InstaShine Car Wash brings speed, value, convenience to Berks

InstaShine Car Wash has officially opened on Penn Avenue in Lower Heidelberg Township, Berks County — bringing a new type of car wash to the area. Penn Avenue motorists can’t miss the business — its distinctive central vacuum system is eye-catching.

InstaShine had a soft opening on Friday, Aug. 11 and has been open since, according to owner Andy Roland of Roland Real Estate.

“We have been busy,” Roland said. “We had a great turnout last Friday and over the weekend.”

A grand opening is planned for Friday, Aug. 18, from 2 to 8 p.m. It will feature a fundraiser for the Salvation Army of Reading.

“All car washes will be free … we will be asking customers to donate to the Salvation Army instead of paying for a car wash. Customers can donate coins or cash on site,” he said. “We will have people from the Salvation Army on site.”

It has been a journey

Construction on the InstaShine Car Wash at 4621 Penn Ave., across from Weaver’s Ace Hardware near Sinking Spring, began in March 2022, but Roland had contracted for the land back in 2020. Like many business owners, he had to deal with supply chain issues during construction.

“We just had to push our way through them,” he said.

The InstaShine Car Wash is an express exterior car wash. Owners pull their vehicles up to an automated pay station, pick the wash they want and then drive through the tunnel. They can then either leave or pull into a space and vacuum the interior using InstaShine’s central vacuum system, Roland said.

Roland said it is the first of its kind in Berks County, and it is the format that 98% of car washes in the U.S. are being built to be — rather than full- or self-serve.

“It’s what customers want — speed, value and convenience,” he said.

Roland said customers can come in and purchase a car wash, and if they have a monthly wash membership, InstaShine’s license plate technology can read their plate, and in about three-minutes their wash is finished.

InstaShine Car Wash is not a franchise, “we are locally- and family-owned,” Roland said, adding that the InstaShine name is “my name and my brand.”

He said he was disappointed when he heard another car wash would be constructed across the street.

“There is kind of an unspoken rule that you don’t build a car wash across the street or next to each other,” he added.

InstaShine has 20-25 employees in rotation, Roland said, with anywhere from two to five part-time employees working at a time.

It is Roland’s second Berks car wash. He owns a self-service operation at 1527 N. Fifth St. in Reading.

Giving back

It’s no coincidence Roland is starting with a fundraising effort right away. He and his family support a number of charities in the area. In fact, he is a member of the board of the Salvation Army of Reading.

So, too, is Sarah Phillips, the owner of Irish Creek Construction, Roland’s general contractor on the project. He said that every year they participate in the Salvation Army’s red kettle campaigns, and every year he is “blown away with how generous people are in the area.”

Since 2020, the family has supported St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, which treated his daughter Charlotte.

The commitment to giving back to the community, he said, reflects how he was raised — that giving back is important.

Roland said he looks forward to working with local organizations that might want to do fundraisers and invites them to reach out to InstaShine to see how the company can work with them on their fundraising efforts.

Roland was an All-Berks athlete, playing football at Wilson High School before his 2001 graduation. After graduating from Duke University, he moved to Atlanta, where he worked in commercial real estate. In 2016 Roland returned to Berks County with his family. He and his wife Barbara have three children: Charlotte, 10; Alice, 7 and Matthew, 5.

For information and hours visit https://www.facebook.com/InstaShineCarWashPA/.