40K to start up. Help me out please

 

I know this is my an old post but I thought I would put my 2 cents in. $40,000 for one van is WAAAAAAAAY TOO MUCH TO SPEND.

Those "big" truck mounts, are a complete and total waste of money. Unless you are running two wands or over 250 ft. of hose then I would advise completely against them. I've used a Prochem Aphex, Panther 25, Dynachems top model w/ propane tank, and I now own a Panther 18. Let me tell you. They are ALL the same. The only difference is the packaging. They use the same type of blower, same engine, same water pump. It's all smoke and mirrors.

Do yourself a favor. If you are looking for a brand new truck mount (which I would suggest because you don't want to break down on a job), get yourself a Panther 18. It's right at that sweet spot between too much power and not enough. My old 25 cleaned about the same as the Panther 18. The Panther is about $8900 on Ebay directly from Chemtex w/ $400 shipping.

For the van, look on Craigslist and get yourself either a nice box van for about $5000-$8,000 or a nice cargo van from anywhere from $2,000-$5,000.

I bought a 94 Ford E-150 in fairly good looking condition and in excellent working condition for $1600. So far, I've had it for two years and the only thing I've had to do was get it inspected and recharge freon. I "could" get a $500 paint job if I wanted, give it a newer look, but honestly, customers don't care what you drive, they care about how you clean. Back in the day when I worked for a scam company called Kiwi, I use to drive a Mitsubishi Mighty Max with a buffer in the back and made money!!

Alternately you can get a QUALITY used machine/van for anywhere from $7000- $15,000.

And like Any said, the maintenance is what's most important. I can tell you from experience, the Panther units are EXTREMELY easy to work on. If you can install a door in your house, or change your own auto oil, then you can work on a Panther.

The Panther 18 steams about 2.5 ft. when I clean. A CLOUD of steam!

No. But I'll be happy to post one sometime next week :). I'm working by myself right now but I need to clean my own carpets as soon as my girlfriend comes back from out of town. So I'll have her take some video when I do!! That's a great idea by the way  Might put it up on my website!