Big Dan’s Car Wash Review: Prices, Services, Hours & Is It Worth It?

Big Dan’s Car Wash is a regional car wash chain with locations across Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee, built around four wash packages and unlimited monthly membership plans. Also searched online as Big Dan’s, Dan’s Car Wash, or simply Big Dans, the brand runs its wash through a tiered system, from a basic single wash up to a signature ceramic and graphene coating tier, plus free self-service amenities at most locations. This review breaks down real, current pricing, what each membership tier actually includes, typical hours, and how the wash process works. You will also find what customers actually say across different Big Dan’s locations, based on verified information rather than recycled marketing language, so you can decide for yourself whether it is worth it. 

Quick Answer: Is Big Dan’s Car Wash Worth It?

Yes, generally, for drivers near a Big Dan’s location who wash often enough to benefit from an unlimited plan. Confirmed pricing runs from $13 for a single basic wash up to $39.99 a month for the top Auto-Graphx5 unlimited tier, and the wash itself uses Big Dan’s own Soft-Touch Neoglide technology, physical foam contact plus high-pressure water, not a fully touchless system. It is the strongest fit for frequent washers who value convenience and free self-service extras, and a weaker fit for infrequent washers or anyone specifically seeking a touchless-only wash.

What Is Big Dan’s Car Wash?

Big Dan’s Car Wash is an express car wash chain operating across four Southeastern states, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee, with new locations continuing to open regularly. It is owned and operated by the Shadday Family Office, a third-generation family business based in Rome, Georgia, that spent more than two decades in the car wash and convenience store industry before launching the Big Dan’s brand.

The name honors a real person. Dan Shadday, known as Big Dan, built a career running convenience stores and car washes across the Southeast alongside his son Jarrett before passing away in the summer of 2015. Jarrett Shadday, now chairman and principal owner of the company, launched the Big Dan’s brand in December 2020, naming it in his father’s honor. The first location came from rebranding a single remaining site from an earlier family-owned chain called Wash Me Fast, in Fairburn, Georgia, into the first Big Dan’s Car Wash.

That family history shows up directly in how the company describes its approach. Jarrett Shadday has said publicly that his father taught him the key to running a successful business was treating people with respect and kindness, a philosophy the company repeats in its own materials as the reason customer experience matters as much as the wash itself.

The basic model centers on an express exterior wash delivered through a drive-thru tunnel, offered across four tiers from a basic single wash up to a signature ceramic and graphene coating package, backed by unlimited monthly membership plans and free self-service amenities at most locations. The sections ahead cover exactly what each tier includes and what it costs.

Big Dan’s Car Wash Prices

Big Dan’s prices work in two directions, a single pay-per-visit wash, or an unlimited monthly membership for one flat rate. Both are published directly on the company’s own pricing page, which makes this one of the more transparent parts of researching Big Dan’s compared to car washes that only advertise membership pricing.

How Much Does Big Dan’s Car Wash Cost?

Four single-wash options are listed, each tied to a specific package tier.

One detail worth flagging clearly, single-wash pricing is not perfectly uniform across every location. One Big Dan’s location lists Clean It at $10 rather than $13, so treat the table above as the standard listed range rather than a guaranteed price everywhere. Confirming the exact price at your specific location before visiting is the safest approach, the same advice that applies to nearly every multi-location car wash chain.

Big Dan’s Unlimited Wash Plans

Three of the four tiers also come as unlimited monthly memberships. Clean It is the exception, it is only available as a single wash and does not have a membership option at all.

Clean It’s absence from the unlimited lineup is worth noting on its own, since a reader comparing “cheapest single wash” against “cheapest membership” might otherwise expect Clean It to have a budget membership tier too. It does not, the most affordable unlimited option is Shine It at $22.99 a month.

What exactly each tier includes, beyond the price itself, is covered next.

Big Dan’s Car Wash Membership & Unlimited Plans

Three of Big Dan’s four wash tiers come as unlimited monthly memberships, Big Dan’s calls this the Unlimited Wash Club. Here is how the membership actually works, based on the company’s own published terms.

How Does the Unlimited Membership Work?

An Unlimited Wash Club membership means paying one flat monthly rate instead of paying per visit, and that rate covers as many washes as you want to use in a given month, at any Big Dan’s location. Like most unlimited car wash memberships, the plan renews automatically each month and continues until you cancel it, rather than requiring you to resign up every cycle.

Beyond individual memberships, Big Dan’s also offers fleet plans for businesses with five or more vehicles, a detail worth knowing if you are washing commercial vehicles rather than a personal car.

Can You Add Multiple Vehicles?

Yes, through what Big Dan’s calls the Family Plan. The first vehicle on the plan pays the full monthly price for whichever tier you choose, and each additional vehicle added after that receives 25 percent off the regular price. All vehicles on the plan need to use the same credit card for the discount to apply correctly.

Setting this up is not entirely self-service, you bring the license plate information for your additional vehicles to a Big Dan’s location in person, and a staff member sets up the plan for you, rather than adding vehicles entirely through the website on your own.

How Do You Cancel Big Dan’s Membership?

Membership can be managed or cancelled online at any time, directly through Big Dan’s own site. If you would rather handle it by phone, customer service is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Big Dan’s own materials do not specify an advance notice requirement before cancellation takes effect, so if timing around a billing date matters to you, confirming directly with customer service before you cancel is the safest way to avoid an unexpected charge.

What Services Does Big Dan’s Car Wash Offer?

Big Dan’s four wash tiers are built to stack on each other, each one includes everything in the tier below it, plus something new added on top. Understanding that structure makes it much easier to compare what you are actually paying for as you move up.

Clean It

The entry-level tier at $13 a single wash, available only as a one-time purchase, not as a membership. The process uses a presoak chemical Big Dan’s calls Bug Blast, followed by a foam conditioner, with brushes and wraps doing the physical cleaning work, then a high-pressure water rinse and industrial blowers for a quick dry before the car exits the tunnel. This confirms Big Dan’s wash genuinely involves physical contact at this base tier, consistent with the Soft-Touch Neoglide description covered earlier.

Shine It

At $17 for a single wash or $22.99 a month unlimited, Shine It includes everything in Clean It, with an upgraded Tri-Foam Bath conditioner, plus two finishing applications, Rain Repel and Tire Shine.

Wax It

At $20 single or $29.99 a month unlimited, Wax It includes everything in Shine It, adding an underbody rinse, a Fusion Wax & Seal application for shine and added protection, and an upgraded Dandy Dry finish.

Auto-Graphx5

Big Dan’s signature, top-tier wash, at $25 single or $39.99 a month unlimited. It includes everything in Wax It, then adds Dynamic Ceramic, a C4 Rain Repel treatment, and a Graphene Carbon Coating application, finished with a Buff n Dandy Dry step. Big Dan’s describes the graphene coating as creating an invisible, hydrophobic barrier similar to a ceramic coating, that repels dirt and water. Worth being precise here, the same way we were with Golden Nozzle’s top tier, this is a sprayed-on maintenance-level treatment applied during a tunnel wash, not a substitute for a professionally applied ceramic coating with paint prep and a multi-year cure. Treat it as the strongest routine maintenance option Big Dan’s offers, not a replacement for separate coating work.

Free Amenities at Big Dan’s

Big Dan’s confirms free self-service vacuums at its locations, along with free window cleaner available for customer use. Additional self-service amenities can vary by location, confirming exactly what is available at your specific Big Dan’s before visiting is worth doing if a particular amenity matters to your routine.

Is Big Dan’s Car Wash Touchless?

No. Big Dan’s advertises its wash using what it calls Soft-Touch Neoglide Technology, and the technical details behind that name confirm genuine physical contact with the vehicle, not a touchless process.

Big Dan’s own description of this technology cites high-pressure water jets and specialized cleaning chemicals working alongside a soft, durable foam material. That foam material is the key detail, a fully touchless wash relies entirely on water pressure and chemistry with nothing physically touching the car, while Big Dan’s wash does not work that way. This is confirmed further by how the entry-level Clean It tier is described on Big Dan’s own site, the cleaning process explicitly uses brushes and wraps to perform the physical, friction-based cleaning work, with high-pressure water used afterward to finish the rinse.

So Big Dan’s sits in the soft-touch category, gentler than the old stiff-bristle hard-brush tunnel washes that gave automatic car washes their bad reputation generally, but still a contact wash rather than a fully touchless one. This distinction matters most for a specific group of owners, anyone with a ceramic coating, paint protection film, or a strong preference for minimizing physical contact with their paint may want to weigh this against a dedicated touchless facility instead. For most daily drivers without specialized paint protection, a well-maintained soft-touch wash like this one carries low risk, the same conclusion that applies to soft-cloth and foam-based automatic washes generally. 

What to Expect at Big Dan’s Car Wash

Neither this article author nor Car Wash Pedia has personally visited a Big Dan’s location, so this section describes the general process based on Big Dan’s own published descriptions of its wash tiers and technology, not a firsthand account.

Entering the Wash

As with most express tunnel car washes, the general process involves pulling up to a payment or membership point first, selecting or confirming your wash tier, then being guided into the tunnel itself. Big Dan’s terms of service note a vehicle size limit of 7 feet 2 inches in height and 84 inches in width, worth checking if you drive a larger truck or SUV before assuming it will fit through the tunnel.

Wash Tunnel and Cleaning Process

Once inside, the vehicle moves through Big Dan’s Soft-Touch Neoglide process, beginning with a Bug Blast presoak and a foam conditioner, upgraded to a Tri-Foam Bath on Shine It and higher tiers. Brushes and wraps perform the physical, friction-based cleaning work, followed by a high-pressure water rinse. From there, whichever tier you selected determines what gets added, Rain Repel and Tire Shine on Shine It, an underbody rinse and Fusion Wax & Seal on Wax It, or the full Dynamic Ceramic and Graphene Carbon Coating treatment on Auto-Graphx5.

Drying

Drying scales with the tier as well. Clean It finishes with a basic Quick Dry using industrial blowers. Wax It upgrades this to what Big Dan’s calls Dandy Dry, and Auto-Graphx5 finishes with Buff n Dandy Dry, the most thorough drying step in the lineup.

Self-Service Amenities

Big Dan’s confirms free self-service vacuums at its locations, along with free window cleaner for customer use after the wash. As noted earlier, additional amenities can vary by location, so what is available to you depends on which specific Big Dan’s you visit.

Customer Service

Customer service is a stated priority of the Big Dan’s brand rather than something this article can confirm firsthand. The company’s founder, Jarrett Shadday, has publicly credited his father, the brand’s namesake, with teaching him that treating people with respect and kindness was central to running a successful business, and Big Dan’s repeats that philosophy in its own materials as a core part of its identity. Whether that translates consistently into the actual customer experience at every location is a separate question, one the Reviews section ahead addresses using real customer feedback rather than company messaging alone.

Big Dan’s Car Wash Hours

Based on confirmed hours across multiple locations in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, Big Dan’s standard operating hours are 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM, seven days a week. This pattern held consistently across every location checked, from Rome and Fairburn in Georgia to Tampa, Lady Lake, Crystal River, and St. Petersburg in Florida, to Columbia in South Carolina, suggesting this is a genuine chain-wide standard rather than something that varies location by location.

That said, treat this as the typical pattern rather than a guarantee. Newly opened locations, holidays, severe weather closures, or local maintenance can all shift hours at a specific site. Checking your nearest Big Dan’s location page or its current Google listing before heading over takes a minute and avoids a wasted trip.

Big Dan’s Car Wash Locations

Big Dan’s currently operates 29 locations across four states, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee, based on the company’s own live location directory. Florida and Georgia make up the bulk of the network, with 17 Florida locations and 9 Georgia locations, while South Carolina has 3 and Tennessee currently has just one, in Chattanooga.

Expansion right now is concentrated entirely in Florida. Five more Florida locations are currently under construction, including a new Tampa site and a Sarasota location, with a Lake City, Florida location set to open October 14. Thirteen additional Florida sites are listed as coming soon, spanning cities from Jacksonville to Port St. Lucie. No new states currently appear in the company’s expansion pipeline, so for now, Big Dan’s growth is about deepening its presence in Florida rather than entering new markets.

A couple of practical details worth knowing before your first visit, every location operates cashless, so bring a card rather than cash, and most locations include a dedicated member-only lane separate from the single-wash line, which can meaningfully cut down wait time if you have an unlimited plan.

Rather than listing every address here, since new locations open regularly and the list above will go stale, the most reliable way to find your nearest Big Dan’s, confirm its hours, and check which wash tiers it offers is the official location directory, searchable by city, state, or ZIP code.

Big Dan’s Car Wash Reviews: What Customers Say

Across the locations with substantial review volume, Big Dan’s holds consistently strong ratings, mostly in the high 4-star range on Google, with individual locations often carrying over a thousand reviews each. That is a meaningfully stronger overall signal than many regional car wash chains carry, and it is worth stating plainly rather than burying it under caveats.

What Customers Like

Free self-service amenities come up repeatedly as a real driver of customer satisfaction, third-party review analysis tools specifically point to free vacuums and towels as a major factor behind several locations’ strong ratings. High review volume at individual locations, often in the thousands, suggests a large base of customers returning and rating their experience positively over time, rather than a handful of reviews skewing the picture.

Common Complaints

Real complaints do exist, and the Better Business Bureau has specific, documented cases worth knowing about. Two separate incidents describe vehicle damage during the wash itself, one where a customer’s car was pulled off its intended track mid-wash, causing damage to a bumper, fender, and rim, and a chain-reaction incident where one vehicle being pushed off track caused it to strike the cars behind it multiple times before an attendant stopped the equipment. Both complaints describe slow or absent follow-up from management after the incident was reported. A separate pattern involves billing, one customer reported being charged for individual single washes while also being charged for an active membership, and another reported a bank draft continuing even after receiving email confirmation that their membership had been cancelled.

These complaints are a small number relative to the thousands of positive reviews across the network, but they represent a real, documented risk worth knowing about rather than assuming could not happen. Third-party review-analysis tools that track vehicle-damage mentions across large volumes of Google reviews report this kind of complaint as uncommon but not absent, with the rate varying noticeably from one location to another.

Why Experiences May Vary by Location

With 29 separately operated locations, equipment condition, staff attentiveness, and how quickly a specific location responds to a problem are not identical across the network. The strong overall rating pattern suggests most locations are performing well most of the time, but the documented BBB complaints confirm that exceptions do happen. Checking recent reviews for your specific nearest Big Dan’s location, rather than relying on the chain’s reputation as a whole, remains the most reliable way to set accurate expectations before your first visit.

Big Dan’s Car Wash Pros and Cons

Big Dan’s Car Wash vs. Other Washes

Big Dan’s is a soft-touch automated wash, physical foam contact combined with high-pressure water, not a fully touchless system and not a hand wash. Seeing how that fits against the other two main approaches helps place it accurately. 

None of these three is a universal winner, each trades something for something else. Big Dan’s soft-touch process sits in the middle of the paint-safety spectrum for the same reason any foam-based automatic wash does, gentler than old hard-brush tunnel equipment, but still involving contact, unlike a touchless system.

On price and value, hand washing wins on pure cost per wash, while Big Dan’s wins on time saved and on what comes with the wash, including free vacuums and window cleaner. An unlimited plan also pays off quickly, since at the listed prices two single washes in a month already cost more than the matching membership for Shine It, Wax It, and Auto-Graphx5. Prices can vary by location, so confirm your local rates before doing the math. Big Dan’s advantages matter most to a frequent, convenience-focused washer, and less to someone whose top priority is minimizing any contact with the paint at all.

For a deeper breakdown of how soft-touch, touchless, and hand washing compare on paint safety, cost, and environmental impact, see our complete hand car wash vs automatic car wash comparison.

Is Big Dan’s Car Wash Worth It?

For the right driver, yes. Big Dan’s earns a conditional yes rather than a flat recommendation, and the condition comes down to three things lining up.

First, the math favors anyone who washes more than once a month. At the listed prices, two single washes already cost more than the matching unlimited plan for every membership tier: Shine It runs $34 against $22.99 a month, Wax It $40 against $29.99, and Auto-Graphx5 $50 against $39.99. One wash a month is cheaper to buy outright, and the break-even point sits between one and two visits.

Second, the wash itself is a moderate-risk choice. Big Dan’s Soft-Touch Neoglide process uses foam material and brushes in contact with the paint, which is reasonable for an ordinary daily driver but not the gentlest option for a coated or high-value vehicle.

Third, the customer feedback is strong overall, with ratings of 4.7 to 4.9 stars at the well-reviewed locations, but the BBB record shows real vehicle-damage and billing complaints. Those are a small minority, but they mean the experience depends on your specific location and on confirming the membership terms before you sign up.

Who Is Big Dan’s Best For?

• Drivers who wash twice a month or more, since the unlimited plans only pay off once you pass roughly one and a half washes a month.
• Anyone who lives or drives near one of the 29 locations across Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee, since a membership has no value if the nearest location is never convenient.
• Multi-vehicle households, since the Family Plan takes 25 percent off each additional vehicle, though adding a vehicle has to be done in person.
• Businesses running five or more vehicles, since Big Dan’s offers fleet plans for that size.
• Drivers who value free extras, since vacuums and window cleaners are free at locations and add real value on top of the wash itself.
• Daily drivers without a ceramic coating or paint protection film, since the soft-touch wash suits ordinary paint well.

Who Might Prefer Another Car Wash?

• Owners of ceramic coated or PPF-protected vehicles, since a touchless wash or careful hand washing puts less strain on that protection than a contact wash does.
• Anyone who specifically wants a fully touchless wash, since Big Dan’s wash involves physical contact during the cleaning stage.
• Infrequent washers, since someone washing once a month or less will usually spend less paying per visit, with the $13 Clean It wash being the cheapest way to do that.
• Drivers outside the four-state footprint, since there is no Big Dan’s location to use.
• Anyone who needs to pay with cash, since every location is cashless.
• Drivers of oversized vehicles, since Big Dan’s sets a vehicle size limit of 7 feet 2 inches tall and 84 inches wide.
• Anyone who wants a clearly published cancellation notice policy before committing, since Big Dan’s materials do not spell one out, so confirm directly with customer service before signing up.
• Anyone who had a bad experience at a specific nearby location, since the evidence points to location-level variation, and a different nearby car wash may suit you better than repeat visits to a site that has already let you down.

Big Dan’s Car Wash FAQs

How much does Big Dan’s Car Wash cost?
Single washes cost $13 for Clean It, $17 for Shine It, $20 for Wax It, and $25 for Auto-Graphx5, while unlimited monthly memberships run from $22.99 to $39.99 depending on the tier. Prices can vary by location, and one location lists Clean It at $10, so confirm the rate at your nearest Big Dan’s before you go.

What are Big Dan’s Car Wash hours?
Big Dan’s is open 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM, seven days a week, at every location checked across Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Holidays, severe weather, maintenance, and newly opened sites can change that, so check your location’s page or Google listing before visiting.

Where is Big Dan’s Car Wash located?
Big Dan’s operates 29 locations across four states, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee, with the most sites in Florida and Georgia and more Florida locations under construction. Examples include Bradenton, Orlando, Kissimmee, Tampa, Tarpon Springs, and St. Petersburg in Florida; Rome, Woodstock, Kennesaw, and Fairburn in Georgia; Columbia, Fountain Inn, and North Charleston in South Carolina; and Chattanooga in Tennessee. The company is headquartered in Rome, Georgia, and its official location directory lists every address, phone number, and set of hours.

Does Big Dan’s have a monthly pass?
Yes. Big Dan’s calls it the Unlimited Wash Club, a flat monthly rate for unlimited washes at its locations, available on three tiers: Shine It, Wax It, and Auto-Graphx5. The entry-level Clean It wash is single-wash only and has no membership option.

How much is Big Dan’s unlimited membership?
Shine It costs $22.99 a month, Wax It costs $29.99, and Auto-Graphx5 costs $39.99. The Family Plan takes 25 percent off each additional vehicle on the same credit card, and prices can vary by location.

How do I cancel Big Dan’s membership?
You can manage or cancel your membership online at any time, or call customer service Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Big Dan’s does not publish an advance-notice requirement, so confirm timing with customer service before your billing date and keep your cancellation confirmation, since one customer review on the BBB describes a bank draft continuing after a confirmed cancellation. Support is also available at [email protected].

Is Big Dan’s Car Wash touchless?
No. Big Dan’s uses Soft-Touch Neoglide technology, which combines high-pressure water jets and cleaning chemicals with soft foam material and brushes that make light physical contact with the vehicle. Owners who want zero contact, such as those with a ceramic coating or paint protection film, may prefer a fully touchless wash.

Is Big Dan’s Car Wash worth it?
Generally yes for drivers who wash twice a month or more and live near one of its locations, since two single washes already cost more than the matching unlimited plan. It is a weaker fit for infrequent washers, owners who want a fully touchless wash, oversized vehicles, anyone who pays with cash, or anyone outside Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Is there a Big Dan’s Car Wash free wash promo code?
Big Dan’s published pricing and membership pages do not list a standing promo code or a permanent free wash offer. Some location listings have advertised a Big Dan’s free wash for a limited time, and the Big Dan’s app advertises exclusive deals and promotions, so the app, the official site, and your location’s page are the places to check. Treat any Big Dan’s Car Wash coupon on a third-party site with caution, since the ones found showed spring 2026 expiry dates and are not official. What is always free at locations is the self-service vacuums and window cleaner, so a Big Dan’s free car wash in the sense of free extras does exist, but the wash itself is paid.

Is there a Big Dan’s Car Wash app?
Yes. The official Big Dan’s app, listed on Google Play, lets you buy single washes, washbooks, and gift cards, manage a membership, track wash history, and find locations. Customers who used an older Big Dan’s login need to register a new profile and link their license plate to an active membership. Support is available at [email protected].

How do I contact Big Dan’s Car Wash corporate office?
Big Dan’s is headquartered at 204 Houston Mill Rd SE in Rome, Georgia, and its app listing shows +1 706-295-2285 for company contact. For membership or billing help, the customer portal lists 229-354-6359 and [email protected], and customer service hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you are interested in exploring some of the best local car wash centers, you can go to our dedicated section about Best Local Car Washes.