Self-serve car washes are getting their sparkle back as a new generation of investors — both individual entrepreneurs and private equity professionals — put their faith in the future of this popular and durable segment of the industry.
Two weeks of rain had given way to sunshine and Carolina blue skies, and Dan Schiermeyer was a happy camper. By 11 a.m. on an August Friday, all five self-serve bays and the in-bay automatic at his Suds N’ Shine were full up, the vacuums were humming, and the weekend forecast promised more of the same.
Schiermeyer had more than the change in weather to smile about: Since buying the business from its original owner in 2020, the Cornelius, N.C., self-serve car wash had blown past initial growth projections and was on track to nearly quadruple gross sales and net operating income in less than five years.
Suds N’ Shine may be the exception rather than the rule in a segment of the car wash industry sometimes unfairly perceived as run down, undercapitalized, underperforming and just plain unloved compared to the sexier express tunnel side of the business, but it’s getting more company every day.
Industry insiders say self-serves are experiencing a mini-boom of their own as new entrants and some legacy operators scramble to modernize and refresh their washes — long-overdue improvements in some cases — to satisfy changing customer needs and boost the return on their own investments.
They’re upping curb appeal with new signage, fresh paint and manicured landscaping, installing new in-bay automatics (IBAs) or upgrading old ones, updating payment options, adding air dryers, ceramic sealants and other amenities to bays, and launching membership plans to keep customers coming back.
“We’re seeing tremendous activity,” said Marc Tyndale, codirector of equipment and director of strategic partnerships for Kleen-Rite. “The self-serve and in-bay automatic industry has moved faster in the last five years than it has in the last 40.”
Marious Sjulsen, chief investment officer for real estate investment firm EquityMultiple, agrees self-serves are having “a moment” — driven at least in part by generational transition as older operators cash out, providing opportunities for younger entrepreneurs to invest with an eye toward the future.
“I do think the self-serve space is pretty attractive, because of the low cost of acquisition and because of the return on investment that you can generate on it,” Sjulsen said. “With a little bit of spit and shine, you can take some of these older car washes and with not a lot of effort make them quite nice.”
With their growth potential, attractive margins and built-in advantages such as 24-hour service, self-serves are even attracting a smattering of interest from private equity investors, though not on a level that could be deemed a trend and nothing like the capital infusion that helped propel the express boom.
“At the end of the day there will always be a market for people who do not want a machine touching their car.” — Nick Rossi, Ardent Advisory Group
Willow Oak Partners, for example, owns 16 self-serve washes in the Carolinas and Virginia. Each have been acquired over the past three years and currently operate under the Royal Rinse brand. David Head, co-managing partner of the boutique investment firm along with Ryan Henderson, said they’re just getting started.
“Self-service washes are often unfairly burdened by a reputation that they’re all dilapidated, not modernized, nor well kept,” Head said. “While true in some instances, in general, we don’t think that’s an accurate universalization. There’s a strong, large and growing customer base that seeks self-service, particularly if you programmatically reinvest into it.”
SOLID SHARE OF MARKET
Indeed, self-serves occupy a significant niche in the professional car wash market, with 16,250 self-serve washes nationwide, compared to 17,500 conveyor car washes, according to U.S. Census data. Self-serves with IBAs and IBA-only washes together comprise 30,000 to 40,000 locations, Tyndale estimates.
According to ICA’s 2025 Q3 PULSE consumer survey, 17% of car wash customers said they used a self-serve to wash their car most often — a number that’s jumped up from 13% in Q3 2024 and 12% in Q3 2023. Add in occasional users who normally choose a tunnel option, and self-serve’s market share is even higher.
This is an excerpt of an article from CAR WASH Magazine.
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