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Operator Comparison

ModWash vs Mr. Clean Car Wash

Data updated · May 24, 2026

ModWash is larger (127 vs 23 locations); ModWash is rated higher (4.85★ vs 4.32★); ModWash has the lower reviewer-reported damage rate (0.83% vs 1.95%).

The Comparison in Brief

ModWash is a national-tier operator and Mr. Clean Car Wash is regional-tier, so they're competing at different scale points. ModWash edges ahead on review-weighted rating (4.85★ vs 4.32★, a meaningful gap). On reviewer-reported damage, ModWash runs lower at 0.83% vs 1.95% — a modest operating-quality gap. The dataset-wide average across all car wash chains is roughly 1–3%.

Locations
127
12 states
Locations
23
4 states
Reviews
182,068
70,105 LLM-scored
Reviews
11,405
3,643 LLM-scored
Avg Rating
4.85
Avg Rating
4.32
Damage Rate
0.83%
lower is better
Damage Rate
1.95%
lower is better
Membership Cancellation Friction
12.4%
of mem-discussing reviews
Membership Cancellation Friction
7.3%
of mem-discussing reviews
Dominant Format
Express Tunnel
Dominant Format
Full Service

ModWash operates 127 locations across 12 states (10.6 sites per state on average). Mr. Clean Car Wash operates 23 locations across 4 states (5.8 per state). ModWash has a denser per-state footprint (10.6 sites/state vs 5.8 for Mr. Clean Car Wash), suggesting a more saturated regional strategy. Total customer signal is 182,068 Google reviews for ModWash (70,105 LLM-scored) vs 11,405 for Mr. Clean Car Wash (3,643 scored).

01 Customer Experience

How do customers rate each chain on the 7 pillars?

Aspect scores aggregate WashIndex's LLM extractions across each chain's reviews. Each score is (positive − negative) / total mentions, ranging −1 to +1. Numbers above zero mean customers say more positive than negative things about the aspect; below zero means the reverse.

Aspect ModWash Mr. Clean Car Wash Winner
Wash Quality +0.75 +0.72 ModWash
Staff & Customer Service +0.94 +0.86 ModWash
Wait Time +0.64 +0.66 Mr. Clean Car Wash
Per-Wash Price +0.24 +0.05 ModWash
Equipment Working -0.33 +0.02 Mr. Clean Car Wash
Facility Cleanliness +0.79 +0.90 Mr. Clean Car Wash
Membership Value +0.25 +0.49 Mr. Clean Car Wash

ModWash's strongest aspect in customer reviews is Staff & Customer Service (+0.94); the weakest is Equipment Working (-0.33). Mr. Clean Car Wash's strongest is Facility Cleanliness (+0.90); the weakest is Equipment Working (+0.02). Head-to-head on the 7 pillars: ModWash wins on Per-Wash Price, while Mr. Clean Car Wash wins on Equipment Working, Facility Cleanliness, Membership Value. The remaining pillars are too close to call.

Mr. Clean Car Wash has the lower cancellation-friction rate (7.3% vs 12.4% of mem-discussing reviews) — a substantial gap. The dataset-wide rate is roughly 10–15%. Customers discuss memberships more often when reviewing Mr. Clean Car Wash (12.7% of reviews) than the alternative (8.5%), which usually signals a more aggressively-marketed unlimited-wash program.

02 Format Mix

Do they operate the same format of car wash?

Format ModWash Mr. Clean Car Wash
Full Service 3.6% 4.6%
Express Tunnel 2.1% 3.8%
Detail Shop 0.4% 4.4%
Hand Wash 1.5% 2.6%
Self-Serve Bay 0.6% 1.8%

Format share is computed across customer review mentions, not over locations. A chain with mostly express-tunnel sites but heavy detail-shop talk in reviews will show both at non-trivial rates.

ModWash is predominantly a Express Tunnel chain while Mr. Clean Car Wash is Full Service. They're not really competing for the same customer occasion — different formats serve different price points, throughput needs, and wash expectations. Customers who care about wash result might pick one; customers who care about speed might pick the other.

03 Geographic Overlap

Where do ModWash and Mr. Clean Car Wash compete?

ModWash metros
32
MSAs with at least one ModWash location
Mr. Clean Car Wash metros
5
MSAs with at least one Mr. Clean Car Wash location
Shared metros
3
where customers can choose between the two

ModWash and Mr. Clean Car Wash compete head-to-head in 3 metropolitan statistical areas. In those shared markets, customers can choose between the two. In short: If customer-rating consistency is the deciding factor, ModWash is the safer pick; if avoiding vehicle damage is the priority, ModWash runs the lower reviewer-reported damage rate; if location convenience matters most, ModWash has more sites to choose from.

Frequently Asked Questions

About ModWash vs Mr. Clean Car Wash

ModWash vs Mr. Clean Car Wash: which is bigger?

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ModWash is the larger operator with 127 locations across 12 states, compared to Mr. Clean Car Wash's 23 locations across 4 states.

Which has the higher customer rating, ModWash or Mr. Clean Car Wash?

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ModWash is rated higher at 4.85★ across 182,068 Google reviews, vs Mr. Clean Car Wash's 4.32★ across 11,405 reviews. The 0.53-star gap is computed as a review-weighted mean across each chain's locations.

Which has the lower damage rate, ModWash or Mr. Clean Car Wash?

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ModWash has the lower reviewer-reported damage rate at 0.83% of reviews mentioning vehicle damage, compared to Mr. Clean Car Wash's 1.95%. Both rates are computed across WashIndex's LLM-extracted review pipeline.

Where do ModWash and Mr. Clean Car Wash compete head-to-head?

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ModWash operates in 32 US metropolitan statistical areas and Mr. Clean Car Wash in 5. They overlap in 3 metros where customers can choose between the two operators. See each chain's profile for the full geographic breakdown.

About this comparison

Both chains' numbers are pulled from the same WashIndex per-location dataset — Google reviews processed through LLM extraction across 55 dimensions, format classification from each operator's website, and competitive-density analysis. See each chain's full profile — ModWash / Mr. Clean Car Wash — for monthly trends, per-location drill-down, executive summary, and anomaly detection.

See our full methodology for the extraction pipeline, validation samples, and aggregation logic.

See every car wash in the platform.

Drill into any ModWash or Mr. Clean Car Wash location, see its competitive set, monthly review velocity, and per-aspect sentiment.