Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

Post by dboreham » Sun, Mar 17, 2024, 10:29 PM UTC

logifail wrote: post #89

> There are four full-service car washes in town, with a fifth on the way; three are bunched up on a mile-and-a-half stretch of Route 14. Social media complaints about car wash overkill spurred town leaders to take action. Four (or even five) doesn't sound that much? What's the actual problem here? How is a local politican supposed to determine what is the correct density of any particular type of service within her…

Post by dboreham » Sun, Mar 17, 2024, 10:36 PM UTC

bilsbie wrote: post #16

diogenescynic wrote: post #2

The article doesn't mention it, but I read another article about car washes that argued they're used as a way to speculate on commercial real estate in cities because the car washes provide just enough revenue to pay for the purchase of the land and property taxes. Then when the land becomes valuable they can sell it to another developer.

I wouldn’t think they would be especially cheap to build though? Sophisticated machinery, lots of plumbing?

Post by dr-detroit » Sun, Mar 17, 2024, 10:37 PM UTC

hobobaggins wrote: post #134

sroussey wrote: post #98

There is a federal write off for car washes, so no real surprise. https://engineeredtaxservices.com/the-unique-benefits-of-cos...

Depreciation is available for any company that purchases equipment; the "unique" thing as described in that article is simply that most of the value for car washes is in the equipment, so depreciation strategies are very important, but any business can and should write off equipment, or any other expense against net profits.

Post by nickthegreek » Sun, Mar 17, 2024, 10:41 PM UTC

bee_rider wrote: post #83

1) Who is spending $20 a month on car washes? 2) If the problem is that subscription users aren’t paying local sales taxes, why not charge property taxes? (or, Land Value Tax!)

Post by nickthegreek » Sun, Mar 17, 2024, 10:42 PM UTC

echelon wrote: post #119

bee_rider wrote: post #83

1) Who is spending $20 a month on car washes? 2) If the problem is that subscription users aren’t paying local sales taxes, why not charge property taxes? (or, Land Value Tax!)

> 1) Who is spending $20 a month on car washes? I've spent $200 - $350 on car detailing as a service several times now. They drive to your home and work on your car for several hours to get it looking brand new. As someone who drives an SUV, has dogs in the car frequently, and gets my vehicle muddy on the inside, this is a fantastic service. A bunch of my neighbors use the exact same service.