Budgeting maintenance costs.

[ScottA]

What are your average maintenance costs for your machines? Say for a standard soda machine and snack machine.

I'm starting out and trying to calculate what to set aside for these costs annually.

Thanks in advance.

Scott

[tblake05]

Depends. Are you running Dixie and AP machines or seaga?

I don’t really know. I repair a lot of my own issues. So I just keep a stock of common parts on hand. I suppose I spend 1k on repairs and maintenance per year for 28 machines. Not bad. But I keep up on them. It’s amazing how fast you learn how to repair them when a standard service call is 300.00. 

[Vendo Mike]

Maintenance or Repair costs?  Maintenance consumables shouldn't be much more than cleaner and towels, time and some elbow grease.   Beyond that, a brush or vacuum to clean your condenser coils and/or filter screens.  

On the other hand, repair costs are going to be dependent on what equipment you're operating.  This is when buying quality equipment from the start will save you time and money down the road.   This part of the business is very much a "get what you pay for" situation.  

[AZVendor]

There is no rule of thumb.  You just pay the expense when it comes up.  When I had 300 machines out I always felt that my service calls would come in threes though I knew that wasn't true.  We took care of our machines, had bought the majority of them new during our expansion years and the drivers were trained on how to fix the easy stuff and how to troubleshoot before they called me.  But I could also walk them through every scenario to get to the root causes.  The most expensive repair on a soda machine is a new compressor.  Everything else will cost less than that.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  All machines require repair at some point.  Just make sure you learn from each repair so you can troubleshoot yourself.

[ScottA]

So a compressor going out is rare? How much does that cost?

Sounds like the Dixie and AP machines are some of the more dependable ones.

[AngryChris]

Dixie and AP made excellent machines in their day but both companies got bought out by crane who also owns National.  It's not a one size fits all statement due to the fact that not every model was great but you generally get good machines when you buy from them.  The vendor v21 is an excellent machine as well but it's very easy to confuse it with the vmax models which weren't bad but I don't recommend getting them anymore.

Compressor longevity depends on if you keep the coils clean and keep the machine at least 4" from the wall.  Even so, it's difficult to say because newer refer decks seem to be inferior to older ones in terms of longevity but the older ones have likely already failed by now and old parts are replaced by new (inferior) parts.  I'd say expect at least 7 years on average.

[AZVendor]

If you're so worried about your costs so that you can budget for them then this isn't the business for you.  You can't micromanage vending machines.  You just fly by the seat of your pants and then can develop tendencies later through your own experiences.  Every operators experiences are different because all machines are different.  They are machines after all, and they will break at some point.  It just a guess when and how often that will happen.  Just read this forum.  Why do you think that I have 13000 posts?

[ScottA]

I appreciate all the comments.

Sounds like the bottom line is buy good machines, keep them clean (including coils) and keep them at least 4" from wall. Also, don't worry to much about maintenance costs.