Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory — SBA financing may be unavailable; verify with your lender
Tommy's Express Car Wash
Automotive · independent · est. —
Tommy's Express Car Wash is an express tunnel car wash franchise built around membership-based unlimited wash plans. A franchisee develops and operates a high-volume, purpose-built wash site with automated equipment, serving drive-through retail customers, a substantial real estate and construction undertaking.
Tommy's Express Car Wash net unit count grew +48.6% from 2023–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & strong
Distress
Enough units and history to judge, and the record is good: growing or stable units with clean exits by the standards of its disclosed record. The standout in the record: the system is growing.
Exit rate · latest year
1.0%
vs 5.5% across 19 automotive systems
Cost to open
$3.5M–$11.8M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
No loan record
no SBA 7(a)/504 loans found for this brand
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 2 of 206 franchised outlets left the system — a 1.0% annualized exit rate, vs 5.5% across 19 automotive systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 129 | 175 | 216 |
| Opened | 43 | 42 | 46 |
| Transfers | 4 | 2 | 13 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Outlets at end | 175 | 216 | 260 |
| Net change | +46 | +41 | +44 |
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $50K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $3.5M–$11.8M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$3.5M–$11.8M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$50K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
4%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$40K
4% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$400K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for Tommy's Express Car Wash with an independent CPADistress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Tommy's Express Car Wash. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Tommy's Express Car Wash's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Tommy's Express Car Wash franchises closed last year?
In Tommy's Express Car Wash's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 2 of 206 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 1.0% — compared with 5.5% across 19 automotive systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise cost?
Per Tommy's Express Car Wash's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $50K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $3.5M–$11.8M (Item 7).
What royalty does Tommy's Express Car Wash charge?
Tommy's Express Car Wash charges an ongoing royalty of 4.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does Tommy's Express Car Wash disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Tommy's Express Car Wash makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.