Considering Buying A 4 Bay Car Wash Self Serve
I am in the Auto Business  but don't know much about car wash.  Seems to be a positive cash flow turn key business. It has been taken care of also with a high traffic count. What are some thing s I should know about? What kind of corp do car washes run under? What kind of insurance and how much?  I am just thinking out loud. The owner was cool and retiring and answered alot for me. I guess I am talking out loud to see if I missed anything. If you can point to any articles or reports  or you tube videos would help also. Thank You 
[{"id": "eixs2op", "text": "I have a lot of experience in commercial real estate in retail site selection &amp; appraisal but am not a self serve car wash expert.  I used to hear back in the day those operations did pretty well.  Is it a good piece of real estate that could be a good long run investment?\n\nIf the guy has been reporting all his income off the car wash operation given that it's a cash business) it will be easy to tell what the business itself is worth based on his tax return.  \n\nI looked at your profile and saw you are in Birmingham.  In my area of the west coast of Florida, people are putting in a lot of those really fancy self service car washes.  That's the main thing I be concerned about, one of those operations getting  built nearby to compete.", "replies": [{"id": "eizrqdb", "text": "Good point about the new car wash concepts.  We\u2019ve seen a number of those open in STL lately.  Also, I noticed a lot of self serve car washes go up for sale lately- like 3 or 4 this week.  Could be the same owner decided to sell them. Or I was wondering if some code/environmental law is expected to change or something like that.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eiyerkb", "text": "What kind of return do you look for on your invested money? ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ej1h27s", "text": "Almost NOBODY uses self service car washes anymore.  All the new car washes are $5-10 ..... the same as the self serf, except you sit in your car instead of doing the dirty work yourself.\n\nMaybe as a real estate deal, it can make sense but the business model itself, is dead.", "replies": [{"id": "ej2qz12", "text": "Yup, I would agree.  My point was that one of the new drive thru self serve car washes would put that spot out of business.  I'm not a fan of the new self serve car washes BTW.  The ones near me in Florida cost almost as much as a full serve, but you still have to do your own vacuuming.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]