A Quick Petit Drive By: What We've Been Up To

FAQs about the XT:

Q: How does it clean compared to the standard 8’ tall machine?

A: The Petit Accutrac 360-i has never had to use the full capability of the Cat Pump dedicated to the top sprayer. Due to this, we were able to engineer and calculate the nozzle size specifically for the tall machine, in conjunction with increasing the hertz of the Cat Pump (still within factory limits). All this to say, we and our clients have not noticed much difference at all regarding the cleaning. There likely is a marginal difference, but it has not been noticeable enough for any of us to give a percentage of “less clean.”

Q: How dry does the vehicle come out with dryers that are mounted much higher.

A: Unlike the cleaning question, the vehicles are noticeably less dry. If you take a car through two Petit Accutrac® 360-i’s and one is an XT, you will notice with the dryers mounted about 2 feet higher: the vehicle in the XT bay will not be as dry - it is tangible. That being said, at our own XT wash and from our clients with XT washes, we have not heard complaints from the end users at this time. We're continuing to field test and gather more feedback from operators who currently have XTs installed in their facilities.

Note: There are extended nozzle solutions and more drying options are in development as of writing.

NEW PRODUCT SHOWCASE: Expandable RO Production System

Innovators are going to innovate, and we all know Tom Petit is such an innovator.

Introducing our new expandable R.O. Production Unit!

What’s different about ours you ask?

To start off, of course it’s constructed from stainless steel. The real juice is that it’s expandable. If you purchase a 4 membrane, then add another bay, some self serves, or your volume increases and need to expand to 6 membranes, all you have to do is add 2 membranes. Need to expand to 8? Just add 2 more 🙂

The membranes are low pressure and cold water efficient which will save on electricity. Additionally, we also include dual TDS monitors so the quality of both the incoming and outgoing water can be monitored. Lastly, the motor contactor is separate from the control board and has been upsized for longer life. Pricing is competitive as well.

Although this is our official announcement of both new products, both have been selling already very well from just word of mouth --- which is how we prefer all of our sales at Petit. We’re here for the long haul, and here to serve YOU.

Price Increase:

We were able to hold off on a price increase in 2023. This year, however, it’s unfortunately needed. You all know the story - materials and labor are going up for just about everything and we are not immune to it unfortunately, even at Petit.

We were able to keep the price raise to just under 3.5% for most items. The price increase will take effect April 15th of 2024.

Technology wins:

 Did you get your morning Newspaper today? Did you remember to return those video rentals for the family movie night to Blockbuster? Stand in line for that new CD that came out from your favorite artist? Of course you didn’t. Why? Because technology wins in most sectors (most of the time --- See Betamax).

If you know us, you know that we’ve designed our machines to be Ultra Reliable,  Ultra Clean, and Ultra Fast. We’ve embraced change. Change in vehicle technologies with softer paints. Change in resources by using less water, electricity, and oftentimes less chemicals. But most importantly, change in customer’s lifestyles. All of us are busier than ever - our data shows that TIME is the #1 value that end users are prioritizing. Let our automation and ultra quick speed and reliability serve you and your customers. As we often say, don’t take our word for it, ask a Petit owner or come visit us to see many high volume sites washing cars in 2 to 3 minutes. In closing, we appreciate YOUR time, and thank you for being part of the Petit family!