Today's Car Wash vs Tommy's Express® Car Wash
Data updated · September 26, 2026
Tommy's Express® Car Wash is larger (264 vs 10 locations); Today's Car Wash is rated higher (4.65★ vs 4.58★); Today's Car Wash has the lower reviewer-reported damage rate (1.56% vs 2.99%).
Today's Car Wash is a local-tier operator and Tommy's Express® Car Wash is national-tier, so they're competing at different scale points. Today's Car Wash edges ahead on review-weighted rating (4.65★ vs 4.58★, a narrow gap). On reviewer-reported damage, Today's Car Wash runs lower at 1.56% vs 2.99% — a modest operating-quality gap. The dataset-wide average across all car wash chains is roughly 1–3%.
| Metric | Today's Car Wash todayscarwash.com | Tommy's Express® Car Wash tommys-express.com |
|---|---|---|
| Locations | 10 1 state | 264 38 states |
| Reviews | 10,093 3,721 LLM-scored | 144,266 72,971 LLM-scored |
| Avg rating | 4.65 | 4.58 |
| Damage rate (lower better) | 1.56% | 2.99% |
| Membership cancellation friction (of mem-discussing reviews) | 16.4% | 8.4% |
| Dominant format | Express Tunnel | Express Tunnel |
Today's Car Wash operates 10 locations across 1 state (10.0 sites per state on average). Tommy's Express® Car Wash operates 264 locations across 38 states (6.9 per state). Today's Car Wash is single-state (Texas), so the comparison is most useful for customers and operators in that footprint. Total customer signal is 10,093 Google reviews for Today's Car Wash (3,721 LLM-scored) vs 144,266 for Tommy's Express® Car Wash (72,971 scored).
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 | Today's Car Wash | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wash Quality | +0.60 | +0.62 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash |
| Staff & Customer Service | +0.84 | +0.89 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash |
| Wait Time | +0.58 | +0.72 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash |
| Per-Wash Price | +0.24 | +0.15 | Today's Car Wash |
| Equipment Working | -0.27 | -0.41 | Today's Car Wash |
| Facility Cleanliness | +0.73 | +0.86 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash |
| Membership Value | +0.15 | +0.29 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash |
Today's Car Wash's strongest aspect in customer reviews is Staff & Customer Service (+0.84); the weakest is Equipment Working (-0.27). Tommy's Express® Car Wash's strongest is Staff & Customer Service (+0.89); the weakest is Equipment Working (-0.41). Head-to-head on the 7 pillars: Today's Car Wash wins on Equipment Working, while Tommy's Express® Car Wash wins on Wait Time, Facility Cleanliness, Membership Value. The remaining pillars are too close to call.
Tommy's Express® Car Wash has the lower cancellation-friction rate (8.4% vs 16.4% of mem-discussing reviews) — a substantial gap. The dataset-wide rate is roughly 10–15%.
Do they operate the same format of car wash?
| Format | Today's Car Wash | Tommy's Express® Car Wash |
|---|---|---|
| Express Tunnel | 3.1% | 8.3% |
| Full Service | 0.9% | 1.1% |
| Self-Serve Bay | 1.2% | 0.6% |
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.
Format-mix-wise, Today's Car Wash and Tommy's Express® Car Wash are matched: both lean Express Tunnel. The differentiator isn't what they do, it's how they do it.
Where do Today's Car Wash and Tommy's Express® Car Wash compete?
Today's Car Wash and Tommy's Express® Car Wash compete head-to-head in 1 metropolitan statistical area. In short: If customer-rating consistency is the deciding factor, Today's Car Wash is the safer pick; if avoiding vehicle damage is the priority, Today's Car Wash runs the lower reviewer-reported damage rate; if location convenience matters most, Tommy's Express® Car Wash has more sites to choose from.
About Today's Car Wash vs Tommy's Express® Car Wash
Today's Car Wash vs Tommy's Express® Car Wash: which is bigger?
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Which has the higher customer rating, Today's Car Wash or Tommy's Express® Car Wash?
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Which has the lower damage rate, Today's Car Wash or Tommy's Express® Car Wash?
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Where do Today's Car Wash and Tommy's Express® Car Wash compete head-to-head?
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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 — Today's Car Wash / Tommy's Express® 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.