The 5 Best Car Washes in Ames, IA

Part of the Ames, IA car wash market.

Data updated · May 22, 2026

Ranked by Google review rating across 9 car washes identified by WashIndex's LLM classifier in Ames, IA, with each location requiring at least 30 customer reviews to qualify (so small-sample outliers don't surface).

🥇1

ABC Detailing LLC

615 S Dayton Ave #129, Ames, IA 50010

5.0

49 reviews

Detail Shop $83K AGI ZIP
🥈2

Details Auto Appearance Center

504 E Lincoln Wy, Ames, IA 50010

4.9

66 reviews

Detail Shop $83K AGI ZIP
🥉3

Varsity Carwash

3705 Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014

4.6

304 reviews

Express Tunnel Chain · Varsity Carwash $94K AGI ZIP
4

Varsity Carwash

1016 S Duff Ave, Ames, IA 50010

4.5

142 reviews

Express Tunnel Chain · Varsity Carwash $83K AGI ZIP
5

Wild Water Car Wash & Pet Wash

204 Clark Ave, Ames, IA 50010

3.9

429 reviews

Self-Serve Bay Chain · Wild Water Car Wash Fort Dodge $83K AGI ZIP

Frequently Asked Questions

About Ames, IA

What is the best-rated car wash in Ames, IA?

ABC Detailing LLC is the highest-rated car wash in Ames, IA at 5.0★ across 49 Google reviews. The location is at 615 S Dayton Ave #129, Ames, IA 50010.

What are the top 5 car washes in Ames, IA?

Ranked by Google review rating (filtering to locations with at least 30 reviews): 1. ABC Detailing LLC (5.0★, 49 reviews); 2. Details Auto Appearance Center (4.9★, 66 reviews); 3. Varsity Carwash (4.6★, 304 reviews); 4. Varsity Carwash (4.5★, 142 reviews); 5. Wild Water Car Wash & Pet Wash (3.9★, 429 reviews).

How is the "best" car wash determined in this list?

WashIndex ranks Ames, IA car washes by their Google review rating, restricted to locations with at least 30 customer reviews so that small-sample outliers don't surface. Where ratings tie, the location with more reviews wins. The pool is further restricted to the LLM-classified car wash formats (Express Tunnel, Full Service, Detail Shop, In-Bay Automatic, Self-Serve Bay) so that car dealerships and gas stations with attached washes don't crowd out the actual car-wash operators.

About this ranking

Ranked by Google review rating across LLM-classified car washes in Ames, IA. Locations with fewer than 30 reviews are excluded to keep small-sample noise out of the ranking. Ties broken by review count. Dealerships, gas stations, and other auto-related businesses that don't primarily operate a car wash are excluded from the pool at the data-prep stage.

See the full Ames, IA car wash market analysis for every car wash in the city, format mix, operator dominance, ZIP/income breakdown, and more — or our full methodology for the underlying data pipeline.

ABC Detailing LLC

Details Auto Appearance Center

Varsity Carwash