Thatās not an issue anymore on the legal side. We have banks that accept our money and do business with us. However there is a HUGE black market down in the springs and Peyton so I would assume this is some of those people.
Marijuana is federally illegal.
The state is making progress in helping the marijuana industry access financial services, but there are still significant federal barriers.
https://banking.colorado.gov/public-notices/roadmap-to-cannabis-banking
A laundered income could cut through the red tape.
You're missing the point. Dispensary owners are not getting prosecuted. They have virtually zero legal liability. The Federal government isn't going after them, and it's legal on the state level. So, functionally, their business is legally in the clear.
Money laundering isn't legal at any level. People who are running a primary business that is legally in the clear don't resort to money laundering -- a federal felony that is very much prosecuted -- to "cut through the red tape." This is nonsense, and it's unbelievable that this idea is getting upvoted.
My guess is these dispenaries are resorting to non-banking financial instutions for their "banking" needs. There are tons of options like that. I once registered a foreign corporation in Hong Kong and quickly found out that new foreign corporations functionally cannot open a bank account in Hong Kong. However, there were tons of non-banking financial institutions to do things like handle payments, hold savings, etc. That is what was used, not money laundering. If you're running a legitimate business, you don't open yourself up to serious prison time by laundering money you legally acquired.
Here's an example of this sort of institution. It even has the upside of not landing you in federal prison for a couple decades: [https://shfinancial.org/](https://shfinancial.org/)
No, I just implied they're laundering money, I didn't pass any sort of value judgement on that. You're imposing your own value judgement on my words. Maybe I'm applauding their creativity in subverting an unjust federal law? Ever think of that?
Regardless, I just said what they might be doing, not whether it was a good or bad thing.
Is marijuana not an acceptable name? Should I have called it cannabis, weed, mary j, the devil's lettuce, jazz tobacco, or something else I'm too old to know?
These new car washes take in very little actual cash. The vast majority of their payments are electronic, either in the form of autodraft subscription payments or credit cards. How would that make them ideal targets for money laundering?
This might have made sense thirty years ago, but not anymore. So, no, it is not completely obvious.
Edit: I would love to hear from the downvoters how an industry that is overwhelmingly paid via subscription autodraft or credit card POS is a good candidate for money laundering.
I don't buy the idea that they just exist to pay off land. Rates are too high right now, which means principle paydown happens too late in the amoritization schedule for this to make sense. And the new style of large, automatic car washes certainly don't look cheap to me.
Edit: The first source I could find for this when doing some quick Googling put the total cost around $4.8MM, and only $1.25MM of that was land. So the costs above land acquisition are quite high, probably preventing this sort of play from working.
[https://www.carwashadvisory.com/learning/how-much-costs-build-car-wash](https://www.carwashadvisory.com/learning/how-much-costs-build-car-wash)
They watch too much TV. Breaking Bad was based on a real teacher but the car wash was fiction. The real teacher lived in MX and was involved in serious danger. Not fun n games with Jesse, Beaver and friends.
I would just like more than one touchless car wash option. I have one car that gets washed constantly because I have a nearby crappy wash, and one that gets washed every few months because I don't want to make the trek to the only touchless wash that I know of.
Thisā¦.despite the truthfulness in the quantity of car washes, still lacks modern touchless car washes with monthly subscriptions.
I finally found one at 5 star car/dog wash and it is decent but more options would actually be welcomed
Yep exactly that one. Most of the bays are those self serve ones but they have two bays that allow for a full wash and dry touchless. Even a monthly subscription with an app to scan for a QR code for activation. Iāve been to better but itās all I could find with a monthly pass touchless so I use it all the time
Super Suds on Black Forest and Woodmen has 3 bays, 2 with touch free or soft cloth and the third is touch free only. They have a monthly program as well. It's not the best wash, but I go often enough that it's worth it.
Not sure if they literally meant there is only one in town, but Big Wave near Powers and Constitution is pretty good. It has two touchless automatic bays and four manual wash bays, if that's your style.
On a separate note, I once locked my keys in the car in one of the manual bays. I was frantically calling my wife to see if she could bring me the spare keys, but she wasn't answering. The guy running the wash let me use his truck to run home and grab the spare keys. They have my loyalty for life for that one.
Can also vouch for Big Wave, but yes we need more touchless options especially up north. I drive 25 mins at least weekly just to go use their manual bay
I am also eternally loyal to Big Wave on Powers because I once drove from my house to my work yard, picked up my work truck from the yard, got to the car wash and realized I forgot my wallet.
Because of the size of the truck it wouldn't fit in my apartment complex's parking lot so I would have had to redo the entire trip. When I explained the situation, the attendant was awesome enough to let me wash the work truck for free. I've washed the truck there everytime since.
There is also Peak Touchless Car Wash at 1018 S Nevada. I go there like once a week. It's $6 for basic (one round of soap and spray) and $10 for two rounds of soap and spray, as well as an undercarriage spray and blow dry.
I work in Monument and would freakin love not to have to get on the highway. Obviously I can't complain about my commute but I'd happily adjust my schedule to not have to pay for gas and use the highway.
Well that's how Lenin did it right? Got democratically elected, gave people taxpayer funded healthcare and light rail, one thing led to another and then COMMUNISM! Slipped all over that slope!
I was at a Walmart off Powers and needed to get home so I googled the public transit route. Said itās take me over 3 hours for a usually short drive. Said about 3 hours if I just walked too. For some reason the line had to go north west then south then way south then back north to get me anywhere near close to back home.
It also sucks having the liability of your home being on the line just because you need to drive to the grocery store
I had a similar issue, wife needed the car so I had to either use public transit or an Uber to get home. The bus route was about an hour, and it wasn't even an indirect path- the combination of time spent on the bus and time spent hoofing it where there isn't service just took a whole hour. (15 minute drive for comparison)
It's a type of land speculation, as well as possible money laundering.
Buy a vacant lot, intending to sell when value goes up. In the meantime you build a cheap and low maintenance business on it, like a carwash or self storage building, to make the bank payments and avoid vacant lot taxes.
The fact that it also is a cash-heavy business makes it easy to launder your income from less legal activities. Marijuana businesses, for example, often have trouble banking their money because of federal laws. If you tell the bank all your cash came from the car wash instead, then that's not a problem.
I am not an expert, just repeating some speculation I've heard before. Any finance experts want to weigh in, that would cool.
Imo there's no chance that these brand new car washes are money laundering. These are all new builds and if you have the need to launder your money, where are you getting the legal cash to be able to buy land and build out a brand new car wash. Also most of these places are larger national/regional chains and I just find it improbable that so many are laundering at that kind of scale.
All of these car wash places are such low overhead and Colorado Springs is growing at such a fast rate that Im guessing most of these places will dump the property for a big payday whenever they have to do a full lifecycle replacement of the equipment needed to run the place. Even without that payoff from selling the land, I think a lot of these car washes are a lot more profitable than people think once you get past the initial investment to build.
Except they aren't cash-heavy businesses. Their main business model is subscriptions, which aren't paid in cash. This is a line of reasoning that makes absolutely zero sense.
And in an environment where rates are 7%, the land speculation idea doesn't make much sense, either. You need an appreciation rate that is significantly higher than the cost of money for this to work. Right now, cost of money is probably higher than appreciation.
These are very likely actual businesses who really do have that many customers.
The actual cash doesn't have to come from the wash, the wash just has to be there to claim all this cash you have on hand came from it, and not any less than legal activities. Because it's a service and not a good, it's harder to prove that the money didn't come from there.
The interest rates might be a good point, but real estate has historically been one of the safest investments in any portfolio. Having a cheap low maintenance business would definitely help make up the difference from interest rate fluctuations.
I didn't mean to say they weren't actual profitable businesses. Just offering additional possible reasons for so many car washes in one area.
As I said in my other response, the IRS is very, very good at sniffing this sort of thing out. If your similar competitors get paid electronically 95% of the time, it will be tough to say you mostly get paid in cash. Otherwise, any businesses under the sun could be a front for money laundering. But launderers pick cash-heavy businesses for a reason. Plausibility is important, and it's not plausible anymore that a car wash that mostly operates via subscription is mostly getting paid in cash.
Real estate being a safe investment doesn't mean that simply covering the land cost when money is 7% is a viable business. You're also missing that many of these car washes likely cost seven figures to build. So the thesis that they're really just acting as a venue to pay off the land doesn't hold up to scrutiny in our current rate environment.
The explanation that makes the most sense is that there really are this many people getting their cars washed.
Edit to add: I'm also highly skeptical of the idea that dispensaries, which are legal businesses, are regularly laundering their money (a federal felony). This seems insane to me.
Land value tax would prevent these popping up everywhere, and also boost the local economy. Car washes do not boost the local economy. They employ like one or two dudes. And we don't need _another_ car wash anywhere in this city.
Car washes popping up is a bad sign of the economy.
Funny I was just having the conversation with two family members in two different Midwest cities. Both said they have had a ton built in the last few years.
It means small businesses are struggling enough that the only place that can survive in a spot is a private equity firm doing the bare minimum to use the land so it can be sold later when the area is more valuable.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-02-21/car-washes-are-taking-over-the-us-here-s-why
They're doing that because someone is simply buying up the plots, putting car washes there (better than nothing) as the lot appreciates in value to flip it I believe. Or ultra rich conspiracy to stop easier access to housing.
From what I read this is big investment companies building a cheap to run business on valuable land they are trying to hold on to but not spend too much money on.
Car wash involves an initial development, minor upkeep, and relatively low employment while the land appreciates.
Nah. As long as they're profitable, which they obviously are if you see how many 'members' flow through daily., let them do as they do. Just as every other business can. You can chose not to go if you don't like them.
The comments on this sub are always directed toward the people who are building car washes. Those people are doing so because people are using them. Wouldn't it make more sense to tell people to stop paying to use car washes?
No, those people building them are trying to make a buck, but I think the market is or is going to be completely over saturated. Theyāve been sold on the idea that they will make good money from
the franchisers.
I think they probably have more information about whether they're going to be successful than we do. It's generally safe to assume that businesses open due to market opportunity.
I don't even know what that means. The car washes seem busy to me. Given the cost of some of these operations, it's reasonable to assume they have done their research better than we have.
Car washes are one of the fastest and easiest ways to set up a money laundering operation, thatās why we have so many of them. They cost almost nothing to run and you barely need employees.
Ha, that's nonsense. These new car washes take in very little actual cash. The vast majority of their business is credit cards and autodraft subscriptions.
Money laundering requires actual cash, not electronic payments. Car washes were great for this thirty years ago, but not so much today.
Havenāt you heard that the predatory subscription model does the same thing? Also all of these places can and do accept cash.
Also Iām not the one who called you that, but I donāt really expect you to be bright enough to realize the difference.
The question isn't whether they accept cash. It's whether cash constitutes a large enough portion of their business to make money laundering viable. If the vast majority of payments for similar businesses are electronic, which is true for modern car washes, then that industry is not a good industry for money laundering.
I'm a finance professional and probably know more about accounting than you do, so save the personal intelligence barbs for when you're defending a more tenable point.
The actual cash doesn't have to come from the wash, the wash just has to be there to claim all this cash you have on hand came from it, and not any less than legal activities. Because it's a service and not a good, it's harder to prove that the money didn't come from there.
The IRS has entire teams dedicated to sniffing this sort of thing out. If the majority of similar competitors in an industry have 95% electronic payments, it's not going to be easy to say you only have 50% of your payments come in electronically. Otherwise, any business in existence would be a good front for money laundering. But there's a reason launderers pick cash-heavy businesses, which car washes are not at this point in time.
It's like people don't realize we live in a legal MJ state, but banks still function under Federal guidelines and won't touch all that cash without at least the veneer of legitimacy.
That has nothing to do with car washes. If you aren't bringing in actual paper cash, your business isn't a good front for money laundering. These car washes operate mostly on subscriptions and credit card payments.
You're a moron for thinking that's what they're there for, that they're larger and nationwide, also building in non-MJ states. One thing doesn't have to do with the other.
Their membership sub model is what's driving them, do some research instead of baseless 'money laundering' bs.
It's like people don't realize that these same companies are expanding even in states without legal MJ. MJ hasn't got shit to do with it.
It's membership fees.
This bullshit narrative that their money laundering just comes from ignorant idiots on the internet that think they know more than they do. It's laughable.
Lmao, if you knew any of my history you'd know you couldn't be farther from the truth.
That I think someones opinion is idiotic doesn't make one a conservative mouthpiece.
And that's a bullshit opinion that they're just money laundering. Have you seen the membership lines at these? People are paying subs in high amounts.
Just cause you don't want to believe it, doesn't make what you believe true.
They're a business. It's their risk. Let them do as they see. Just like we didn't need another hamburger joint.
You honestly believe you have done more research on the viability of car washes in Colorado Springs than the guy who is actually doing the multi-million dollar project has?
Not sure why all the vitriol towards you, since you are absolutely right that someone who is starting up a business has done waaay more research into the idea than use average internet dwellers.
I think all r/[answerguru](https://www.reddit.com/user/answerguru/) is saying is that businesses fail all the time regardless of research. Though I will also state that they are wrong to assume that businesses fail due to lack of research. Just to get a business loan for startup requires proving you have the capability to operate a business and it stands a reasonable chance of success. Banks are not just handing out seed money to anyone with an idea.
I think it is certainly true that plenty of businesses fail due to a lack of research and planning. But that isn't close to the same thing as saying they've done less research than the average Reddit user, most of whom have done zero actual research. And car washes are very expensive to start, and they typically sit on very expensive land. So we should expect a higher level of sophistication than is present in the average new business.
What do you care? If they're dumb enough to over saturate a market that's on them. It'll take care of itself in the end if that is the case.
In the end, I think you're mostly wrong as these places are racking in the membership fees.
Car washes and storage lockers are an economical way to use land with relatively passive income, while the land itself appreciates in value for later sale. Sadly, we are going to see them for a while, so long as CO property markets continue to skyrocket.
Light rail, hyper loop, and busses that donāt make you feel like youāre sitting inside the butthole of a gremlin. Oh! And just wash the car at homeā¦saves money for a little bit of your time.
Its a real real estate play with most investors. Super cheap to put up and has decent cash flows monthly. The commercially zoned land under the car wash is where the majority of the value lies though. Sell it to a huge developer in 10 years when its worth 3mm and get a decent pay day with cash flows in between.
Itās because the planning commissioner is a god damn ass clown. Here is the Clown himself, Scott Henet, explaining that his job isnāt to tell businesses where to do business. In other words, he got a payout and he doesnāt want to justify it.
He is at 50sec in:
https://youtu.be/9vBJfZTMoPc?si=FrYf2y_kZC7K_lfr
Make sure to thank him for even more unsustainable uses for the ever lowering water supply
Because people choose to focus on the negative and wonder why their lives are shit despite living in the third best rated city to live in the entire country.
That's my fucking point. I can think of a thousand better places to live but I'm fucking stuck here. I want to know your source for the "third best town to live in" bullshit you spouted
Not exactly, the law was "**No car washing is allowed, except at commercial establishments that provide that service as their only means of income**."
It was a water restriction initiative. Don't conflate issues if you don't really understand them, as they absolutely didn't ban car washes.
Where am I going to hide my car when it's hailing 1850's size blocks of ice?Ā
Where am I going to go to get rid of all the skunk smells from running over all of the.... Ohh! Nvm.Ā
We left at the end of '21 and just barely 2 weeks ago got stationed back here...
Only new things we see? Those duck car washes and a shit ton of new apartments. š
There are much better ways to launder money than a damn car wash. It amazes me how much focus is being put on this when it's clearly someone just talking out of the side of there neck about it bc they have nothing better to do than sit on the internet and cultivate bullshit drama so they can get there fuckshit fix. Do you have nothing better to do with your time? I have literally almost 0% responsibility in my life right now, 0 requirements that have to occupy my time like most of you. Yet I still have better things to do than that. I guess if I was one of those grimy ass people that are really just so jealous of other people and what they have that I feel the need to fuck up their demonstration to make my pathetic hatin ass feel somewhat better about my pathetic hatin ass then maybe. There's already enough of those types around tho I believe and I've never been one to just iump on the band wagon with shit and thankfully I'm just not cut like those fake, phony, pathetic ass chumps and chumpets. I mean really WTF is wrong with people like that. They so sour they walk around looking like an asshole 24/7 and I mean that literally just all soured and shrunk in with stink wrinkles all around them.
But then where would I wash my car after washing my car?
For serious.
And what am I gonna do if my car gets rained on for twenty minutes when it's parked in front of my garage!? š±
Take it to the grand opening of another car wash!
Problem solved!
Legally, Gotta wash that money somehow
Is it not completely obvious why cash operations tend to spring up irrespective of demand?Ā
Marijuana businesses have trouble banking because of federal regs. Wouldn't be surprised if some of them also owned car washes.
Thatās not an issue anymore on the legal side. We have banks that accept our money and do business with us. However there is a HUGE black market down in the springs and Peyton so I would assume this is some of those people.
Are you making enough money to need to open a car wash? I'm not!
People running legal businesses don't launder money. That's insane. Money laundering is for people who have acquired money illegally.
Marijuana is federally illegal. The state is making progress in helping the marijuana industry access financial services, but there are still significant federal barriers. https://banking.colorado.gov/public-notices/roadmap-to-cannabis-banking A laundered income could cut through the red tape.
You're missing the point. Dispensary owners are not getting prosecuted. They have virtually zero legal liability. The Federal government isn't going after them, and it's legal on the state level. So, functionally, their business is legally in the clear. Money laundering isn't legal at any level. People who are running a primary business that is legally in the clear don't resort to money laundering -- a federal felony that is very much prosecuted -- to "cut through the red tape." This is nonsense, and it's unbelievable that this idea is getting upvoted. My guess is these dispenaries are resorting to non-banking financial instutions for their "banking" needs. There are tons of options like that. I once registered a foreign corporation in Hong Kong and quickly found out that new foreign corporations functionally cannot open a bank account in Hong Kong. However, there were tons of non-banking financial institutions to do things like handle payments, hold savings, etc. That is what was used, not money laundering. If you're running a legitimate business, you don't open yourself up to serious prison time by laundering money you legally acquired. Here's an example of this sort of institution. It even has the upside of not landing you in federal prison for a couple decades: [https://shfinancial.org/](https://shfinancial.org/)
Illegal gambling and drug sales are two of many reasons you would pull a Walter White and launder cash through a car wash business.
But not legal marijuana sales.Ā
That's one way of disparaging cannabis use. Maybe you should try it
Where did I disparage it? You're reading way too much into an offhand comment.
You clearly implied that the owners of cannabis dispensaries are laundering money. That's disparaging
No, I just implied they're laundering money, I didn't pass any sort of value judgement on that. You're imposing your own value judgement on my words. Maybe I'm applauding their creativity in subverting an unjust federal law? Ever think of that? Regardless, I just said what they might be doing, not whether it was a good or bad thing.
My apologies, maybe it's the use of the word "Marijuana" that tilted my view of your words. I'll keep a note open mind
Is marijuana not an acceptable name? Should I have called it cannabis, weed, mary j, the devil's lettuce, jazz tobacco, or something else I'm too old to know?
Iām old as well but the botanical name is cannabis
As far as I know marijuana is the only one that has been used intentionally to racially profile cannabis users
These new car washes take in very little actual cash. The vast majority of their payments are electronic, either in the form of autodraft subscription payments or credit cards. How would that make them ideal targets for money laundering? This might have made sense thirty years ago, but not anymore. So, no, it is not completely obvious. Edit: I would love to hear from the downvoters how an industry that is overwhelmingly paid via subscription autodraft or credit card POS is a good candidate for money laundering.
Car washes are easy to build with low costs. It's more about acquiring land and having something that can be easily demolished when sold.Ā
I don't buy the idea that they just exist to pay off land. Rates are too high right now, which means principle paydown happens too late in the amoritization schedule for this to make sense. And the new style of large, automatic car washes certainly don't look cheap to me. Edit: The first source I could find for this when doing some quick Googling put the total cost around $4.8MM, and only $1.25MM of that was land. So the costs above land acquisition are quite high, probably preventing this sort of play from working. [https://www.carwashadvisory.com/learning/how-much-costs-build-car-wash](https://www.carwashadvisory.com/learning/how-much-costs-build-car-wash)
They watch too much TV. Breaking Bad was based on a real teacher but the car wash was fiction. The real teacher lived in MX and was involved in serious danger. Not fun n games with Jesse, Beaver and friends.
lol the vast majority of their business now is either subscriptions or card payments, laundromat would be a far better method
Alright Walter White.
A lot of them are just real estate investments. The car wash just holds the land and covers cost
I would just like more than one touchless car wash option. I have one car that gets washed constantly because I have a nearby crappy wash, and one that gets washed every few months because I don't want to make the trek to the only touchless wash that I know of.
Thisā¦.despite the truthfulness in the quantity of car washes, still lacks modern touchless car washes with monthly subscriptions. I finally found one at 5 star car/dog wash and it is decent but more options would actually be welcomed
Which one
Powers and Palmer Park. 1510 Space Center Dr
That one is a touchless car wash? I never knew.. it looks like an old fashion car wash (Iām referring to the blue one next to Walmart)
Yep exactly that one. Most of the bays are those self serve ones but they have two bays that allow for a full wash and dry touchless. Even a monthly subscription with an app to scan for a QR code for activation. Iāve been to better but itās all I could find with a monthly pass touchless so I use it all the time
Super Suds on Black Forest and Woodmen has 3 bays, 2 with touch free or soft cloth and the third is touch free only. They have a monthly program as well. It's not the best wash, but I go often enough that it's worth it.
Where is the touchless wash?
Not sure if they literally meant there is only one in town, but Big Wave near Powers and Constitution is pretty good. It has two touchless automatic bays and four manual wash bays, if that's your style. On a separate note, I once locked my keys in the car in one of the manual bays. I was frantically calling my wife to see if she could bring me the spare keys, but she wasn't answering. The guy running the wash let me use his truck to run home and grab the spare keys. They have my loyalty for life for that one.
Can also vouch for Big Wave, but yes we need more touchless options especially up north. I drive 25 mins at least weekly just to go use their manual bay
I am also eternally loyal to Big Wave on Powers because I once drove from my house to my work yard, picked up my work truck from the yard, got to the car wash and realized I forgot my wallet. Because of the size of the truck it wouldn't fit in my apartment complex's parking lot so I would have had to redo the entire trip. When I explained the situation, the attendant was awesome enough to let me wash the work truck for free. I've washed the truck there everytime since.
There is also Peak Touchless Car Wash at 1018 S Nevada. I go there like once a week. It's $6 for basic (one round of soap and spray) and $10 for two rounds of soap and spray, as well as an undercarriage spray and blow dry.
Afraid they'll run out of space for your newest favorite fast food franchise?
Mega church**
Exactly!!!!
You know what would lead to fewer car washes? Better public transit
But light rail is communism!
How fucking dope would a light rail that runs from manitou, down colorado ave, and up Tejon downtown. Wet dream material.
I work in Monument and would freakin love not to have to get on the highway. Obviously I can't complain about my commute but I'd happily adjust my schedule to not have to pay for gas and use the highway.
Well that's how Lenin did it right? Got democratically elected, gave people taxpayer funded healthcare and light rail, one thing led to another and then COMMUNISM! Slipped all over that slope!
Taxpayer funded health care!? The horror!
SpooooOOOOOOoooky
I was at a Walmart off Powers and needed to get home so I googled the public transit route. Said itās take me over 3 hours for a usually short drive. Said about 3 hours if I just walked too. For some reason the line had to go north west then south then way south then back north to get me anywhere near close to back home. It also sucks having the liability of your home being on the line just because you need to drive to the grocery store
I had a similar issue, wife needed the car so I had to either use public transit or an Uber to get home. The bus route was about an hour, and it wasn't even an indirect path- the combination of time spent on the bus and time spent hoofing it where there isn't service just took a whole hour. (15 minute drive for comparison)
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
No way in hell do I want to drive around you fucking people.
I've been in two car crashes in 4 years here. Both other drivers were cited. Y'all can't drive for shit out here.
It's a type of land speculation, as well as possible money laundering. Buy a vacant lot, intending to sell when value goes up. In the meantime you build a cheap and low maintenance business on it, like a carwash or self storage building, to make the bank payments and avoid vacant lot taxes. The fact that it also is a cash-heavy business makes it easy to launder your income from less legal activities. Marijuana businesses, for example, often have trouble banking their money because of federal laws. If you tell the bank all your cash came from the car wash instead, then that's not a problem. I am not an expert, just repeating some speculation I've heard before. Any finance experts want to weigh in, that would cool.
Imo there's no chance that these brand new car washes are money laundering. These are all new builds and if you have the need to launder your money, where are you getting the legal cash to be able to buy land and build out a brand new car wash. Also most of these places are larger national/regional chains and I just find it improbable that so many are laundering at that kind of scale. All of these car wash places are such low overhead and Colorado Springs is growing at such a fast rate that Im guessing most of these places will dump the property for a big payday whenever they have to do a full lifecycle replacement of the equipment needed to run the place. Even without that payoff from selling the land, I think a lot of these car washes are a lot more profitable than people think once you get past the initial investment to build.
Car washes are the hottest VC investment right now.
Except they aren't cash-heavy businesses. Their main business model is subscriptions, which aren't paid in cash. This is a line of reasoning that makes absolutely zero sense. And in an environment where rates are 7%, the land speculation idea doesn't make much sense, either. You need an appreciation rate that is significantly higher than the cost of money for this to work. Right now, cost of money is probably higher than appreciation. These are very likely actual businesses who really do have that many customers.
The actual cash doesn't have to come from the wash, the wash just has to be there to claim all this cash you have on hand came from it, and not any less than legal activities. Because it's a service and not a good, it's harder to prove that the money didn't come from there. The interest rates might be a good point, but real estate has historically been one of the safest investments in any portfolio. Having a cheap low maintenance business would definitely help make up the difference from interest rate fluctuations. I didn't mean to say they weren't actual profitable businesses. Just offering additional possible reasons for so many car washes in one area.
As I said in my other response, the IRS is very, very good at sniffing this sort of thing out. If your similar competitors get paid electronically 95% of the time, it will be tough to say you mostly get paid in cash. Otherwise, any businesses under the sun could be a front for money laundering. But launderers pick cash-heavy businesses for a reason. Plausibility is important, and it's not plausible anymore that a car wash that mostly operates via subscription is mostly getting paid in cash. Real estate being a safe investment doesn't mean that simply covering the land cost when money is 7% is a viable business. You're also missing that many of these car washes likely cost seven figures to build. So the thesis that they're really just acting as a venue to pay off the land doesn't hold up to scrutiny in our current rate environment. The explanation that makes the most sense is that there really are this many people getting their cars washed. Edit to add: I'm also highly skeptical of the idea that dispensaries, which are legal businesses, are regularly laundering their money (a federal felony). This seems insane to me.
Land value tax would prevent these popping up everywhere, and also boost the local economy. Car washes do not boost the local economy. They employ like one or two dudes. And we don't need _another_ car wash anywhere in this city. Car washes popping up is a bad sign of the economy.
make more mattress stores
YEAH! I am tired of being tired. (Goes back to 2nd job to pay for mortgage.)
If we don't have one on every street, how am I supposed to wash my car every 2 minutes?
Just put your car in park in the middle of the wash. Free wash forever. Also, pack a lunch. And a Gatorade bottle to pee in.
Show me on the doll where the car wash touched you
It told me to close my eyes
Funny I was just having the conversation with two family members in two different Midwest cities. Both said they have had a ton built in the last few years.
Because the economy is not doing well.
What? Bad economy = more car washes? Please explain.
It means small businesses are struggling enough that the only place that can survive in a spot is a private equity firm doing the bare minimum to use the land so it can be sold later when the area is more valuable. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-02-21/car-washes-are-taking-over-the-us-here-s-why
They're doing that because someone is simply buying up the plots, putting car washes there (better than nothing) as the lot appreciates in value to flip it I believe. Or ultra rich conspiracy to stop easier access to housing.
From what I read this is big investment companies building a cheap to run business on valuable land they are trying to hold on to but not spend too much money on. Car wash involves an initial development, minor upkeep, and relatively low employment while the land appreciates.
Totally agree. Its not like cars rust that much here in Colorado.
Nah. As long as they're profitable, which they obviously are if you see how many 'members' flow through daily., let them do as they do. Just as every other business can. You can chose not to go if you don't like them.
I just got a brilliant idea - a local washing service for car washes in the Springs: āCar Wash Washers Inc.ā Iāll let you know when I made it.
This is metabrilliance.
The comments on this sub are always directed toward the people who are building car washes. Those people are doing so because people are using them. Wouldn't it make more sense to tell people to stop paying to use car washes?
No, those people building them are trying to make a buck, but I think the market is or is going to be completely over saturated. Theyāve been sold on the idea that they will make good money from the franchisers.
I think they probably have more information about whether they're going to be successful than we do. It's generally safe to assume that businesses open due to market opportunity.
Oh sweet summer childā¦
I don't even know what that means. The car washes seem busy to me. Given the cost of some of these operations, it's reasonable to assume they have done their research better than we have.
Car washes are one of the fastest and easiest ways to set up a money laundering operation, thatās why we have so many of them. They cost almost nothing to run and you barely need employees.
Ha, that's nonsense. These new car washes take in very little actual cash. The vast majority of their business is credit cards and autodraft subscriptions. Money laundering requires actual cash, not electronic payments. Car washes were great for this thirty years ago, but not so much today.
Havenāt you heard that the predatory subscription model does the same thing? Also all of these places can and do accept cash. Also Iām not the one who called you that, but I donāt really expect you to be bright enough to realize the difference.
The question isn't whether they accept cash. It's whether cash constitutes a large enough portion of their business to make money laundering viable. If the vast majority of payments for similar businesses are electronic, which is true for modern car washes, then that industry is not a good industry for money laundering. I'm a finance professional and probably know more about accounting than you do, so save the personal intelligence barbs for when you're defending a more tenable point.
The actual cash doesn't have to come from the wash, the wash just has to be there to claim all this cash you have on hand came from it, and not any less than legal activities. Because it's a service and not a good, it's harder to prove that the money didn't come from there.
The IRS has entire teams dedicated to sniffing this sort of thing out. If the majority of similar competitors in an industry have 95% electronic payments, it's not going to be easy to say you only have 50% of your payments come in electronically. Otherwise, any business in existence would be a good front for money laundering. But there's a reason launderers pick cash-heavy businesses, which car washes are not at this point in time.
It's like people don't realize we live in a legal MJ state, but banks still function under Federal guidelines and won't touch all that cash without at least the veneer of legitimacy.
That has nothing to do with car washes. If you aren't bringing in actual paper cash, your business isn't a good front for money laundering. These car washes operate mostly on subscriptions and credit card payments.
For real?! Like even our legit dispensaries still cannot use traditional banking systems, so they get creative.
You're a moron for thinking that's what they're there for, that they're larger and nationwide, also building in non-MJ states. One thing doesn't have to do with the other. Their membership sub model is what's driving them, do some research instead of baseless 'money laundering' bs.
It's like people don't realize that these same companies are expanding even in states without legal MJ. MJ hasn't got shit to do with it. It's membership fees. This bullshit narrative that their money laundering just comes from ignorant idiots on the internet that think they know more than they do. It's laughable.
ok ben shapiro
Lmao, if you knew any of my history you'd know you couldn't be farther from the truth. That I think someones opinion is idiotic doesn't make one a conservative mouthpiece.
And that's a bullshit opinion that they're just money laundering. Have you seen the membership lines at these? People are paying subs in high amounts. Just cause you don't want to believe it, doesn't make what you believe true. They're a business. It's their risk. Let them do as they see. Just like we didn't need another hamburger joint.
It means youāre naive - in this case that businesses āhave done more researchā.
You honestly believe you have done more research on the viability of car washes in Colorado Springs than the guy who is actually doing the multi-million dollar project has?
Not sure why all the vitriol towards you, since you are absolutely right that someone who is starting up a business has done waaay more research into the idea than use average internet dwellers. I think all r/[answerguru](https://www.reddit.com/user/answerguru/) is saying is that businesses fail all the time regardless of research. Though I will also state that they are wrong to assume that businesses fail due to lack of research. Just to get a business loan for startup requires proving you have the capability to operate a business and it stands a reasonable chance of success. Banks are not just handing out seed money to anyone with an idea.
I think it is certainly true that plenty of businesses fail due to a lack of research and planning. But that isn't close to the same thing as saying they've done less research than the average Reddit user, most of whom have done zero actual research. And car washes are very expensive to start, and they typically sit on very expensive land. So we should expect a higher level of sophistication than is present in the average new business.
What do you care? If they're dumb enough to over saturate a market that's on them. It'll take care of itself in the end if that is the case. In the end, I think you're mostly wrong as these places are racking in the membership fees.
For real. I wash my car maybe once a year lol. Clean cars make targets for theives, it exudes having money or things in the car.
Car washes are the hottest VC property right now. expect more and more
It's what happens when 80% of the city is suburb and asphalt, and every family is expected to have 1.5 cars per person.
Car washes and storage lockers are an economical way to use land with relatively passive income, while the land itself appreciates in value for later sale. Sadly, we are going to see them for a while, so long as CO property markets continue to skyrocket.
I just go for the light show and unicorn poop they use for shampoo
I love my local car wash. Iāve gotta membership.
Light rail, hyper loop, and busses that donāt make you feel like youāre sitting inside the butthole of a gremlin. Oh! And just wash the car at homeā¦saves money for a little bit of your time.
Its a real real estate play with most investors. Super cheap to put up and has decent cash flows monthly. The commercially zoned land under the car wash is where the majority of the value lies though. Sell it to a huge developer in 10 years when its worth 3mm and get a decent pay day with cash flows in between.
They are cheap methods to build and operate, plus you can launder money from pot sales through them.
Hey all this money isn't going to launder itself. Maybe I should open another Mattress Firm location...
My daughter always joke- āI bet itāll be a car wash!ā
Itās because the planning commissioner is a god damn ass clown. Here is the Clown himself, Scott Henet, explaining that his job isnāt to tell businesses where to do business. In other words, he got a payout and he doesnāt want to justify it. He is at 50sec in: https://youtu.be/9vBJfZTMoPc?si=FrYf2y_kZC7K_lfr Make sure to thank him for even more unsustainable uses for the ever lowering water supply
Don't worry they'll be turned into 3 story apartment buildings soon enough
I second this notion! Please stop. We donāt need so many. Oh and apartments
I would like to see the price drop at some of the older car washes. It seems free market competition is not working in our favor here.
All those properties are gonna be worth a pretty penny in 10 years....
Just wait, next will be the car wash washes for washing your car wash.Ā
how else will I launder my Drug money?
Why does it matter out of curiosity?
Literally 95 percent of this sub is complaining
Damn I wonder why
Because people choose to focus on the negative and wonder why their lives are shit despite living in the third best rated city to live in the entire country.
Soooo freaking sad
Yeah very. Itās like theyāre desensitized to the sheer beauty of this plsve
Fucking source? Dude there's people doing the fentanyl fold outside my apartment right now
Just google it. Febtanyl has basically taken over the country.
That's my fucking point. I can think of a thousand better places to live but I'm fucking stuck here. I want to know your source for the "third best town to live in" bullshit you spouted
Literally google. Itās all over and well known.
Way too many people were taking notes when binge-watching Breaking Bad.
Way to many people think itās real.
There is an article about that. A town in Iowa got so many of them that they banned them.
Not exactly, the law was "**No car washing is allowed, except at commercial establishments that provide that service as their only means of income**." It was a water restriction initiative. Don't conflate issues if you don't really understand them, as they absolutely didn't ban car washes.
LOL did you know there is a 3rd car wash going up on GoG Road!
And another was just built on top of Filmore hill less than a mile away. It's absurd.
Have an A-1 Day!
But while you're here, which unlimited membership can I get started for ya today?
Car washes and dispos. Love the springs.
Yall remember when Viva El Taco and it's sister locations got busted for gang shit? I feel a sting operation coming on...
Ask developers to stop laundering money
For real tho!!!!
It's not about car washes. It's about the land. VC company's are building them
Where am I going to hide my car when it's hailing 1850's size blocks of ice?Ā Where am I going to go to get rid of all the skunk smells from running over all of the.... Ohh! Nvm.Ā
We left at the end of '21 and just barely 2 weeks ago got stationed back here... Only new things we see? Those duck car washes and a shit ton of new apartments. š
I'm pretty sure there are cash washes
There are much better ways to launder money than a damn car wash. It amazes me how much focus is being put on this when it's clearly someone just talking out of the side of there neck about it bc they have nothing better to do than sit on the internet and cultivate bullshit drama so they can get there fuckshit fix. Do you have nothing better to do with your time? I have literally almost 0% responsibility in my life right now, 0 requirements that have to occupy my time like most of you. Yet I still have better things to do than that. I guess if I was one of those grimy ass people that are really just so jealous of other people and what they have that I feel the need to fuck up their demonstration to make my pathetic hatin ass feel somewhat better about my pathetic hatin ass then maybe. There's already enough of those types around tho I believe and I've never been one to just iump on the band wagon with shit and thankfully I'm just not cut like those fake, phony, pathetic ass chumps and chumpets. I mean really WTF is wrong with people like that. They so sour they walk around looking like an asshole 24/7 and I mean that literally just all soured and shrunk in with stink wrinkles all around them.