I dont know about you, but I think about passive income opportunities every day. No matter where I am or what Im doing, I think, How passive is the income thats generated in this business? Sometimes, its not at all, and other times, its nearly 100% passive. The concept just fascinates me I think that Im obsessed with creating a passive income.

Cleaning That Car of Yours

I live in Michigan and it usually gets pretty chilly here in the winter. The snow starts flying in November and doesnt go away completely until March or April (this year is an exception, but Im sure well get loaded up with snow pretty soon). And, since it is so cold, the only way to get rid of the snow and ice is with salt.

The salt typically does a great job melting away the snow, but its absolutely terrible for your automobile. If you avoid getting your car washed, that salt will start to break down the structure of your metallic frame and body. Then before you know it, your car starts turning into a rust-bucket! Needless to say, where Im from, car washes are pretty important.

Benefits of a Car Wash

Car washes are typically very passive. Once the machine is set up, all you need is a single employee to receive the payments and begin the wash (and actually, I can see this step getting automated soon as well). If your machines are built properly, there wont be a huge amount of repairs, and your expenses are pretty low (water, electricity, soap, andthats about it)! This sounds like a money-making machine!

Initial Cost of a Car Wash

Initially, I started researching what it took to build a brand new car wash, and honestly, I dont think its worth it. Youll first need to find that perfect plot of land, then check the zoning, then you need to get a building permit, hire an engineer to make some drawings, contract a company to build the car wash, and then theres absolutely no guarantee that it will make money because no one has tried to run a car wash in that location before!

The typical initial expense of a new wash can be anywhere from $400,000 to 2,000,000, depending on the number of automatic washes, and the number of bays if youre running a self-serve wash.

If I were to invest in a car wash, I would start looking at the existing washes that are for sale. Then I know that the zoning is correct, I dont need to hire an engineer or a contractor, and the best part is, I can look at the history of the business! The owner can show me the average washes per day, week, month, and the year. And, I can get a good look at the expenses!

I looked into the average initial cost of the washes in my area and they ranged  between $259,000 and $1,200,000.

Reoccuring Costs of a Car Wash

After a little research, I have found that the average reoccuring expense is provided per car that goes through the wash its typically $0.55 per car. This includes things like the water, soap, and electricity like I mentioned above, but it also takes into consideration the air compressers, the bay cleaning, and preventative maintenance.

How Many Cars For a Profit?

In order to create a profitable passive income with a car wash, about how many cars do you think youll need to pass through your wash per day?

Lets say you have a $500,000 loan on your business which costs $4,683 per month and you run the business by yourself. For each wash, you charge $7, how many cars do you need to run through your wash to make it profitable (wow, feels like were in algebra all over again huh??)?

To break even in the car-wash business, you would need to have 727 cars go through your wash each month. That sounds like a lot at first, but when you break it down, thats only one car per hour!

What if you could run an average of 4 cars through your wash per hour? Youd bring in a profit of $18,576 per month! Thats $223,000 per year! If you find the right location, this venture could easily be one of the best passive income sources out there!

Have you thought about opening a car wash? What do you think about car washes after reading this article?