car dealer Hahn & Schmidt, Meißen- Germany

Apartment building – WashTec – apartment building

Autohaus Hahn & Schmidt car dealership is one of the official Mercedes-Benz partners in Saxony. The dealership that is very well established in the region presents itself to its customers and potential buyers both in Radebeul and in the city of Meißen famous for its porcelain.  Just off the Meißen car dealership, the company took advantage of a convenient opportunity to acquire a site of around 1,100 square metres. Convenient above all because of its location directly on the busy main road 101, which intersects with the A4 federal motorway heading south and is a direct route all the way to Freiberg. A site on which empty apartment buildings once stood and which today boasts a sales pavilion belonging to the car dealership and since October 2010 a self-service car wash facility. "We are very satisfied with the facility and the number of washes of just under 19,000 a year since it opened", sums up Michael Lauke, who is responsible for car services at both sites, after six years of operation. This is particularly remarkable since it is rare to find a self-service car wash that operates on its own and run by a car dealership. And all the more remarkable since the washing stations are located between the apartment buildings of a city that is also into motor racing.

Six years of satisfaction

The management finally opted for the self-service facility from WashTec after gathering in and comparing information from all the major manufacturers of self-service car washes. The fact that this was a good and correct decision is proven by the highly satisfied customers over the past six years. "Word has now gone round that you can wash your car yourself here", says Michael Lauke. He also says: "The potential of the car wash sites is completely mixed. You get regular customers coming as well as passing trade."
In the four booths, which are covered by an attractive shed roof construction and in which vehicles up to a maximum length of 2.90 m can be washed, customers have everything at their disposal that modern car wash solutions offer today in terms of service and equipment. The brush and lance are stowed away on both sides into the side panels, from where they can be conveniently retrieved by customers. During the pre-wash and main wash with the high-pressure spray gun and foam brush, the ceiling gyro tracks all movements correctly, as a workshop engineer washes a red Mercedes GLA 200. It hardly takes him ten minutes before the vehicle stands sparkling in the midday sun cleaned and polished. The SelfTecs® terminal has worked precisely and reliably for years. The fact that the terminal is well protected against water is demonstrated by the keystroke commands of the car wash user being transmitted via electronic impulses quick as a flash and error-freely upon touching the respective key for a wash programme step.

Short distances in the car dealership

The public self-service car wash facility is naturally also used by the car dealership for ensuring that its approved used Mercedes and vehicles in for a service are perfectly cleaned and protected. The distances are short in this regard. Especially for new cars that are positioned just a few metres away in front of the self-service wash booths. The car dealership's sales pavilion is also located here. The employees working here can thus keep an eye on the facility and the washing activities taking place there at all times.  This type of control has helped to ensure that the already very reliable WashTec technology has always worked efficiently, with hardly any customer complaints. "In the event of a complaint, they get in touch in person or by telephone in the dealership. To date, any such instances could be resolved quickly and amicably", explains Michael Lauke.

The two inner wash booths are separated by a container that houses the system technology and where the washing chemicals containers are connected. Installing the washing technology in the container was necessary because the self-service wash stations are freestanding. It is a practical complete solution for sites like these. It proves that good car washing with relatively little expense can be achieved. The low operating costs in particular make good economic sense, as does the economical chemical consumption and also of course the long maintenance intervals, which make WashTec's JetWash so lucrative for the car dealership. A key advantage of the container is that the money changer can be attached on one of its front sides. This also means that the money vended by customers is transported automatically into the safety of the the technology room.  "We are open daily from 7.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. The washing stations only remain closed on Sundays and public holidays", concludes the service manager.

Text/ Bilder: Bernd Fiehöfer