Guides, data & tools
Everything WashIndex publishes beyond the browsable collections: the investing and underwriting library, recurring indexes and reports, free calculators, and the reference material behind the dataset. Markets, chains, and rankings live in the directory.
The investing and underwriting library
Long-form, evergreen references for buying, building, financing, and operating car washes — the frameworks behind the numbers.
The 12-chapter guide: business models, unit economics, site selection, membership, due diligence, valuation, and exits.
How to underwrite a car wash: the six-factor scorecard, the worked EBITDA bridge, score-guided multiples, and the DSCR math.
44 checks organized by the six deal factors, plus the 15-document seller request list. Printable.
What washes actually trade at — EBITDA multiples by segment and format, cap rates, and the which-EBITDA caveat.
SBA 7(a)/504 terms, charge-off data from 12,900+ loan-level records, DSCR sizing, and credit-committee questions.
The reference thresholds behind Market Quality and Site Quality — AADT bands, income floors, and saturation bands.
Indexes, statistics, and recurring reports
The citable numbers: recurring indexes and reports built from the WashIndex dataset and official government sources, refreshed on a schedule.
The quarterly rollup — market structure, operating-quality benchmarks, chain dynamics, and what to watch next quarter.
The WMPI: US unlimited-membership list prices since 2015, indexed to 2020 = 100 and validated against SEC disclosures.
The citation-ready statistics hub — establishments, employment, pricing, financing, and quality benchmarks, every stat dated and sourced.
Multi-month studies: cannibalization, acquisition quality, market saturation, and the price index methodology — with downloadable PDFs.
SBA 7(a) & 504 car-wash lending since 1991 — volumes, medians, charge-offs, purpose mix, and the most-financed franchises.
Company news: new datasets, research releases, and platform milestones.
Calculators built on the dataset
Interactive, free, no-signup tools — screening-grade answers in the browser, powered by the same data as the platform.
The tool hub: ROI, site opportunity, membership break-even, and underwriting calculators in one place.
Score any acquisition target on the six-factor scorecard, rebuild seller EBITDA, and get a score-guided valuation.
Build cost to NOI, payback, 10-year IRR, and EBITDA margin — with format-aware defaults.
Enter any US ZIP: income, population, existing supply, dominant format, and a composite opportunity score.
Is an unlimited membership worth it? Break-even washes per month, effective cost per wash, and a plain verdict.
Definitions, methodology, and the company
How the dataset is built and defined, how to embed or cite it, and who is behind it.
Authoritative definitions for every term in the data — damage rate, aspect scores, formats, cap rate, EBITDA multiple, and more.
The full pipeline documentation: signal extraction, validation, aggregation, scoring formulas, refresh cadence, and limitations.
Free iframe widgets for chain profiles, metro analyses, and city best-of lists — live WashIndex data on any site.
The data product overview — per-location operating quality on 80,000+ washes for PE, insurers, operators, and lenders.
Diligence, sourcing, and portfolio monitoring for car wash investors — six pre-built thesis scores per location.
Who builds WashIndex, and the editorial standards behind the published work.
Citable statistics, downloadable reports and social cards, logos, and citation guidance for journalists and analysts.
Long-form research, methodology write-ups, market analyses, and platform updates — with an RSS feed at /rss.xml.
Subscribe to every new report, research study, and platform update in your feed reader — the full WashIndex publishing stream.
The reading is free.
So is the data behind it.
Every guide and report on this page is built from the same per-location dataset the platform runs on — 80,000+ washes, 13M+ AI-analyzed reviews, refreshed monthly.
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