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A car wash just opened near us and when I pulled up, I said I just wanted the basic wash. The guy said “Ok, our cheapest plan is…..” I told him I was in the wrong place and backed out.

Adelaide in South Australia is the weed going capital of Australia - seems to be an inordinate amount of places selling pizza and massages

*they're...oops

FOr the same reason there are so many gyms, you pay the membership and never use it. So the owners make up a bunch of subs, put the dirty cash in, and nice clean cash comes out.

😲

The Big Beautiful Bill....100% Write off first year.

✔️

Money laundering?

i hate them. there was an islands and they put a stupid carwash in. there are already so many. subscription business model just makes people use more water and wash down more detergent and crap into the world. i predict this dumb trend will go away eventually. too many dentists too --> everywhere

As others say - car washes, tanning studios, hair dressers - if you see these springing up everywhere (often with fixtures & furnishing which suggest a fair bit of start-up capital) not only is the likelihood high they are laundering money but that there is also major drug trafficking in the area.

Dirty cars?

Oh my God! Yes! We now have 4 fucking car washes within a mile and half radius of our house. Wherever I look in our area, Myrtle Beach, it's usually either a car wash or another storage unit compound going up

Some of the commenters have watched Breaking Bad.

Money Laundering.

oh no

Same here in Scottsdale, AZ. I just figured it was because the dust and dirt that come from living in the desert make them a necessity. But yeah, there are 5 within a mile of my house

So very true!

Fascinating article. Bravo.

* forget

So this is happening everywhere? I thought it was just my city.

First, loved seeing the iconic Seattle car wash elephant represented. BUT, this was very insightful. There's been a rash of new car washes opened in my small town recently and I couldn't figure out why. Now I know...

I love how they try to sell a monthly plan. Lol. What a waste of money.

Money laundering?

Car washes or money washes?

Perfect for laundering drug money.

Mom and I are barbarians. We almost never wash our cars. We just go to one of those little do it yourself set ups to use their vacuums.

Great money laundering schemes!

Anyone notice the air quality is horrible around them?

Omg I was thinking the same thing. We now have at least 3 in my small town

If Breaking Bad has taught me nothing else it’s that car washes are great fronts for money laundering

My theory is that they don’t really have inventory/purchase transactions that can be directly related to sales income. Thus, they are an easy business for drug cartels to launder all the cash they accumulate.

Don't support them, they don't make money. ez

Maybe watch Breaking Bad for some insight.

I've watched Breaking Bad

More scams. Omg, try to get out of ones of these contracts. It’s like a timeshare.

In the last 10-20 years just haven’t seen a single car wash place erected anywhere I normally go. I live in a megapolis. I have no explanation- just a completely opposite finding.

I have to drive five miles to find one!

Maintenance costs are low because they practically clean themselves!

In Canada; car washes are a popular venue for folks who are approved to emigrate with cash, (not my fucking idea, let me tell you) The money kills EVERYTHING.

Haha! Where I live there are 2 back to back! Crazy.

We have two right next door to each other!

Life as subscription.

They all are grossly overpriced and mediocre too. Pick a small handwash service

There's probably also the factor that they ran all kinds of local operations out of business and suddenly there was demand, so all kinds of outfits decided to do the same thing at once. It happens lots with everything from ice cream to boba tea places to you name it opening all at once.

Always seemed like a solid business to me. Little to no employees required. Supplies that don't spoil. Pretty much always in demand. I'm not typically a car washer myself except for salt, but when I do go there's always a big line.

A car wash is being built right next to my local car wash.

Money laundering?

Because they are harvesting financials.

I was wondering. And also the lack of the ones where you clean the cars yourself. Forgive me, I menopausal and it's 1:15a

$32/month for Mister and I wash my car multiple times per week, in the winter sometimes 2x/day. Averages out to about $2.50/wash with free vacuums.

Lucky me I live in a neighborhood with local hand car washes. Or I get it when I get my gas. Eff this big joints

Is this why we used to have so many mattress stores? That never had customers?

Best business to launder money? (Okay, I watched breaking bad too many times…)

land value tax would solve this

that's different, that's tax dodging.

yeah but how do you keep the money from flying away during the air dry portion

Same with Vape shops around here, with their ridiculous neon stripper lighting.

If the answer is BREAKING BAD I won't be surprised. We live in IDIOCRACY. They're great for money laundering. 💰

A little known fact that I only found out last week is that the American Car wash association home office is in my home town. You think you've got a lot of car washes??? Geez

Plus, it’s a great way to launder one’s ill gotten meth money.

Who needs a walkable city if there’s a walkable carwash

Private equity kills everything it touches.

It's to distract you from all the storage facilities they're building.

We don’t have any, tell them to come here!!

Cash business to wash illegal $$$

Because people are lazy and don't want to take the time to hand wash their cars

[Skyler White has entered the chat]

It's all in Breaking Bad. Everything you need to know about anything in America.

Came here to say that

Yep. High margin business where it's easy to just tip a bunch of unused soap down the drain and record washes that never happened.

Money laundering.

Low maintenance high profit. Almost built one then I decided to go trailer park instead. Got a plot with 8 mobile home lots its a cash cow. Was an initial investment of $42k brings in $5200 month, paid itself off the first year.

same thing with storage units

Private equity should not exist. It's just a way for the wealthy to skirt investment regulations and destroy companies by sucking the cash out of them.

In effect, just Heisenberg doing his laundry...

Same with self-storage places.

Breaking Bad taught me they're for money laundering.

There is an epidemic of storage units. Is this the same story?

Breaking Bad is alive!!!!

I have been wondering this. I live in a pretty populated area in MD but we have multiple gas stations with car washes, two car washes (same company) with a mile of one another, and another car wash being built nearby. And that’s just the ones I know about!

Yeah, have slowly watched them pop up everywhere in my town the last few years wondering what the fresh hell is this when I live in an area that is in constant water shortage. "Oh, but we recycle the water." Yes, and that stops the evaporation, and don't tell me you recycle all that water each time.

Because Heisenberg has expanded operations.

One on every corner seems like. And the prices keep going up. I remember when one was the $3 Red Carwash Barn years ago, now it's $15 for the most basic offering and up to $25 for all the bells and whistles. Lol. Hard pass.

Breaking Bad was a documentary.

The country is heading toward a modernized version of feudalism. Serfs will rent literally everything from a small number of overlords.

Yes, WAY too many of these! And because of the unlimited washes package, I see what look to me like perfectly clean cars going through the wash all the time...just because it's free. MADNESSS! What a waste of water!

Unless I'm constantly driving my car in mud, why am I gonna need that many car washes and a subscription to boot?

Sooo. If you buy a very expensive car with your not so clean money , and you put your car through the car wash , does that count as money laundering? 😏😁

Exactly.. so basically they can operate a land holding company for free. And have an asset on top.

I had wondered about the latest monster in our town, tyvm. Also, our aquifer is depleting .. so I'm like Surely you're joking here, but that's another story.

Money laundering

I noticed this too. Unnecessary!

Laundering money for drug sellers 🤔😊

That might not work out well as ICE has been targeting them....

💰💰💰🧺

More criminals trying to get away with money laundering

My friends theory is money laundering and it seems plausible. Also storage places.

Some car washes are “Scratch N’ Go’s” giving you a wash 🧼 and scratch!

Excellent cash making businesses. When I had a vehicle, which croaked during COVID, I'd take it to the car wash nearby. $6 for a basic wash, 25 cents for 2 minutes with the vacuum. And they were always busy.

They’re popping up all over my area, too. A water-intensive business model in a state that already has water issues - yay.

The one by me (new owners)is called DOGE Car Wash, which explains why my car is filthy

Money laundering.

One way to deal with it: wash your own car.

It’s the new investment scam where the money is made on the licensing and building and then dumped onto an owner when the market is saturated.

It's like fast food for cars and their probably isnt gonna be too big a difference unless you go on the regular. Also the employees are not your enemy, they work 8 hours a day on their feet in the heat and the cold, possibly soaking wet too, getting yelled at all day, paid like shit.

I asked the same question how are they even profitable. There’s never a line. My thought was maybe they are money laundering enterprises. Since they’re always in high rent areas with very little activity.

I don't either. I've got a flow meter on my hose. I use 17 gallons per car wash. That works out to about $.24 per car wash. It also drains into a small wilding area in my yard. Win/win. For an additional win...that 30 minutes washing my car is the best ZEN ever!!!!!!!

Oddly enough, I have to travel at least 30 minutes to find one around me.

It’s what private equity firms learned from watching Breaking Bad.

Why are there so many car washes these days? Thank Skyler White.

I think it says "Car Wash" like if an apartment building were named, "Apartment Building."

Christ, these hedge fund shitsacks see car washes like Starbuck in the early 2000's. Y'know, when you literally had them on EVERY fucking street corner? Way to fart out more emissions and waste colossal amounts of water!

I just assumed it was a great way to launder money no pun intended and I'm still not convinced that's not the deal

Same for ⛽ stations. There's intersection I used to drive by for a decade. Taco Bell in one corner (it's now Popeye's) 7- 11 on 2nd corner. Chevron with terrible herbst car wash on 3rd 4th corner: ANOTHER Chevron/terrible herbst with oil chg which I dislike now (longer story)

Hope they’re not relying on immigrant labor to do the actual work. I understand there’s been a reduction in work force.