Typical Car Wash Multiples

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July 10, 2024

by a searcher from University of Alaska Anchorage - College of Business and Public Policy in Vancouver, WA, USA

Currently searching for some new businesses to acquire and car washes perpetually pop up all over the place. Digging into financials of these opportunities, it seems to me they are mostly priced exceptionally high compared to other opportunities. Typically these do include the RE, however, the business portion just seems exorbitantly overpriced. Does anyone have experience purchasing / operating a car wash - and if so, what entry multiple are you comfortable getting into it?

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Reply by a searcher
from The University of Chicago in 2122 W Le Moyne St, Chicago, IL 60622, USA
My business serves the car wash industry, and we attend the International Car Wash Association trade show every year. Over the past several years, the industry has undergone a significant transformation. Most car washes now take mainly credit card, making them more bankable than the traditional cash revenues of the past. They are also converting heavily to monthly subscriptions, with recurring revenue models. Private equity has entered the space aggressively with roll-up strategies.

All of these factors combine for very high multiples. The general consensus from the industry is "who's going to get caught holding the bag after all this over-paying for washes?"
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Reply by a lender
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA
^redacted‌ thank you for the tag. I would be happy to have a discussion about this and see if we can provide any assistance. Following on up on Jonathan Pira's question, knowing what type of car washes you are looking at is important. Secondly, figuring out the real estate value from the business value is also important. Depending on where the car wash is, you can see a substantial difference in value between the two. Happy to talk through options for valuing car washes. You can reach me here or directly at redacted Good luck.
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