Carwash Rookies

Carwash Rookies
Maui Oil’s Owners Open Eco-Friendly Wash

By Lacey Nadeau

There is plenty of water in Hawaii. But Terry and Alec McBarnet, brothers and owners of Maui Express Carwash, are still holding on to every drop they can — through reclaim.

“We just felt that was the conscientious thing to do,” explains Terry, whose environmentally friendly carwash in Kahului, Hawaii, opened earlier this year. “So when we went into the carwash, we decided we were going to make as green a carwash as we possibly could.”

The brothers knew they wanted to use reclaim from the beginning, and designed the wash around that, using a system through CATEC, a Florida water-recovery company. Maui Express opened to the public in February — Valentine’s Day 2007, to be exact — and is full-service and high-tech. Since it’s still in its infant stages, the percentage of water being reclaimed is hard to tell. But Terry’s happy.

“We’re right at what we feel is the maximum reclaim for the very best wash,” he reports. “And as we get better at washing cars, and as we experiment with different biodegradable chemicals, one of our goals is to increase our reclaim every year.”

Getting better at washing cars is the main focus for the Maui Express team, which includes the McBarnets and the wash’s manager, Wes Lee. In fact, not one person on site has ever worked at a carwash before this one.

The idea to start the wash originated with Terry and Alec’s father, Alex McBarnet, a late-blooming entrepreneur who started an oil-distribution company when he retired from his job as an accountant for a sugar company. Alex died in 2001, but passed Maui Oil Co., along with his spirit of entrepreneurship, on to his sons.

The brothers currently own a variety of businesses, including the oil company and carwash as well as a property-management company. The experience has taught them a couple of things: how to succeed in a new business — carwash or otherwise — and the importance of caring for the environment.

“We are in the petroleum distribution business, so we’re very aware of environmental pressures in our community and have a very strong desire to keep this beautiful environment here in Hawaii clean,” says Terry. “This is not only our business, but it is our home.”

The Maui Express team knows that this new project is more than just a business venture — more than just washing cars. Lee has extensive experience in the restaurant business, and is bringing most of it with him to the carwash — people skills, good communication, the ability to provide a quality service, and the talent for juggling calmly when business becomes a circus.

“I think the true success is going to be how well we not just manage the employees or manage the chemicals and all that, but also how we are perceived out there,” he comments. “And because we’re in a small community, everything is about that experience.”

The McBarnets have already earned a good reputation, according to Brian Hobin, a consultant from The Symposia Group in California who has worked with the Maui Express team throughout the building of the wash.

“They’re very well respected on that island,” affirms Hobin, who says that care in handling wastewater is more critical in Hawaii than anywhere he has worked. “If anything, [the McBarnets] are more scrupulous of environmental issues than the agencies that scrutinize them. Every chemical that went into the place, every solid that we needed to collect and dispose of — everything was scrutinized at this carwash and is still being scrutinized today.”

Hobin calls the Maui Express team “very solid clients.” And Terry is just as complimentary about Hobin, who he refers to as a sort of “tutor,” and everyone else involved in the project for the last several years. “We had just great support from everybody involved in this project,” he emphasizes.

The structure of Maui Express Carwash was built by Valley Isle Builders and features a Tommy Car Wash Systems equipment package. Terry was impressed when Willy Vidakovich, president of A.V.W. (the equipment manufacturer), flew out to Hawaii, tools in hand, and was on site with Hobin and others to help with the installation.

Lee is probably most excited about the high-tech aspects of the wash—especially the 120-foot tunnel's laser beam. Once a car enters the wash, it disconnects the laser, which stretches across the entrance of the tunnel. When the car passes and the beam reconnects, the laser records the amount of time it was disconnected and is able to measure the length of the car. It also measures the width of the tire and the length between each tire. This information is communicated to a computer that tells each piece of equipment how long it should stay on.

“So it really maximizes the wash for us and minimizes the amount of product needed to be used,” explains Lee, who recognizes that this high-tech component also works to save energy. “I think that’s pretty fascinating. I mean, that was one of the things that just kind of blew me away, right off the bat.”

Since Maui Express is an exterior-only wash, customers stay inside their cars. Nobody ever touches the cars and the equipment is gentle. The cars are cleaned with a soft cloth, chemicals, a high-pressure rinse and turbo driers. Lee and Terry are excited about the A.V.W contour brush they use. Instead of catching cars at 90-degree angles, the contour brush shapes to the vehicle. It’s also very sensitive.

“In fact, when that thing is spinning, you can actually walk up to it and grab it and stop it,” Terry says. “What that means is it’s a lot more gentle with the automobiles.”

Maui Express opened in February with a “soft opening,” having not been promoted heavily. This was intentional. The team wanted to have a chance to get everything in working order and to gain confidence before holding a grand opening.

“We did a lot of practicing beforehand until we felt comfortable enough to actually open,” admits Terry, who says they wanted to bring in the numbers at a slow pace as they learned the equipment. Still, he says, “the numbers have been very encouraging. We’re happy.”

Almost two months after their soft opening, the wash comprised seven employees, though that number is expected to grow along with the hours. The beginning hours of operation were set at 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., but Lee said the hope is to extend to hours of 8 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m. They offer their wash services at $7, $9, and $12 packages.

Aside from the wash — about a $2.5- million project — the McBarnets have built a multi-tenant office building on the lot, which measures an acre and a half. The building has seven spaces, occupied by other businesses. Their own Maui Oil Co. is one of them. “We worked so hard to get this up and running,” Terry comments.

And he’s not exaggerating, according to Hobin; building a wash in Hawaii is a unique experience. “They had an A-plus location to begin with,” Hobin explains. “However, on the island of Maui, and probably the other Hawaiian Islands as well, it’s very, very difficult to get an approval for a carwash.”

It’s not only about the fact that Hawaii is an environmentally sensitive state, which it is (“we had to go through a whole litany of approvals, which took years to get done”). It’s also a time-consuming and expensive process for other reasons. Hobin tells of the long but “very rewarding” process: “One that I had never been through before was what they call an ‘archaeological survey,’ where they come into your proposed site and they trench it over and over, and cross-trench it over and over, literally looking for bones to make sure it wasn’t some sensitive burial site.”

Terry expresses that same pay-off feeling the team shares, now that things are up and running. The team wanted to be very involved in the preparation of the wash, especially considering their lack of experience in the industry. “We felt that the only way we’re going to learn how to run it is to understand it from the ground up,” he says. “After just so many hours of hard work, and at times frustration, we finally had our first customer go through and everything actually works! That was a wonderful feeling.”

Lee still remembers that first customer. A Japanese couple had been waiting for the wash to open, and when it finally did, they were the first ones in line. “We still have the $20 bill they gave us, and we’re going to frame it,” he says.

Lee and the McBarnets really did their homework, according to Hobin. Building a carwash — especially with no experience in the business — is an educational process, he explains, and it’s not just knowledge that a consulting company can exchange for a fee. It’s a matter of traveling around and outside the country, visiting carwashes, checking out equipment and touring the facilities that are leading the industry.

“Any operator, consultant, vendor — anybody in this business — should be out looking at all times, because people are pushing boundaries every day,” Hobin urges. He recommends that owners do their research and talk to as many people as possible before making final decisions about their own wash. After all, he says, “You really get one chance to build a carwash.”

Putting together the physical structure of a carwash is actually relatively easy, according to Terry. “Really, the hard part is setting up the business and running the show,” he shares, adding that he and his brother are lucky to have Lee’s experience. Lee’s talent is a carryover, he says, from a background in restaurant management, where it’s not just about feeding people; it’s about customer service. “Wes has been very focused on creating a very good experience for our customers. And I think that’s why people come back.”

So, as new as they are to the wash business, the rookies of Maui Express Carwash are nothing but excited for the future — whatever that brings.

“I think the best lesson is learned when something happens and things go wrong — anything coming at you, you just keep going through it,” says Lee, with confidence in his team and perhaps a little Hawaiian spirit. “For me, it’s always been this way. I just roll with the punches.”