Take 5 Car Wash Review
Take 5 Car Wash is a nationwide express tunnel chain with nearly 400 locations, where a single wash runs $12 to $30 and the Unlimited Plan runs $22 to $40 a month.
The chain changed ownership in 2026, and membership prices went up starting June 1 to match what stores were already charging walk-in customers a sign the older cheap unlimited plan pricing is fading fast.
The plan math still works at two washes a month, but wash quality swings harder between locations than at any other big chain, so the honest verdict depends on your local site, not the brand.
- Four tiers, from a plain $12 Wash to a $30 Ceramic Shield pass.
- Free vacuums and a detail center with towels come with every wash.
- Take 5 grew by buying up regional chains, so equipment and quality vary by site.
- The U.S. car washes changed hands in 2025, and that transition burned some members.
Wash Tiers and Prices
Take 5 runs four wash tiers, from a basic $12 Wash up to a $30 Ceramic Shield pass, with each step adding protectants rather than a different wash.
The prices below are the samples Take 5 publishes on its own menu, and it flags that they vary by location.
| Tier | Single Wash |
|---|---|
| Wash | $12 |
| Triple Clean | $18 |
| PLUS with Rain Repel | $24 |
| PLUS with Ceramic Shield | $30 |
The ceramic and graphene-style protectants at the top are run through ArmorAll’s branded chemistry, which is the one thing the tier list doesn’t spell out plainly.
For the full tier-by-tier breakdown and how Take 5 stacks against the field on price, the dedicated prices page carries more.
Unlimited Membership Cost & Break-Even
The Unlimited Plan is priced at almost exactly two single washes per tier, so you break even on the second wash of the month and everything after is free.
Take 5’s own tagline for it, just $10 more than a single wash,is accurate on the entry tier.
| Tier | Monthly Plan | Break-Even |
|---|---|---|
| Wash | $22 | 2 washes |
| Triple Clean | $28 | 2 washes |
| PLUS with Rain Repel | $34 | 2 washes |
| PLUS with Ceramic Shield | $40 | 2 washes |
Wash twice a month on the Triple Clean tier and you’re already ahead by eight dollars.
Wash weekly and the effective per-wash cost drops to about seven dollars.
A household with more than one car can add vehicles at a discounted rate, though the family-plan pricing is set per location and not published online.
Members also get a dedicated scan-and-go lane, which is a real time save at a busy suburban site on a Saturday.
Inside the Tunnel
Take 5 is an express exterior tunnel drive on, ride through, then self-serve vacuums at the end. The sequence is
- Pay at the kiosk, or scan your RFID tag in the member lane
- Pre-soak and bug pre-treatment at the entrance
- Load onto the conveyor neutral, foot off the brake, hands off the wheel
- Shampoo and tri-foam pass, with tire soak and rust prevent on higher tiers
- Wax, rain repel, or Ceramic Shield, depending on tier
- Spot-free rinse, then the high-velocity dryer
- Exit to the free vacuum bays and detail center with towels and sprays
The detail center is the piece most reviews undersell.
It’s not just a token wipe-down spot free microfiber towels, glass cleaner, and interior sprays are sitting right there after the wash, and most people walk past it without using it.
What Take 5 Does Well
Speed, price, and the extras thrown in for free are where Take 5 earns its keep.
At a well-run location, it’s a fast, cheap, no-nonsense exterior wash with better free amenities than most.
The entry plan is among the cheapest unlimited memberships in the express category, and the free detail center with towels and interior sprays is a real perk Mister Car Wash charges $15 for a comparable interior refresh, and it’s not even available at every location.
The scan-and-go member lane keeps regulars out of the pay-kiosk line at busy hours.
When the equipment at your local site is newer and maintained, the wash itself is competitive with anything in the express tier.
Where It Falls Short
The biggest weakness is inconsistency. Take 5 grew by acquiring regional operators, so equipment, wash quality, and staff training vary sharply from one location to the next a fact the brand doesn’t advertise.
Two complaints repeat across review platforms cars leaving with dirt or wax smears still on them, and billing or membership issues that go unanswered for weeks.
Take 5 carries a 1.8/5 rating on Trustpilot, with recurring reports of denied damage claims and cancellation requests that vanish into a form with no reply.
A great Take 5 and a bad Take 5 can be twenty minutes apart.
The review that actually matters is the Google rating of your specific local tunnel.
Take 5’s U.S. locations changed ownership in 2025, and some sites switched hands mid-membership, leaving members with plans that were no longer honored.
If your local Take 5 recently rebranded or was acquired, confirm your membership is still active before assuming it transferred.
Locations & Coverage
Take 5 runs nearly 400 locations, concentrated mostly in the South and Southeast.
Growth came mainly through acquiring existing regional washes, not building new ones the same root cause behind the quality gaps covered earlier.
Coverage is uneven some metro areas have several locations minutes apart, others have none.
Since the Unlimited Plan works across the whole network, check the Take 5 locations page for a backup site near you before signing up.
Vehicle Fit and Restrictions
Take 5 tunnels take a vehicle up to 7 feet 2 inches tall, 85 inches wide, and a tire width of 13.5 inches, and they will not wash dual-wheel trucks.
Most standard cars, SUVs, and light-duty pickups clear that without issue.
The dually exclusion is firm, so a one-ton work truck with rear duals has to go elsewhere.
Lifted trucks, roof racks, cargo carriers, and wide aftermarket mirrors are the usual borderline cases, and a tunnel this width is tighter than some, so it’s worth eyeing the entrance before you commit a modified vehicle.
If your car showed up caked in mud, run the pre-soak hard or skip the tunnel that day. That’s true of every automated wash, and the reasons behind it are covered in the rundown on how often a car actually needs washing.
Cancelling & Pausing
Canceling means submitting Take 5’s online form at least seven days before your next billing date, or you get charged for that cycle and the cancellation takes effect the following month.
There’s no proration and no refund for a partial period.
The recurring complaint is that the form is the only route and replies can be slow, so submit early and keep your confirmation.
The Take 5 membership page hosts the cancellation form and the current plan terms.
Who Should Buy the Plan
Buy the plan if you have a good local Take 5 you’ve already tried. Skip it if you’re signing up on the brand name alone.
Wash there two or three times on single-wash pricing first.
Near a well-run, newer site, the entry or Triple Clean plan is a strong deal the free detail center pushes it past the competition.
Near an older, acquired site with shaky reviews, the wash quality is the problem, not the price, and no plan fixes that.
Anyone driving a dually or a heavily modified truck should walk past entirely the tunnel won’t take it, and there’s no full-service fallback.
