Auto repair & detailing
Car Wash Pricing Calculator
Set wash prices from throughput and cost per vehicle, and see what each tier returns at realistic volumes.
Result
Overhead and margin are taken as shares of the selling price, which is why the cost is divided rather than multiplied. Adding 15% to cost does not produce a 15% margin. Gross profit is what is left after the cost of doing the job. Overhead comes out of that: the building, the office wages, the vans, insurance, software and advertising. A healthy gross margin still loses money if overhead is larger.
Get a Free Business AuditWhat moves the number
- Throughput per hour, which is the entire business model for a volume wash.
- Tier mix, since the top tier usually carries the margin.
- Queue tolerance, because a busy site loses customers who will not wait.
Where this one goes wrong
Competing on the entry price. The entry wash is usually close to break-even and exists to attract the vehicle; the margin is in the upgrade, and cutting the entry price without moving the mix simply lowers revenue.
Questions
About this calculator
Why is the cheapest wash usually unprofitable?
Because it carries the same water, chemical, power and throughput cost as the others with the least revenue against it. It works as an entry point, not as a product.
How do I move customers up a tier?
By making the difference visible and easy to choose at the point of decision. Tiers that differ in ways a customer cannot see do not convert.
Are unlimited plans worth offering?
They trade revenue per wash for predictability and frequency. Whether they pay depends on how often members actually wash, which has to be measured rather than assumed.
The formula
price = direct cost / (1 - overhead% - margin%)
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How to use this calculator
- Labour cost ($). Burdened: wages plus tax, insurance and the vehicle, not the hourly wage.
- Materials cost ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $180.
- Other direct costs ($). Permits, disposal, equipment hire, subcontractors.
- Overhead rate (%). Overhead as a share of revenue. Work it out from last year's accounts.
- Target net margin (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 15%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to price to quote, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Labour cost | $240 |
| Materials cost | $180 |
| Other direct costs | $0 |
| Overhead rate | 22% |
| Target net margin | 15% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Price to quote main result | $666.67 |
| Direct cost | $420 |
| Overhead recovered | $146.67 |
| Net profit | $100.00 |
| Gross margin | 37.0% |
| Markup on direct cost | 58.7% |
Quote $666.67 to cover $420 of direct cost, recover $146.67 of overhead and leave $100.00 of net profit. That is a 58.7% markup on cost.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only labour cost, this is what happens to price to quote. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Labour cost ($) | Price to quote |
|---|---|
| $120 | $476.19 |
| $180 | $571.43 |
| $240 example above | $666.67 |
| $360 | $857.14 |
| $480 | $1,048 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Labour cost ($)
- Burdened: wages plus tax, insurance and the vehicle, not the hourly wage.
- Materials cost ($)
- A money amount, starting at $180.
- Other direct costs ($)
- Permits, disposal, equipment hire, subcontractors.
- Overhead rate (%)
- Overhead as a share of revenue. Work it out from last year's accounts.
- Target net margin (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 80, starting at 15%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Price to quote | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Direct cost | A money figure. |
| Overhead recovered | A money figure. |
| Net profit | A money figure. |
| Gross margin | A percentage. |
| Markup on direct cost | A percentage. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.