Toronto’s New VIP Carwash

Attention Torontonians: There is a new state-of-the-art carwash in town. Located at 3595 Bathurst Street in mid-town Toronto, VIP Carwash is scheduled to open to the public in mid to late September.

By Angela Altass

“As a car enthusiast, opening up a different and unique carwash had always been in the back of my mind,” says real estate broker and developer Hoss Nakhsaz. “This carwash and its’ unique concept is a result of years researching and exploring. I am very excited. Starting construction in the heat of the pandemic was worrying, also risky at first, since it is a big investment for me. But, I now strongly believe that this carwash model which is completely contact free and time efficient, if operated right, is what we actually need, especially during this time of crisis.”

Car owners who are used to getting their vehicles washed at this Bathurst Street location will be excited to see the changes that new leading-edge technology brings to their carwash experience.

“VIP Carwash is using the industry leading Washworld Razor machines with the Edge package, which has earned the reputation of a proven system for quality, dependability and longevity, with an emphasis on simplicity of use, reduced maintenance, and stainless steel throughout,” says Grady Taylor, national account manager, Canada, equipment and service division, Transchem Group. “The Razor is built to last. This system will keep customers very happy with the high-quality wash it delivers.”

The new owner of the carwash is focused on customer experience and has chosen high-end products, notes Taylor.

“Hoss has put in a pay terminal by ICS (Innovative Control Systems), which will allow his customers to pay by tap or have a monthly subscription,” says Taylor. “The carwash also has stunning black doors by Airlift Doors, which are built for looks and durability. The owner has also chosen to use Turtle Wax® Pro chemicals for his entire site, which sets the standard for the high-end quality wash his customers can come to expect.”

VIP purchased the Razor Edge package to set themselves apart, says Jim Koch, director of national accounts, Washworld.

“The Razor has all the leading-edge technology needed to make operators successful while still maintaining a simple design, which keeps cost of ownership the lowest in the industry,” says Koch. “It is the fastest overhead machine and is manufactured with all 304 stainless so operators are getting a machine that will last for decades.”

 

 

 

The Edge package includes:

Lumen Arch, which has blue LED lighting on both sides of the arch creating an eye-catching glow of the spay arch as it travels around the vehicle.

 

 

SpectraRay, which is a series of 4,528 LED lights in red, green, blue and magenta. These lights are fully programmable to add splashes of various colours during any or all of the wash applications to accentuate the entire wash experience. When the wash is idle, these lights will attract attention to passing traffic especially at night. To enhance the customer experience even further the wash bay lights can be programed to turn off during the wash process, which really enhances the light show.

HyperFlex consists of an overhead rain bar and foaming pods that can apply up to four additional wash functions. This manifold uses less product than traditional applications and, at the same time, increases the show and performance of any protectant type product. Hyperflex can be used in conjunction with the Razor’s standard flex pass manifold to simultaneously apply multiple products on a single pass, dramatically reducing wash times. Programing HyperFlex with SpectraRay creates a blanket of colour and foam for the ultimate wash experience.

“Other new features on this fourth generation of the Razor include the ability to program multiple buy-up options helping to increase revenue per car,” says Koch. “We also added digital air valves so that each chemical application can be programed with its optimal air setting to maximize performance.”

VIP also purchased the Washview Mobil option.

“This option allows operators to access the Razor’s HMI screen remotely from their smart phone or tablet using the Vijeo Design’Air app,” says Koch. “The app provides a mirror image to the Razor’s onsite HMI screen. Operators can view wash activity, make wash adjustments and even issue a free wash remotely. Wash view will send daily wash count reports via email or text as well as report in real time of any wash fault or security output activity so operators will be quickly informed if any issues develop on site. All fault activity is tracked by time and wash pass so operators can look back and compare to wash site video or customer calls.”

Washworld is excited to be part of the success of VIP carwash, states Koch.

“Washworld is fortunate enough to be represented by the Transchem Group in Ontario and we are confident that with their team of professionals, VIP will be another successful Washworld carwash and a great show site for other operators to learn from,” says Koch.

Taylor states that Transchem sees this as a long-term partnership and plans to be with VIP, not just throughout the renovation and re-opening stage but for years to come.

“We are honoured that they chose us to be part of their carwash project,” says Taylor. “With our ability to sell, install and service the equipment, as well as selling chemicals, we are there for our customers covering every aspect of their business.”

VIP Carwash will be using an app that was designed by Mosaic.

 

“Our team at Mosaic is focused on providing carwash operators with the most innovative digital tools to grow their businesses,” says Mosaic Sales Representative Terry McGowan. “Forward-thinking operators know that customers expect a premium experience from the time they enter the site to the time they drive off with a clean car. We’re proud to work with Hossein to exceed those expectations and create lifelong customers. By launching their VIP-branded Mosaic app to customers from day one, Hossein and his team are demonstrating their commitment to delivering the type of world-class customer experience that modern consumers expect from great brands.”

 

The Auto Sentry Petro cashless entry system that is used at the carwash handles EMV credit card clearing, a debit card pin pad and tap device with a 15-inch screen that offers menu selection and video to assist customers during the purchase process, says Brad Metcalf, regional sales manager, Canada and the northeast, ICS (Innovative Control Systems).

“These units are very popular in the Canadian market as there is less cash being used to purchase wash packages,” says Metcalf, noting that customers like the contactless method of payment.

VIP Carwash is using doors from Airlift Doors’ Alaskan Extreme Strapeze Sectional Door series that are powered by a direct drive pneumatic opener.

“This door-operator setup has been used with great success in the carwash industry for many years, making it, without a doubt, the right product for this very demanding environment,” notes Martin Castro, sales representative, Airlift Doors, Inc. “As a carwash door manufacturer, here at Airlift Doors, we feel very proud and pleased to have been involved with one of our distributors, Transchem Group, on this project. They have used our Alaska Sectional Door series in a modern and well thought out way, creating a unique façade appearance, incorporating black anodizing finish to the rails of the door sections, which matches splendidly with the design intention, giving a very elegant and clean look to the overall project. We are very proud and pleased to be a part of this project and we know that the carwash owner and users will be satisfied with our products as we stand 100 per cent behind them and offer one of the best warranties in the industry.”

 

As well as the automated carwash, the site also includes self-serve bays, which will include sanitizing stations that can be used to sanitize car interiors.

“This plan looks complete to me,” states Nakhsaz. “Technology has been a very powerful tool. As I grow, I continue to learn and try to keep up with the latest trends. My focus has always been to provide a classy, time efficient and smart carwash environment by using the safest, yet newest, innovations in technology.”