From chain car wash to self-service car wash

Van Dijkhuizen Energy & Mobility converted the existing chain car wash to two wash bays and a roll-over. A major refurbishment, making the car wash better suited to today’s needs. CarwashPRO published a great article on this project!

H. van Dijkhuizen converts chain conveyor to self-service car wash park

Resource: CarwashPRO

H. van Dijkhuizen Energy & Mobility in Vuren converted its chain car wash to two wash bays and a rollover. Not only because it was in need of renewal. But also because a fully automated self-service wash park is the solution to the staffing problem.

H. van Dijkhuizen has a total of 36 petrol stations. Five of them are equipped with a washing facility. Either with a wash box or a chain wash, or a complete wash park like in Vuren. Vuren was the last location within the chain in need of renovation. The chain car wash was almost 20 years old, as was the wash bay. “Technically, the car wash was still doing well, we always maintained it well. But at some point you could see that it was outdated,” says Enrico Dijkhuizen, project manager and responsible for technology within the company.

The car wash was taken out and a rollover and wash bays replaced it. The tiled walls and floors were replaced with sleek floors and wall panels. Cleanbuild fitted the walls and ceiling. And between the wash boxes and the rollover, the specialist created a technical room and installed two double doors. The machine is from TSG/Kärcher and is one with “all the trimmings”. “In terms of wash quality and luxury experience, we want to stay as close to the car wash as possible,” says Van Dijkhuizen. The floors have been laid by Huijbregts floors and there is new lighting throughout. “It looks much better now and is more up to date,” he says.

Familiar face
Customers in Vuren now have the choice between washing their car themselves or having it machine washed. At the rollover, customers will still be accompanied by an employee in the coming months, who used to work full-time in the car wash. “He has been there for us for many years and may officially enjoy his retirement from September. So until then, he helps customers at the machine and makes sure everything stays tidy. Still, you notice that it is new for customers and that they like being accompanied by a familiar face.”

Regular customers still seem to find their way to the location even after the refurbishment, Dijkhuizen notes. “That’s what you prefer, of course. There are even customers who did not wash their cars during the renovation – which lasted about two and a half months. They deliberately waited for us to reopen and did not go to anyone else in the meantime.” What he also noticed is that the wash boxes are attracting a new audience. “These are mostly people who don’t want to have their special or completely decked-out car washed by a machine. These are customers who didn’t come to our car wash before, so that’s nice to see.”

Downside
Customers can come to wash between 8am and 8pm. Contactless payments can be made at the machine itself, via Charlie Pay, TSG’s payment solution. And everything works with Payter. Paying in the shop is also another option. “Payter works really well with any bank card. But that doesn’t apply to all fuel cards. That’s why customers can also still pay inside.”

Subscription washing does not yet have the company, but it is looking into the possibilities. “There is also a downside to subscriptions. If you start selling subscriptions, customers have to pay money every month. But what will you do at the time of non-payment? Then you have to go after it. That takes time and you have to have the people for that. So for now we will leave that for a while,” Dijkhuizen said.