Tommy Car Wash Systems
  • Shop Equipment
        • Buy Car Wash Equipment

          Tunnel Equipment

          Round arches, conveyors, cleaning stations

          Vacuums & Vending

          Stanchions, hoses, vending

          Detergents & Chemicals

          Tommy Signature line & pod system

          Point of Sales & LPR

          Plate recognition, cameras, payment systems

          Backroom Equipment

          Water reclaimers, Reverse Osmosis Systems

          Parts

          Replacement, OEM and more

          Guardian Wash Controls

          Total control of your wash

          Used and Refurbished

          Buy used, discount and refab

          Shop All Products

          Car Wash Services

          Modernize Your Car Wash

          In-bay conversion or renovation of your old chain and roller car wash

          Join the Franchise

          Partner with the #1 Fastest & Smartest Growing Franchise

          franchise 500 ranked #1 in category

          New Investor? Start Here!

          tcws car wash tunnel entrance

          One of the most important decisions you'll make when starting off in the car wash industry is choosing the right company to help you build your business.

          Invest in Tommy's
  • Modernize Your Wash
  • Our Company
        • The Tommy's Story

          retro car in old car wash tunnel

          A story of two brothers’ success - 
Jun and Sonny Essenburg opened their 
first car wash in 1969.

          Read More

          Careers at Tommy's

          car wash employee in tunnel
          Work at a Wash
          headquarters lobby
          Work at HQ

          More from Tommy Car Wash Systems

          Our Team

          Meet our leadership

          Car Wash Best Practices

          Get tips on how to run a #1 Car Wash

          Tommy Car Wash in the Community

          Read more on giving back initiatives

          Car Wash Intellectual Property

          Patents, IP and more

  • Support
        • Quick Support

          Browse Help Center

          Speak with Client Services

          Start a Chat

          Open a Ticket

          Helpful Support Articles

          Helpful Preventative Maintenance Videos

          Watch how to videos on car wash maintenance

          Equipment How To’s

          Read recent articles posted from Support

          Warranty and Returns

          See our return, service and product disclaimers

          Read More

          24/7 Field Service Support

          support representative talking on phone

          Get fast, superior service nationwide

          Custom support plans available

          Browse Direct Service Subscriptions
  • Contact Us
        • Contact Us

          Talk to Equipment Sales

          Contact Us Form

          Follow Us Online

          LinkedIn

          Facebook

          YouTube

          Visit Our Global Headquarters

          648 South Ridge Point
          Holland, MI 49423
          Main Line: (616) 494-0771

          Get Directions
          front of Tommy headquarters
  • Shop Equipment & Services
    • Tunnel Equipment
    • Vacuums & Vending
    • Detergents
    • Point of Sale Systems
    • Backroom Equipment
    • Parts
    • Guardian Wash Controls
    • Used & Refurbished
    • Wash Facility Supplies
    • Cloth & Foam
    • Building Signage & Lighting
    • Accessories
  • Modernize Your Wash
  • Our Company
    • Our Story
    • Careers
    • Join the Franchise
    • Blog
  • Support
    • Browse Help Center
    • Speak with Client Services
    • Start a Chat
    • Open a Ticket
  • Contact Us
    • Talk to Equipment Sales
    • Contact Form
    • Get Directions
Shop Now Sign In

Search to see results...

  • Tunnel Equipment
  • Guardian Controls
  • Detergents
  • Vacuums & Vending
  • Parts
  • Backroom Equipment
  • Point of Sale
  • Signage & Lighting
  • Shop Now

user account iconAccount

Blog Home

Lights, Camera, Action

August 29, 2015 Car Wash Marketing

 The Visual Impact of a Great Car Wash!

Marketing a car wash is a fun and creative process. Take a drive through any major suburb and you’ll find bubbles, racing themes, sports themes and much more. Owners and operators turn to radio, tv, online search, and even hire high school students on summer break to stand outside with signs and attract businesses. But with all that energy expended on the outside of your car wash, it’s easy to sometimes forget about the impact that you should be having on your customers INSIDE the wash.

Car washes are a classic impulse purchase and one that depends strongly on convenience and emotion. We take care of convenience by building washes in high traffic areas with more passing cars, along with easy entrance and exit designs to make that impulse purchase happen as easily as possible. In the exact same way positive emotions can be generated with proper design and forethought–particularly in the visual development of the car wash itself. Light and color play a huge role in capturing your customers’ emotions and making the right decisions for lighting, signage, and services is key.

Studies have shown that bright entrance signs and colored lights at the opening and exits of the car wash tunnel wash tunnel generate a deeper emotional impact on customers, making the experience more entertaining and valuable. Inversely, dark and shaded washes (looking like cave entrances) come off as less-well maintained and less emotionally stimulating. Investing in a design that uses brightly colored signage and highly efficient neon or LED lights is often directly related to higher ticket averages and adds nearly zero impact on top of your overhead. Investments like bay windows and clear roofs that accept large amounts of natural sunlight can also off-set natural claustrophobia and attract an entirely new range of curious customers.

At Tommy Car Wash Systems we’ve thought through each stage of this process, coming up with a single unified design that takes natural light into the bay, eliminates the expansive backroom, makes the equipment more visible through the windows, and adds enough lighting, flourishes, and special touches so that other washes just can’t compete. Plus our equipment packages are neatly divided up into stages, each stage featuring our famous silver arches and highlighting the service with lights, scents, bright signage, and illuminated detergents. If you’re thinking of building a car wash, the Totally Tommy design is absolutely the best experience and the best option out there. It’s colorful, it’s fun, and it leaves the car looking great afterwards too!

And if you have an existing car wash, don’t worry. There are plenty of little touches and add on’s with proven potential for increasing and expanding modern washes and customer experience. For instance:

  •  Tommy indoor and outdoor red balls as used as planters, trash cans, and accents to leave your wash’s aesthetic more fun and appealing.
  • Bright, eye-catching “car wash” arrow signs directing cars to the wash line.
  •  Tommy sign panels with colored LED lights to mark each stage in the wash.
  •  Logo redesigns with sign manufacturing to improve your brand and increase continuity between your physical location, the wash experience, and digital advertising.

At Tommy Car Wash we’re experts at creating washes that keep people coming back. If you need help taking your wash’s aesthetic up a notch, our team would be happy to help.

Tommy Car Wash Systems

Car Wash Marketing

Continue Reading

The Tommy Car Wash Drying SystemPrevious post
The Tommy Accent BallNext post

Browse Topics

Buildings

Equipment

Franchise

Marketing

Operations

Detergents

Blog home

Tommy Car Wash Systems

648 South Point Ridge
Holland, MI 49423

  • Our Company
    • Our Story
    • Careers
    • Team
    • Contact
  • Offerings
    • Franchise
    • Equipment
    • Inbay Conversions
    • Site Models
    • Detergents
    • Vacuums
  • Useful Links
    • Webstore
    • Support
  • Learn More
    • Blog
    • Portfolio
    • Photostream

© Tommy Car Wash Systems 2025. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy & Compliance
  • Terms of Use