About the company
SprayBay acquires and operates self-serve car washes across the Mountain West. We are not a franchise, not a broker, and not a fund assembling a portfolio to sell on. We buy washes, we keep them running, and we deal with owners directly.
Why this asset class
A well-run self-serve wash is an unglamorous, durable piece of neighborhood infrastructure. No subscriptions, no upsells, no membership traps — a clean bay, adequate pressure, working vacuums, and a fair price. Many of these sites have served the same streets for thirty years or more.
The owners who built them are now reaching the point of stepping back, and the exits available to them are poor. A business broker wants a listing agreement, a commission of eight to ten percent, and six months of unqualified inquiries. The chains are interested only in tunnels. A developer will buy the parcel, demolish the improvements, and never explain what the operating business was actually worth.
SprayBay exists to be a fourth option: a direct acquirer that understands the economics, pays a defensible price, and keeps the site open afterward.
A private acquisition company that buys, owns, and operates self-serve car washes. We deploy our own capital and hold for the long term.
Not brokers. Not a listing service. Not a wholesaler who ties up a property and assigns the contract to somebody else before closing.
Methodology
Self-serve is a cash business, so a stated revenue figure cannot be the basis of a transaction — in either direction. Our underwriting is built to work without one.
A wash cycle consumes a reasonably predictable quantity of water. Twenty-four months of water and sewer billing therefore gives an independent estimate of cycles, and electric billing corroborates vacuum and dryer activity. This is the primary evidence in every file we underwrite.
We appraise the parcel independently of the operating business: lot size, zoning, frontage, traffic counts, and comparable land sales. On older sites the real estate is frequently the larger share of value, and it establishes a floor beneath the price rather than a discount to it.
Pump condition, bay surfaces, canopy and roof, changers, vacuum motors, lighting, and cameras are inspected and costed. What the site needs in the first twenty-four months is shown as a specific figure rather than buried in a lower offer with no explanation.
A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is ordered on every acquisition. Where the parcel or an adjoining one has a history of fuel or dry-cleaning use, we widen the review. Findings are shared with the seller in full, whatever they say.
Terms
Most owners are shown one number and asked to react to it. We would rather you saw both and chose with your accountant in the room.
Full proceeds at closing, typically 45 to 60 days from a signed letter of intent. The right structure when you need the capital now, when the gain is modest, or when you simply want the matter closed and off your mind.
A down payment at closing with the balance paid over an agreed term at interest, secured by a recorded first-position deed of trust. Owners holding long-appreciated property with little debt frequently net more after tax. We will model both and put the comparison in writing.
We are a buyer, not a tax or legal advisor, and nothing on this site is tax or legal advice. Any structure should be reviewed by your own accountant and attorney before you sign. We encourage it, and we are happy to have them in the conversation from the beginning.
Confidentiality policy
Your wash is never listed, advertised, posted to a marketplace, or mentioned in any marketing material. There is no sign and no announcement at any stage of the process.
We do not approach your employees, your customers, your suppliers, or the businesses around you. Site visits are conducted as an ordinary customer would conduct them.
Utility bills, tax statements, and anything else you provide are used to evaluate the acquisition and for nothing else. They are not shared beyond the parties to the transaction and their professional advisors.
If you decide not to proceed, at any stage and for any reason, the matter ends there. No follow-up campaign, no pressure, and no passing your details to anyone else.
Coverage
Based in Salt Lake City. We buy across Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico.
Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico. We review sites anywhere in these six states, metropolitan or small-town.
The Wasatch Front, including Salt Lake County, Weber, Davis, Utah County, and Tooele. Also Boise, Phoenix, Tucson, Reno, Colorado Springs, and Albuquerque.
Still worth sending. We review everything that arrives and will tell you plainly whether we are the right buyer, rather than leaving you waiting on an answer.
Five minutes to send the basics. Fully confidential, no obligation, and a response within one business day.