Bargain CarWash, 30-Year Brooklyn Operation with Long-Term Lease

$1.4M

Revenue

$500K

SDE

3.8x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 30-year-old car wash operating on a high-traffic major corner in Brooklyn, NY. The site holds a 12-car lineup, runs on what the seller describes as beautiful, well-maintained equipment, and employs eight people (five full-time, three part-time). It generates roughly $1.35M in gross revenue against $500K in EBITDA, a healthy 37 percent margin for a single-location wash.

The asking price of $1.875M is for the operating business only. The underlying real estate is owned and valued separately at $4.5M, offered as an option but not folded into the asking price. That structure matters: a buyer can either take the business on a 30-year lease and preserve capital, or pursue the full property play at roughly $6.375M combined. The listing frames the sale around age and the need for younger ownership, which reads as a classic retirement exit.

At 3.75x EBITDA with seller financing on half the deal, this is priced as a cash-flowing operation rather than a growth story. The location, corner visibility, and long lease term are the durable assets here. The real question for a buyer is whether that $500K EBITDA is clean owner earnings or includes real-estate benefit, and how the lease economics on a $4.5M-valued property are actually structured.

Why we like it

Earnings quality looks solid on paper: $500K EBITDA on $1.35M revenue is a 37 percent margin, strong for a single-site wash. With only eight employees and mostly automated throughput, the cost structure appears lean and the cash conversion should be high if the equipment is genuinely well-maintained.
The moat is location, not brand. A major corner in Brooklyn with 30 years of operating history and a 30-year lease is a near-irreplaceable footprint in a market where new car wash real estate is scarce and permitting is brutal. High traffic plus a fixed long-term lease means competitors cannot easily replicate the site.
Car washing is genuinely recession-resistant. People keep their cars longer in downturns and continue washing them, and a well-placed express or full-service wash captures steady repeat volume regardless of the economy. This is essential-adjacent, low-ticket, high-frequency demand.
The deal is structured for a buyer to preserve capital. Seller financing on half the price plus the option to lease rather than buy the $4.5M property means an operator can control a $1.35M revenue business without tying up the full real-estate value. That leverage improves cash-on-cash returns meaningfully if the lease terms are fair.

How to improve it

Convert to a membership or unlimited-wash subscription model within the first 90 days. Brooklyn washes that add a monthly unlimited plan can lift recurring revenue and smooth cash flow dramatically; this single change turns a transactional wash into a business with predictable monthly income and higher enterprise value at exit.
Audit and optimize labor. Eight employees on a single wash is meaningful payroll; benchmark staffing against throughput and shift the mix toward automated equipment and self-serve or express lanes where possible to expand the already-strong margin.
Add high-margin ancillary revenue: detailing packages, interior cleaning add-ons, and retail products like fragrances and mats. These upsells carry strong margins and increase average ticket without requiring more real estate or a new location.
Modernize the customer-facing systems. Install license-plate recognition, app-based membership, and dynamic pricing to raise per-car revenue and capture data on repeat customers. The listing hints ownership is dated ('needs younger ownership'), so operational technology is likely an easy win.
Negotiate the lease terms hard during diligence and lock in favorable escalators. Since the property is valued at $4.5M separately, the lease rate directly determines the true economics of the operating business; a below-market or capped-escalation lease materially protects the $500K EBITDA.
Invest in signage and marketing on the major corner. A 30-year-old wash may be coasting on habitual traffic; refreshed branding, promotions, and local digital marketing can pull incremental volume from the high-traffic intersection that is currently being left on the table.

Diligence notes

Verify what the $500K EBITDA actually includes. Confirm it is clean operating earnings under a market-rate lease, not a figure that benefits from owned real estate or add-backs; if the wash must pay fair rent on a $4.5M property, the true operating EBITDA could be far lower.
Scrutinize the 30-year lease in detail. Confirm the base rent, escalation schedule, renewal options, and whether the lease is with the seller as landlord. A high rent tied to a $4.5M valuation could consume most of the stated cash flow, so this is the single most important item.
Inspect the equipment condition and remaining useful life. The listing calls it 'beautiful' but a 30-year-old wash may face major capex on tunnels, pumps, reclaim systems, and dryers. Get an independent equipment appraisal and estimate replacement timelines before agreeing to the multiple.
Validate revenue with bank statements, POS reports, and utility usage. Car washes are cash-heavy, so reconcile reported gross revenue against water and electricity bills and card-processing statements to confirm the $1.35M figure and detect any unreported or overstated volume.
Confirm environmental and regulatory compliance. Car washes carry wastewater discharge permits and potential contamination liability; review the environmental history of the site, discharge permits, and any prior violations before closing on either the business or the property option.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →