Why Modular Car Washes Are Going To Dominate the Next Decade

Jack believes the next big opportunity in the car wash industry isn’t another massive tunnel wash—it’s modular in-bay automatic car washes.

In this episode of Jackquisitions, Jack breaks down why modular systems could reshape the industry over the next decade. From startup costs and scalability to branding, traffic flow, and customer behavior, he explains why these fast-build systems may outperform traditional car wash models in many markets.

In this episode, we cover:

•  Why modular in-bay automatics could dominate the next 5–10 years 
•  How modular systems reduce construction costs and improve cash flow 
•  The problem with outdated converted car wash buildings 
•  Why scalability and adding capacity incrementally matters 
•  How branding, aesthetics, and visibility drive impulse purchases 
•  The role traffic flow and site access play in profitability 
•  Why modern modular systems may outperform traditional tunnel washes 

The takeaway:
 The future of car washes may be modular, scalable, and easier to expand. Operators who understand branding, site economics, and flexibility early could have a major advantage in the years ahead.

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Transcript

Modular Car Wash Bet

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I think the next big bet in the car wash industry is going to be modular inbay automatic car washes. So there's this company called Tetris, and I believe this is already done overseas in Europe. Modular inBay automatics specifically are a type of inbay automatic, which is a quick-built structure, almost like a connex box or like a pop-up with all the infrastructure pre-built in. Because one of the most expensive things outside of probably the land lease or where this is being put up is going to be the structure itself, right? You have to build a building, you have to then put inside the building to put all of the infrastructure that's necessary to be able to wash the car, and that's pumps and sprayers and air drying machines and all of this infrastructure that ends up driving up huge amounts of costs. So, like, what were the solutions to that? If you're buying a business, buying out a business partner, or buying some commercial real estate in 2026, Alan Peterson is someone you want on your side. He spent over the last decade structuring deals nationwide and is one of the best in the industry. And he is because he's hands-on. He works with owners and operators and new buyers from start to finish, and that's his specialty. And with the SBA 7A loan, you can finance up to 90% of a deal, accessing flexible collateral options, and even secure long-term loans 25 years on real estate. Click the link in the description below and get a reduced good faith deposit as well as a complimentary deal review and a buyer pre-qualification with Alan Peterson at First Internet Bank, or head on over to Alan Fib.com. That's A-L-A-N-F-I B.com. One of the big solutions that they've seen in the past few years is conversions, right? Like, how do we take something that a structure like a self-service car wash that already has a lot of the infrastructure necessary to be able to convert and then convert it into Nimbe Automatic? Those are great, they work extremely well. Um, that being said, they're old still. Like you drive by one, they're still old and clunky buildings that were built probably in the 70s or 80s and then had been retrofitted and modified six or seven times. So, what if you're able, though, to now say, okay, we have a site, it's an awesome site, or maybe I'm starting up a car wash business, I'm rolling up businesses, whatever the case may be, but you have the site, you have the permits, and now all you do is have to order a modular system. So you bring one in, install it, lift it up, it's good to go. Then you bring in a second one after you start to see increased value and increased uh capacity needs. And then, okay, well, you start to fill up your second one. Now you bring in a third one. And so this modular modularization of it also allows you to work with capacity without oversizing or undersizing the site. So as long as the site is big enough, you can keep adding on and building to that as time goes on. So this creates wonderful opportunities with cash flow and it creates wonderful opportunities with the ability to match capacity quickly at the times that you need it. Those are some of the reasons why I love this system. And the third and the largest, probably the big reason I love this system, is it looks clean, it looks modern, it looks interesting. Um, and I think that from an aesthetic point of view, a lot of times what the consumer is looking for in the car wash industry is they're looking for aesthetics. That's why so much money is spent by the car wash industry to try and draw attention to it. Because it is, whether we want to admit it or not in the industry, it is a lot of times an impulse purchase that needs good branding and good eye-catching colors, and uh it needs to be unique enough that it stops somebody driving by on a 50,000 you know car road count road and pull someone in. So, I mean, everybody who does this knows we have to you lose you lose uh cars when there's a median, you lose cars when there's no easy left turn or easy right turn into it. And so there's so much to do with traffic and so much to do with impulse purchase of car wash of the car wash industry that like the ability for this to be super useful, extremely easy to put up, very fast, modularized, but also really easy to come custom and look clean right out of the box rather than a clunky old building, I think is going to be huge for this industry. So, my big bet is in the next you know five to ten years, the next next decade, a lot of the new car washes and new car wash lights that we see are not going to be full tunnel, they're going to be in bay automatic, but modularized systems that are going to be really, really easy to set up, really easy to expand upon. Like, share, subscribe. Tell me I'm crazy in the comments and that I don't know what I'm talking about. Or send it to your friend who runs car washes and see that I'm right. Uh, leave a comment of what you want to hear next business breakdowns, celebrity, uh business acquisitions. We're here for it. Uh, I'll see you next time.