The Math Behind a $22.99 Unlimited Car Wash Plan

How do car washes make money from a $22.99 unlimited plan? Of every $100 the biggest chain in America took in, about $11.60 went to rent, more than the $9.80 it kept (our calculation). Seventy-six percent of wash sales at the biggest car wash chain in America come from a monthly "unlimited" plan. We opened the annual report of Mister Car Wash to see what a plan really costs per wash, why only about 37 of every 100 sign-ups are still paying after a year at the industry's churn rate, why rent per $100 is bigger than the profit, and how debt turned a boom into a Chapter 11 filing at Zips. Numbers come from SEC filings, earnings calls, industry reports and a state settlement; derived figures are labeled "our calculation". Chapters 0:00 Why car washes want you on a plan 1:29 What a plan costs per wash 2:42 How many members stay 3:50 Where $100 goes: rent vs profit 5:11 The debt behind the boom 7:39 The water behind unlimited 8:26 The fine print and a refund 9:04 Caveat and the till total Sources Mister Car Wash, Form 10-K FY2025 Mister Car Wash Schedule 14C information statement (DEFM14C) Mister Car Wash 8-K, merger completed 2026-05-19 Mister Car Wash Q1-2025 earnings call transcript, 2025-04-30 Mister Car Wash Q2-2025 earnings call transcript, 2025-07-30 Mister Car Wash Q3-2025 earnings call transcript, 2025-10-29 Mister Car Wash Form S-1/A (IPO prospectus, June 2021) Business Wire, "Mister Car Wash announces pricing of initial public offering" Driven Brands Q4 and FY2023 results Chapter 11 Cases: "Zips Car Wash files Chapter 11 with plan to reduce debt by $279 million" Elevenflo: "Zips Car Wash: $654M debt drives Chapter 11 filing" CRE Daily on Zips International Carwash Association, "Water Use, Evaporation and Carryout in Professional Car Washes" EPA WaterSense at Work, 5.4 Vehicle Washes (Nov 2023) Rinsed Q2-2026 Quarterly Car Wash Industry Report, via ICA news Rinsed Q1-2025 report via ICA news Hoodline, "Colorado car wash chain Cobblestone to pay $1.3M over hidden fee hikes" Mister Car Wash 8-K, Q1-2026 results press release (2026-04-29) Mister Car Wash Form 10-Q, quarter ended 2026-03-31 ICA news: "Mister Car Wash to be taken private by LGP for $7.00 per share" Driven Brands 8-K Ex. 99.1, "Announces Closing of Sale of U.S. Car Wash Business" Bloomberg Law, "Zips Car Wash to repay lenders 75% on loan once valued at 95" (2025-03-18) More sources: see the reply under the pinned comment (full list). Numbers are from company filings and industry reports as of October 2026. "Our calculation" means we did the math on the cited figures. This video explains how a business works; it is not financial or investment advice. Narration: AI voice. Visuals: code-generated motion graphics.