Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise: what it costs
Opening a Tommy's Express Car Wash tunnel car wash costs $3,482,389 to $11,846,697. Those figures come from its 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), and a brand must give you these papers ahead of your purchase.
Cost of a Tommy's Express Car Wash franchise, line by line
- Total you'll pay to open
- Between $3,482,389 and $11,846,697 Item 7, 2026 FDD
- Franchise fee you pay one time at the start
- $50,000 Item 5, 2026 FDD
- Royalty, your ongoing payments to the brand
- 4% of the gross sales Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Marketing fund, which covers shared advertising
- 1% from gross sales Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Figures on sales or earnings
- $2,083,929 a year on average across 25 locations it counts, before costs Item 19, 2026 FDD
- Locations at the close of 2025
- Franchise owners ran 244 of them, the company 16 Item 20, 2026 FDD
These figures were taken from the 2026 Tommy's Express Car Wash Franchise Disclosure Document, a filing Tommy's Express LLC made with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, dated April 14, 2026. Each small label points to the numbered part of the FDD where that figure sits.
Tommy's Express Car Wash FDD: sales and earnings
Tommy's Express Car Wash gives figures in Item 19. That's the FDD section where a brand may state sales or earnings for its locations. Average yearly sales of $2,083,929 stand out as the main figure. It covers 25 franchised car washes, all in their fifth year during 2025. It is money the store takes in, not profit, because rent, wages and every other cost get paid from it.
Before you lean on any number in an Item 19, see our guide on how to read one.
Tommy's Express Car Wash beside other automotive franchises
Tommy's Express Car Wash has the highest opening cost among the automotive franchises listed here.
| Brand | Total cost to opentotal, lowest to highest | Upfront feeone-time fee | Royaltyongoing, usually a % of sales | Year filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valvoline Instant Oil Change | $192K to $640K | $30,000 | 6% from year three | 2026 |
| Jiffy Lube | $211K to $510K | $35,000 | 4% | 2026 |
| Take 5 Oil Change | $912K to $2.05M | $45,000 | 7% | 2025 |
| Tommy's Express Car Wash | $3.48M to $11.8M | $50,000 | 4% | 2026 |
Before you buy, a brand has to hand over its Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD); the brand's latest one is where every figure comes from. After you open, you keep paying a royalty to the brand: a share of sales or a set amount. A K stands for thousand, an M for million. Each of the 4 brands includes sales or earnings figures in its FDD (open a brand to view them). The filing year is the year that FDD was listed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
The number of Tommy's Express Car Wash locations
At the end of 2025, 260 Tommy's Express Car Wash locations operated in the United States, with franchise owners running 94% of them (Item 20). In that same part of the FDD, you get phone numbers for owners still running stores and ones who left. Your best way to learn how these costs play out in real life is to call a few of them.
Get the Tommy's Express Car Wash FDD read by a franchise attorney
Before you sign, one franchise attorney can go through the Tommy's Express Car Wash FDD and franchise agreement with you.