Car wash businesses first started appearing in Detroit, Michigan around . This wasn&#;t the fully automated experience we know and love today. The car was manually pushed through the tunnel, where workers were inside to wash and dry the vehicle. Still, these early car washes operated efficiently for the time. Each worker in the tunnel had a designated job, from soaping to rinsing and drying the vehicle. As they toiled, more workers would push the car from the back. Workers would stay behind the car and push it through the tunnel until . That&#;s when the first car wash featuring a winch system to pull the car through the tunnel was developed in Hollywood, California. Even though the car moved on its own now, workers were still in the tunnel to clean the car.
I too predict a train wreck in your future. Automatics tend to have a ton of proprietary parts and if something goes down you're going to have to ship it from overseas. Downtime costs money and loses customers as they learn to wash elsewhere and devleop new habits while you're waiting two weeks on a part from China.
But here's a few questions to ask:
Does the unit use commonly domestically available off the shelf electronic components?
What threads are used in the fittings?
Are the hose sizes metric or US?
Will they send you a copy of the repair manual before you purchase?
What brand Pump is used?
Who's going to fix this unit when it goes down? Are you technically capable?
IMO you'd be better off to buy a used domestic machine.
Having said that, if you are adventuresome and technically capable you might become the US distributor for this company and sell them like hotcakes once there is domestic sales and support. Seriously, If you're sold on trying this I'd consider buying a second machine so that you could cannibalize it for parts.
Link to Cartsfun
For more information, please visit Automatic Touchless Car Wash Equipment.