What’s driving the surge of new car wash businesses in Santa Maria?
Dave Alley
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Several new car washes are being built in Santa Maria, a surge that will add to the many other existing car wash businesses already in the city.
There are currently more than 20 car washes in Santa Maria including stand-alone models, as well as those connected with gas stations.
The number doesn’t include the many independent mobile car detailers that also operate throughout the city.
That number of car washes will soon rise even higher with five additional more that are either now under construction or scheduled to begin construction in the near future.
With so many car washes already in Santa Maria, some people may be wondering – what’s driving the need to build several more?
“I don’t think we need all of them,” said Virginia Brady while drying off her car at the Splash N’ Dash Carwash on East Donovan Road. “We’ve already got enough. You know, it’s ridiculous. It’s like too many laundromat. Do we need that many car washes?”
Splash N’ Dash is a locally owned business and operates several car washes on the Central Coast, including three in Santa Maria, one in Orcutt, plus a new one coming soon.
Johan Collett, Splash N’ Dash General Manager and Partner, pointed out that Santa Maria is an ideal location for car washes due to a number of significant factors.
“Santa Maria is a good car wash community mostly because of the weather,” said Collett. “Best weather in the world. We, it’s typically pretty warm, which causes a lot of dust in the air, especially with the agriculture around here surrounding the town. We love the weather, bugs also love the weather. The combination of the two, dust and bugs causes a lot of excuses to come get a car wash.”
Splash N’ Dash is planning to build its latest car wash next to the Honda dealership at the corner of South Bradley Road and Meehan Street.
A “coming soon” sign as been up at the location for years, but Collett indicated construction is finally set to begin sometime in between six to eight months.
“That one’s going to be awesome,” said Collett. “It’s going to be the biggest car wash in probably a 100-to-200 mile radius. It’s going to be in magazines. It’s going to be awesome. It’s got full cafe, coffee, four lanes, amazing vacuums, canopies. I mean, you name it. Anything you’d want a car wash, it’ll be there.”
In addition to the upcoming Splash and Dash, two national chains are also now planning to build new car wash businesses in Santa Maria.
Mister Car Wash and Quick Quack Car Wash are both in various stages of constructing their new businesses in the city.
Mister Car Wash is quickly going up on South Broadway, while Quick Quack part of a new development with a Starbucks that will be located at the site of the former Roadhouse Grill along South Bradley Road.
According to the Current Development Activity webpage on the City of Santa Maria website, a Quick Quack is planned for a site on North Broadway.
There is also a self-serve car wash currently under construction as part of the new Chevron gas station and convenience store at that is kicking off development of the long-planned Betteravia Plaza project.
A completely rebuilt car wash is also currently under construction at #1 Car Wash and Gas on South Broadway, which is almost next to the soon-to-be-built Mister Car Wash.
“I don’t mind at all,” said car wash customer Crystal Cardona. “A little variety is a good thing. I think it’ll be a competitive and maybe an offer a better variety.”
Collett agreed and pointed out that despite the added number of similar businesses in the city, he believes there is enough need for their services to go around.
“I think competition is good,” said Collett. “Everyone will be their best. In terms of competition and what we’re going to do, we’re locally owned and operated for 20 years and people know this and know what we’re about. We’re here to help the community and serve the community, take care of their vehicles and their investments. We also do things differently than a lot of other express style car washes. We have a lot of prep preparation before going through the tunnel. A lot of these other people that might be coming in here don’t do the same thing as us. They have their own methods, but we’re pretty confident in what we do.”
Collett added the car wash industry is thriving not just in Santa Maria, but many other places as well.
“The car industry as a whole, all around the nation is blowing up,” said Collett. “It’s from people just being educated. Cars are being more and more expensive. People want to take care of those cars. There are so many important components on vehicles that need to be kept clean. There’s a lot of sand that gets into your undercoat or in cracks and crevices causes squeaks and there are so many different reasons to come get your car clean.”
Many, if not most of these car washes, provide a membership option for customers, who can pay a fee for a certain amount of washes over a designated time period.
At some places, customers can select a monthly membership where they can have their car cleaned an unlimited amount of times over whatever period they purchase.
“It’s 70% of our business,” said Collett. “People like it. It’s people taking care of their vehicle and the the convenience. It takes a couple minutes. We can get the outside of your car clean, looking good and have you driving around, and it makes your car last longer, and you’ll be happy with it.”
Due to the obvious need for water inside these businesses, some might be concerned about usage and the effect it may have on the local water supply, especially with more car washes opening soon.
According to Santa Maria Utilities Director Shad Springer, there are strict guidelines and regulations in place that help minimize the potential impact.
“The Santa Maria municipal code requires people to follow the state regulations with respect to water conservation and automatic car washes,” said Springer. “That guideline requires at least 60% recycling of rinse and wash water from those facilities.”
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