News (2021)

## News Page for 2022:

We've reached the end of another year, which means it's time to switchover to a brand new new spage for 2022!

**Click here to view!**

## Z's first two M'Nex32's Installed and ready!

Freshly installed, but not yet opened, the first of 8 brand new Istobal M'Nex 32's recently purchased by Z Energy has been installed this week at Z Vic Corner in Lower Hutt, Wellington. With the new machine comes a new Era for z, as they ditch Washtec in favour of Istobal, and also say goodbye to Blue-Orange brushes in favour of all dark-blue. The new machine is more or less ready to go, with just a few final touches before opening to the public.

Meanwhile, the one at Z Palm Beach in Tauranga has already been completed and entered service without a hitch last week.

Photos were taken at the Z Vic Corner site.

(18/12/2021)

## First two M'Nex 32 locations confirmed for Z

Z Energy have confirmed which two sites will be the first to recieve their new Istobal M'Nex 32 systems later this month, with opening expected in mid December. The two selected sites are Z Vic Corner, in Lower Hutt, Wellington (replacing a Washtec SoftCare Pro) and Z Palm Beach in Papamoa, Tauranga (replacing a Washtec SoftCare Evo). These are only the first sites to recieve these new machines, with six more expected to be installed in 2022, and possibly more ordered.

(21/11/2021)

## Istobal to launch new M'Wash4 system!

Global Car Wash manufacturer Istobal is set to launch their latest wash system, the M'Wash4 in 2022, with Europe being the first region to recieve the new machine. The Spanish Car Wash manufacturer has not yet confirmed when the machine will become available in our region (NZ/Aus), but given the growing popularity of Istobal in the region, I anticipate we will eventually see the machine in our market.

The new wash is a 3-brush system, with an all-new look and a state-of-the art 360O rotating contour dryer system (similar to a design used by Washtec), which will also be capable of delivering high pressure water for Touchless or Combiwash operation. The new system also features a new rain-style Infinite Mousse system (Similar to Washtec's FoamTastic), as well a new brush system and a more efficient, less-wasteful, chemical dosing system. Istobal published a video to YouTube demonstrating the new state-of the art machine.

(10/11/2021)

## Waitomo to open wash at new Ruakura site

Waitomo will open a new flagship station in the Hamilton suburb of Ruakura in mid-2022, with the new site featuring a Touchless car wash. Based on Waitomo's recent wash history, we can only assume that this new wash will once again be a PDQ Laserwash 360plus, but this could be subject to change. Once open, it will be Waitomo's third car wash. Waitomo is known for their car wash branding, "wash n Glow", with the nickname "The Glow Worm Cave". This is a nod to the fact that the company's home town of Waitomo is where the infamous Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, a popular tourist destination, are located.

Below is an artists impression of the new site, though the planned car wash bay is not visible in this picture.

(31/10/2021)

## Yello K Wash rebrands as Clean Park Morrinsville

The private car wash centre in Morrinsville - home of the only automatic car wash in the town will be rebranding over the next 6 months, starting today with their Facebook Page. The centre is ditching the old name "Yello K Wash" in favour of the new name "Clean Park Morrinsville", with new purplish-blue branding. The site will also recieve new self-serve wash bays, vending machines, vacuums and a new cashless payment app. The automatic wash has already been upgraded, with the old Karcher CB1 being replaced by a new Karcher CB3 in 2020.

(27/10/2021)

## Tunnel Wash to open second location

Tunnel Wash, one of only two operators of conveyor car wash systems in NZ, will open a second location on Selwyn St, Christchurch City, in late October. The first opened in 2019, in Harewood, Christchurch, featuring equipment by US manufacturer Motor City Wash Works with red brushes. The new branch will also feature red-brush MCWW equipment.

Tunnel Wash confirmed the opening of their second site on their Facebook page.

(19/10/2021)

## Istobal Tracer installed at Z Russley Rd

We previously reported that Z Energy would be installing an Istobal Tracer at the Russley Rd site in Christchurch, as part of the new deal with Istobal. This machine has now been installed. This Z station was taken over from Caltex in 2020, and came with an existing PDQ Laserwash M5 system, one of only two known to have been installed on the South Island. The replacement of this machine means that there are now none left operation on the South Island.

This is the third Istobal Tracer machine to be installed in New Zealand, and the second to be installed by Z Energy, following a similar installation at the Z-operated Caltex Rimutaka in July.

(26/9/2021)

## M'Nex 22 for Mobil Hastings

The news on Mobil upgrades has really slowed down in recent months. This is in part due to a lack of new Google Streetview in many key areas where old washes are last known to remain. However we do now know that at least one more site has now been upgraded, with Hastings taking on a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22 with dark-blue brushes to replace the Ryko Premier XL.

(11/9/2021)

## New BP opens in Hobsonville

A new BP station opened in Hobsonville, Auckland back in May. The new site features a brand new WashTec SoftCare2 Pro with two-tone green brushes. I cannot confirm the exact specification of the machine, but given BP's recent purchase history, it is most likely a Combiwash with Silverlight and FoamSensation.

(11/9/2021)

## Z Energy selects Istobal for new Installations

Z Energy has chosen Istobal to supply several new Car Washes to locations all around the country. The order comprises of:

Several Istobal M'Nex 32's - for locations around NZ, mostly replacing Washtec SoftCare Pro/Evo machines, including one for a *new* Car wash in Wellington.

1 x Istobal M'Nex 22 - to be installed in Oamaru to replace a broken machine.

1 x Istobal Tracer - to be installed at the former Caltex in Russley Rd, Christchurch to replace the Laserwash M5, which has carried over from when the site was operated by Caltex.

The M'Nex 22 and Tracer are expected to be installed around September, whilst the first M'Nex 32's are expected to be installed around October.

This news is highly significant, as not only does it mean the first use of the M'Nex 32 at Petrol stations in NZ (one is already in use at a Private wash centre), but it also marks the end of an era for a company that has been using Washtec exclusively for over 15 years, since the days of Shell!

(18/8/2021)

## Waitomo to build new Flagship site in Hamilton

Waitomo has partnered with Tainui Group Holdings (TGH) to build their new flagship premium site in the Ruakura Superhub, currently under development on the eastern boundary of Hamilton. The new site will be the first Waitomo to offer a retail store, as well as operate a brand new Touchless car wash (most likely a Laserwash). The new site is set to open in 2022.

(18/7/2021)

## Istobal Tracer for Caltex Rimutaka - Z transition planned?

Exciting news from Upper Hutt, as Wellington's first Istobal Tracer touchless system (and only the second Tracer in NZ) is undergoing installation at the Caltex station is Rimutaka. The site was originally home to a Mark VII Merchandiser, before it was swapped with a secondhand PDQ Laserwash 4000 between 2010 and 2013. The new Tracer is the first of its kind to be installed by Caltex, and is the first non-PDQ touchless wash in Wellington since the last Mark VII closed around 2010-11.

I've also been told by the staff that this particular Caltex is currently being considered to be turned into a Z Energy station, as this particular Caltex is operated by Z directly, rather than by an independent Operator. Z Energy owns the Caltex New Zealand brand.

(17/7/2021)

## Jim Coleman, 1931-2021

Although of little relevance to the New Zealand Car Wash market, Jim Coleman , who founded the US-based Jim Coleman Car Wash company, passed away this week aged 90. The Jim Coleman Company, which later merged with Hanna Car Wash systems to form the modern day Coleman-Hanna, is best known for pioneering the "Water Wizard" touchless car wash system, along with many other car wash systems. The current day "Water Wizard 2.0" is still a popular machine, despite little difference to the original machine - a testament to the machine's ground breaking and forward-thinking design that remains relevant in the industry to this day.

Although no machines made by Coleman-Hanna have been installed in New Zealand, a number of their machines can be found in Australia.

Regardless of the relevance to our tiny nation, it is also sad when we lose a pioneer of the car wash industry.

(7/7/2021)

## Wash'NGo Gisborne opens!

The highly anticipated new Private Car Wash facility in Gisborne opened over the weekend. The Gisborne Wash'NGo, owned by Gisborne Holdings Ltd (GHL)\*, features three self-serve bays and one automatic car wash. The automatic machine is a Washtec SoftCare2 Pro Touchless combination wash, which has a dark-grey frame with Silverlight design and black brushes. The wash has options for both Brush and Touchless washes, as well as a combination wash.

Construction on the project started in October 2020, however Covid-19 led to a few delays. The whole site is a cash-free operation, using a phone app and cards only. The whole site runs off of recycled rainwater, collected and stored in four 10,000 litre underground tanks.

\*GHL is the commercial arm of Gisborne District Council.

(22/6/2021)

## NPD Waimea replaces CK30 with M'Nex 22

One of NZ's last remaining Washtec CK30's has been replaced! NPD has just completed the replacement of the machine at their Waimea location in Richmond, Nelson with a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22 with dark blue brushes. This site was the very first car wash operated by NPD, who took the site over from Mobil (who installed the CK30). This new replacement means that ALL of NPD's car washes are now M'Nex 22s.

NPD announced the replacement on their Facebook page, and stated that "This new carwash has some great features including Tri-colour pre foam, wheel wash, hot slipstream wax and profile dry." They also said that the new machine will offer 3 wash packages: SPEED WASH $10, DELUXE WASH $13 and EXECUTIVE $16

(10/6/2021)

## New Washpod's in Hobsonville

Washpod have opened their latest site in Hobsonville, the next phase of their Auckland-wide expansion. This latest site is their biggest yet, with THREE automatic touchless washes being installed. Currently, there is just one machine operating, but the other two will be online soon! We don't have any photos of the new machines yet, but we can confirm that WashPod has stuck to their usual PDQ Laserwash 360plus, however at least one of the machines is a regular Laserwash 360 classic that has been refurbished with Laserglow.

(26/5/2021)

## NPD to open first North Island car wash in Palmerston North

Nelson-based NPD are beginning the build of their first four North Island locations, with their first site in Palmerston North being confirmed to be receiving a car wash. The Palmerston North location is being built on a vacant site on Rangitīkei St, next to Burger King, and was expected to be finished in June.

Nelson Petroleum development manager Geoff Smith said it would initially be a self-service station, but a convenience store and a car wash would be added in the future. Nelson Petroleum had originally considered building the station, shop and car wash all at once, but decided to split the development into two stages for expedience's sake.

NPD has used the Istobal M'Nex 22 at all of it's scratch-built sites since 2017, and it is expected that they will continue the trend with this latest addition. Their only non-M'Nex location is in Richmond, Nelson where their site was purchased from Mobil and had the car wash (Washtec CK30) included in the sale. NPD's M'Nex 22's are identical to those used by Mobil, configured for softwash only and featuring dark blue brushes.

(10/5/2021)

## Combiwash for Gisborne

The new private car wash site is Gisborne, which will be called "Wash'n'Go", is having its new automatic machine installed. The machine is not a pure-touchless wash as we were previously led to believe by the media. Instead, it is a combination wash system, in the form a Washtec SoftCare2 Pro Touchless, with brushes of a Black colour.

This is the second machine of the type to be installed in the Gisborne area, with the BP petrol station also operating a SoftCare2 Pro Touchless. Caltex also operates a SoftCare2 Pro, but in a softwash-only form.

More updates to come!

(8/5/2021)

## Demolished Caltex sites found on Google Streetview!

Sometimes when messing around on Google Streetview, flicking between the different years to view on offer, I occasionally stumble upon an old car was or petrol station that has since been removed/demolished. Such has been the case on a couple of occasions recently.

In Auckland, I've found two places that used to have Caltex Petrol Stations, but have since both been demolished to make way for office blocks.

The first is located in the Wynyard Quarter area, which is an area of Auckland that has seen billions of dollars spent in building new office blocks for big businesses. There used to be a Caltex here, on the Corner of Daldy Street, which operated a classic PDQ Laserwash 4000. The site closed down around 2016-17, and a new office building was subsequently built on the site.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-36.8450339,174.7541682,3a,15y,82.87h,87.96t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sqeOeKPxw2L\_tQMt3Wk\_2bg!2e0!5s20140301T000000!7i13312!8i6656

The other one I found is in the outskirts of the city, near Parnell. This was another caltex site that also operated a classic PDQ Laserwash 4000. This site closed in 2019, and work to build a new building on the site of the former petrol station began in 2020.

https://www.google.co.nz/maps/@-36.8528181,174.7746701,3a,64.1y,291.94h,84t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxrh34RtjSoFrQkCBznGXrA!2e0!5s20181001T000000!7i13312!8i6656

It's so interesting what you find on Google Sometimes! Because these sites have now gone, they no longer appear when you do a search for them on Google Maps, so finding them is down to nothing more than shear luck.

(25/4/2020)

## Caltex Epsom becomes Mobil!

A Caltex site in Epsom, Auckland has been taken over by Mobil. Caltex operated two Petrol Stations here, on opposite sides of the road, and has retained their smaller, wash-less site and sold their lager car wash-equipped site to Mobil. The site currently operates a 2015 Istobal M'Nex 25 with dark blue brushes, which replaced a Laserwash 4000.

We currently don't know if Mobil has retained the M'Nex 25 (but it is very likely they have done, given it is only 6 years old), and we likely won't know for sure or have any new pictures of it until Google Streetview is next updated.

(15/04/2021)

## Streetview reveals new Auckland Upgrade!

Google has released new streetview taken in Auckland from October to December 2020. With this, we learn that the Mobil on Wairau Rd, Glenfield has been upgraded from a Washtec SoftCare Intro to a PDQ Laserwash 360plus.

## Washpod adds new location in Mt Wellington

According to a new post on their Facebook page, Washpod have opened a new location in Mt. Wellington, Auckland. There are currently no photos or streetview available of this new wash but, based on what Washpod already operates at their other sites, the new wash is most likely a PDQ Laserwash 360plus. We hope to bring you photos or streetview of this new site in the future!

(15/2/2021)

## Auto Self Serve wash coming soon with two Chinese Leisuwashes

A new Self-Serve Wash Centre will soon open in Kaiapoi, owned by the same company that operates the Tunnel Wash in Christchurch. The new location will include two Touchless automatic machines, which are both Chinese-made Leisuwash Touchfree 360s, which is a blatant rip-off of PDQ's Laserwash series. This new opening will mark 3 of such machines operating in NZ, after Challenge installed one at their Lincoln site in 2020.

(13/2/2021)

## BP breaks 20-year Washtec tradition with new ISTOBAL at Pahiatua!

Big news reaches us today as BP, who have been using Washtec for all new washes for around 20 years now, have selected the Istobal M'Start at their new Car Wash for their Pahiatua location, replacing a Ryko Premier XL.

This is the first Istobal to be purchased by BP and comes as a massive surprise from a company who has purchased only Washtec machine's for two decades now.

I was not able to source any photos of this new machine, so well will have wait for new Google Streetview to be taken. The machine has a white frame with the traditional BP two-tone green striped brushes.

(7/2/2021)

## Mobil upgrades another 360 to 360plus

Last year we remarked on an odd upgrade for Mobil, where an eight-year old Laserwash 360 from 2012, located at Mobil Constellation Dr, Auckland, was replaced with a new Laserwash 360plus. This is odd considering the fairly young age of the machine. Well, another Auckland location has received the same upgrade, with Mobil Quay St, Auckland CBD also receiving the same upgrade recently!

(7/2/2021)

The site was upgraded to a Laserwash 360plus in 2020.The Laserwash 360 was installed in 2012, and recieved a new wash-arm around 2018-19The first wash at this site was a Laserwash 4000
## Caltex Rimutaka removes Laserwash 4000

Caltex Rimutaka was until recently the operator of one of the last remaining Laserwash 4000 units in New Zealand. The site aquired the machine secondhand between 2009 and 2012, replacing a Mark VII Aquajet GT-98.

This Caltex site is one of two sold to a new owner recently, the other being the recently closed Newtown/Basin Reserve site. This site, according to staff, will remain open. They are currently unsure if a new machine will be installed here or not, but they did tell me that both their machine and the one from Newtown have "gone to Auckland".

Although the Caltex New Zealand name and brand is owned by Z Energy, the individual Caltex locations are franchised with different individual owners and local operators.

More updates as they come!

(22/1/2021)

## Caltex closes Basin Reserve Site

Wellington has a lost a Caltex with the recent closure of the site at Basin Reserve Wellington, and with it loses a Car Wash! The site was operating a 2018 PDQ Laserwash 360plus with LaserGlow. This was installed as a replacement for a 2012-13 Laserwash 360, which was replaced as part of a full-site renovation. The original car wash prior to the two PDQ's was a Ryko Monarch II.

This is the second Caltex to close in just under two years with Otaki closing in March 2019. We are unsure why this site has closed, though perhaps it may have something to do with competition from BP directly accross the road (who also operate a Car Wash). It is worth noting that both this Caltex and the Rimutaka site (upper hutt) have been for sale since late-2019.

We are unsure what will happen to the 2-year-old Laserwash, but if Caltex's history is anything to go by, they will likely re-use at another location to replace an older machine.

(16/1/2021)

**UPDATE:**

We now know this this is one of two Caltex sites that has recently been sold to a group that operates a number of Caltex petrol stations, the other being Caltex Rimutaka in Upper Hutt. We are fairly certain this location has closed permanently and is ***not*** going to be redeveloped into a new service station. Although the Caltex New Zealand name and brand is owned by Z Energy, the individual Caltex locations are franchised with different individual owners and local operators.

We will give you more updates as we get them.

(22/1/2021)

## "Father of the Touchless Car Wash", Red Lewis, passes away.

We start off the news page for 2021 on a sad note, as we have received news from the USA that William "Red" Lewis, former owner of PDQ and the "father of the Touchless Car Wash", has sadly died unexpectedly of Natural Causes, aged 78. Lewis went to work at PDQ in 1967 and by the early 70s had taken over the company. In the 1980s, the car wash industry was hard at work, trying to develop a touchless car wash, but no one could quite figure it out. Lewis was at a trade show in Chicago in the mid-80s when he met Allen Jones, an engineer from New Zealand, who had developed the "Laserwash" system, but needed help bringing it to the market. Lewis and Charlie Lieb partnered with Jones to develop the system and patent several key pieces of equipment that would be produced by PDQ Manufacturing, a new venture Lewis founded in 1984.

Allen Jones' "Laserwash" (later the Laserwash 4000), was developed by the NZ company "Pacific Car Wash Systems", which to this day is one of the main distributors of PDQ equipment in New Zealand.

After selling the PDQ company to Dover Corporation in 1998 (who still owns and maintain the business to this day, as well as another US car wash manufacturer, Belanger), Lewis went on to other business ventures within the auto-cleaning industry, including a car wash component manufacturing business and a cleaning solution manufacturer, R. Lewis Technologies, focusing on trying to answer one of the big car wash quandaries: Why dirt sticks to cars. R. Lewis Technologies continues to research and produce cleaning solutions for the car wash industry today.

The International Carwash Association enshrined Lewis in its Car Wash Hall of Fame in 2000 for his contributions to the industry. Lewis was also a founder of the Green Bay Automobile Gallery and tireless supporter of non-profit organizations in the Green Bay Area of Wisconsin, United States.