type and quality of vacuum system and setup
HVAC & Plumbing
Furnace, Heaters, Misc. Electrical, Misc. Plumbing
Base Cost $80,000
Range of Variance +/- $40K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Geographical location of wash is important
- Levels of seasonal and temperature variation that will need to be accommodated for
Signage & Marketing
Main Signage, Menus & Price Boards, Brand and Logo Design & Launch Marketing
Base Cost $150,000
Range of Variance +/- $100K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Desired level of passerby visibility
- Amount of street frontage available on site
Planning & Permitting
Engineering, Architecture, Required Permitting
Base Cost $175,000
Range of Variance +/- $100K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Geographical area and local government
The Highly Variable Costs
With the more predictable of the car wash construction and build costs now established, along with a reasonable range of variance conveyed depending upon the specifics of the wash you are looking to build, the time has come to focus on the hardest of the costs to predict and which vary the most from one car wash build to another.
Real Estate and Land
Land costs vary widely
Base Cost $1,250,000
Range of Variance +/- $750K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Geographical area
- Quality and grading of site
- Size of the lot
Consultant & Third-Parties
Not always necessary and very situation dependent
Base Cost $250,000
Range of Variance +/- $250K
These add a meaningful cost line item to your total build cost. Whether correct for you will depend on your situation, desired level of time involvement, your goals – and most importantly – the quality and tangible value the consultant brings and provides during the build process.
Financing and Debt Service
Car wash financing varies greatly. Financing for building car washes vary even more than acquisition financing.
Base Cost $175,000
Range of Variance +/- $75K
Primary Cost Variance Drivers
- Cash equity % down
- Quality and grading of site
- Type of Financing (SBA 7a, SBA 504, Conventional / Commercial, Alternative Financing)
Carwash Build Construction Costs Summary
| Cost Component | Lower End | Base Costs | Higher End |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building & Fixed Site Improvements | $1,000,000 | $1,250,000 | $1,500,000 |
| Water Treatment | $50,000 | $150,000 | $250,000 |
| Primary Tunnel & Support Equipment | $500,000 | $650,000 | $800,000 |
| Primary Electronic Components | $150,000 | $275,000 | $400,000 |
| Site & Landscaping | $100,000 | $200,000 | $300,000 |
| Vacuum System | $80,000 | $180,000 | $280,000 |
| HVAC & Plumbing | $40,000 | $80,000 | $120,000 |
| Signage & Marketing | $50,000 | $150,000 | $250,000 |
| Planning & Permitting | $75,000 | $175,000 | $275,000 |
| TOTAL - KNOWN QUANTITIES | $2,045,000 | $3,110,000 | $4,175,000 |
| Consulting and Other Third Parties | $0 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
| Real Estate and Land Costs | $500,000 | $1,250,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Financing and Debt Service Costs | $97,605 | $176,802 | $255,999 |
| TOTAL - HIGHLY VARIABLE | $597,605 | $1,676,802 | $2,755,998 |
| GRAND TOTAL - CARWASH BUILD COST | $2,642,605 | $4,786,802 | $6,930,998 |
Summary
The cost to a car wash varies. However, hopefully the above analysis does provide a meaningful starting point and bounds for estimating how much you should anticipate spending to construct and build the car wash you considering making a reality.
Final Word
Although we’ll certainly have some pieces and materials coming out more specifically on this topic, the CWA team would like to leave you with one final thought and suggestion for those considering building a new car wash (regardless of whether or not deciding between building vs. an alternative route of acquiring or not).
We highly recommend being heavily focused on a single measure and metric of potential operating and financial performance when considering the potential payout and financial prudence (not to mention the site, path to build, etc..) when building a wash – your breakeven annual car count. As with anything, or at least we’re believers in this, it’s always safest to hope for the best, but plan for the worst. So when considering building a car wash, go to your downside case that you have built pro-forma projections for, extract the effective ticket price (make sure to keep anticipated unlimited membership pricing and expected volume attribution and not just use a simple and dangerous weighted average single wash ticket, along with your anticipated downside annual car count volumes, and figure out what level of safety and margin and error from this scenario you have in comparison to that of the ongoing maintenance costs and debt service costs given the total build cost you are expecting now after using this guide. If your downside / conservative pro-forma does not realistically have a considerable margin of error in comparison to your ongoing simple total maintenance and “keep-the-lights-on” costs – please don’t take this lightly. It may be the case that you have an error in your math, or you need to revisit and further sensitize your underlying projection assumptions. But this number, the minimum cars you have to wash to service the ongoing debt service based on your new build as well as the standard operating, maintenance and payroll costs to run the car wash – please make sure the math works before committing yourself to building a new wash.