Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise takes $5,296,471 – $7,166,726 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is not disclosed in the filings we cover. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 4% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 1%. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $5,296,471 | $7,166,726 | $5,296,471 to $7,166,726 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $5,296,471 | $7,166,726 | $5,296,471 to $7,166,726 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Tommy's Express Car Wash's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 4% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 1% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 20 years |
See the full Tommy's Express Car Wash cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Tommy's Express Car Wash's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Tommy's Express Car Wash's disclosed cost sits against the Auto & Travel category:
- Minimum startup cost of $5,296,471 — about 30× the Auto & Travel median of $177,500.
Category medians are computed from the Auto & Travel brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Auto & Travel franchises
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How Tommy's Express Car Wash's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2016–2021: began the window at 0 units; 78 units opened, 1 closed, ending at 79 units. (partial records: 2017, 2018 are not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Tommy's Express Car Wash or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Tommy's Express Car Wash for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Tommy's Express Car Wash is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Tommy's Express Car Wash grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Tommy's Express Car Wash can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise
Tommy's Express Car Wash is an auto & travel franchisor with 79 units at the end of 2021 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2016 and 2021, it began the window at 0 units; its filings record 78 unit openings and 1 closures, ending at 79 units (partial records: 2017, 2018 are not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is Tommy's Express, LLC.
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
From the franchisor's materials
This franchise is for the operation of an ultra-modern car wash, doing business under the name and marks “Tommy’s Express”. A Tommy’s Express Car Wash features a distinctive acrylic roof with innovative systems, designs and equipment, such as a modular control station and a flight deck control center to reduce labor.
Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise cost?
- $5,296,471 – $7,166,726 all-in to open, per Tommy's Express Car Wash's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Tommy's Express Car Wash units are there?
- 79 units at the end of 2021 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Tommy's Express Car Wash's units held up?
- 98.8% of units at risk between 2019 and 2021 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).