Intelligence Reports

WashIndex Intelligence Reports

Long-form research reports, methodology write-ups, market analysis, and platform updates from the data science team.

01 Blog

Platform updates, methodology notes, and shorter posts.

What we’re building, what we’re seeing, and how we think about the car wash industry.

02 Research

Multi-month studies and deep data reports.

Comprehensive, peer-style analyses built on the underlying WashIndex dataset — methodology disclosed, numbers reproducible.

Research Report May 13, 2026

When a New Car Wash Opens, How Much Business Does It Actually Steal?

A national, data-driven look at trade-area cannibalization, using 5.9 million Google reviews and every new US car wash that opened in 2024–2025.

We tracked every new US car wash that opened between mid-2024 and late 2025 and measured what happened to every existing wash within 5 miles. The headline cannibalization effect is real but moderate — until clusters form. Two new competitors barely hurt; the third is a cliff. Same-format pairs barely affect each other, while cross-format entries can take 30%+ of a neighbor's customers. And the highest-rated incumbents are the most vulnerable, not the least.

  • 5.9M Google reviews
  • 6,559 new openings (2024–2025)
  • 134,000 matched pairs
  • 94,000+ analyzed comparisons
  • Jan 2024 – Apr 2026
Read the report PDF available
Research Report May 8, 2026

What Happens to Car Washes After Ownership Changes

A multi-acquisition study across 4,178 car wash sites — buyer profile, not site quality, is the strongest predictor of post-acquisition customer experience.

Across 4,178 sites with confirmed ownership changes between Jan 2024 and Apr 2026, the aggregate post-acquisition customer-experience trajectory looks flat. Underneath it, sites acquired by major consolidators show systematic declines on every measured aspect, while individually-acquired sites hold steady or improve. The decline is durable, not transitional.

  • 776,637 reviews
  • 4,178 sites
  • 172 consolidator acquisitions
  • LLM extraction, 51 dimensions
Read the report PDF available

Get new reports in your inbox.

Subscribe to the WashIndex Intelligence Blog and we’ll notify you when new market analysis and data reports are published.

No spam. Unsubscribe at any time.