Express Car Wash with Unlimited Membership Program, Orange County NY

$850K

Revenue

$565K

SDE

3.9x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is an express car wash in Orange County, New York generating $850,000 in annual gross revenue with $565,000 in seller discretionary earnings and $475,000 in EBITDA. The model is built around a high-throughput express tunnel with minimal labor, running on just five employees (three full-time, two part-time). The margins here are striking: roughly 66% SDE margin and 56% EBITDA margin, which tells you the fixed-cost express model is doing its job.

The revenue engine is the unlimited monthly membership program, which converts one-time washers into recurring, predictable subscribers. That base is supplemented by retail wash sales, fleet and commercial accounts, and premium wash packages. Membership-driven car washes have become one of the most sought-after small business categories precisely because the recurring revenue smooths out weather seasonality and creates a subscription annuity that compounds with local density.

The facility is leased, not owned, with a long runway: the lease runs through November 2044 at $5,800 per month on a 5,000 square foot site described as high-visibility with strong traffic counts. The seller is relocating out of state and offering seller financing plus three months of training. This is a going-concern operations sale, so the buyer is paying for cash flow and membership base rather than dirt.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is genuinely strong here, with $565,000 SDE on $850,000 revenue implying a 66% margin that is hard to find outside high-fixed-cost express models. The unlimited membership program converts a chunk of that revenue into recurring monthly subscriptions, which is far more valuable and predictable than transactional wash income.
The moat is location plus recurring behavior. A high-visibility site on strong traffic counts with a locked-in lease through 2044 gives geographic durability, and members who autopay every month create switching inertia that a new competitor two miles away cannot easily poach.
Car washes are structurally recession-resistant because people keep driving and keep washing their cars even in a downturn, and a $20 to $30 monthly membership is a small discretionary line that rarely gets cut. Fleet and commercial accounts add a second layer of demand that is tied to business operations rather than consumer sentiment.
The operator advantage is labor efficiency. Running the whole operation on five people with an express tunnel means the buyer is not chained to a large payroll or complex management, and the stated upside in expanded marketing and additional memberships is a real, executable lever rather than hand-waving.
Seller financing plus three months of training lowers the entry risk. A relocating owner who is willing to carry paper signals confidence in the cash flow and gives the buyer a structural cushion on the purchase price.

How to improve it

Attack membership penetration first. Pull the exact active member count, churn rate, and average revenue per member, then run a conversion push at the point of sale so every single wash customer is offered the unlimited plan with a clear break-even math on two washes per month.
Systematize fleet and commercial accounts. These are the stickiest, highest-volume relationships, so build a simple outbound program targeting local delivery companies, dealerships, municipal fleets, and rideshare drivers with negotiated volume pricing and monthly invoicing.
Optimize pricing and package tiers within the first 90 days. Test a modest price increase on the top membership tier and add a premium ceramic or express-plus package, because in a subscription model even a few dollars of price flows almost entirely to the bottom line.
Tighten the marketing funnel with local geo-targeted ads and a referral program. The listing explicitly flags marketing as underexploited, so a Google and Facebook radius campaign plus a member-refers-member credit can meaningfully lift new member sign-ups.
Reduce chemical and water cost per car. Audit the reclaim system, chemical dosing, and utility contracts, since express washes live and die on per-car variable cost and small efficiencies compound across tens of thousands of washes annually.
Extend and formalize hours and throughput data. Confirm peak versus off-peak volume and consider staffing and promotion adjustments to fill dead hours, converting idle capacity in an already high-fixed-cost model into pure margin.

Diligence notes

Verify the membership base in detail: active paying members, monthly churn, average tenure, and what percentage of revenue is recurring versus transactional. A high SDE built on a shrinking or heavily promotional membership base is a very different asset than a growing one, so demand the merchant processor and membership platform reports.
Scrutinize the lease economics carefully. Rent is $5,800 per month through 2044, so confirm the escalation schedule, any percentage-rent or CAM charges, and whether the landlord relationship is arm's length, because a below-market rent that resets could quietly erase margin.
Reconcile the SDE and EBITDA figures against actual bank statements and tax returns. The 66% SDE margin is excellent but needs proof, so tie stated cash flow to POS transaction counts, membership billing records, and two to three years of filed returns before trusting the 3.89x multiple.
Inspect the equipment condition and remaining life. Express tunnels carry real capital exposure in conveyors, brushes, pumps, and reclaim systems, so get a mechanical inspection and a capex schedule to understand what the buyer will need to reinvest in the first 24 months.
Confirm the reason for sale and any competitive threats. The seller cites relocation, which is clean, but check for new or planned car washes within the trade area, since a single competing express tunnel nearby can materially cap membership growth and pricing power.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →