By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — The city’s street crews have already poured out nearly 2,700 tons of salt this winter to try to keep roads clear of ice. In neighboring Rockford, nearly 10,000 tons of salt have been used.
Some days, it might feel like all of that salt has somehow clung to your car.
Enter Tommy’s Express Car Wash, 6803 Forest Hills Road. The newest car wash franchise to enter the region celebrated its ribbon-cutting Friday morning with the Parks Chamber of Commerce, and you can get its highest-quality wash for free all weekend.
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Tommy’s Express touts a proprietary technology that the company says gives customers a quicker and cleaner wash than its competitors. It’s conveyor system allows for seven cars to move through the wash chamber at once, keeping traffic flowing, and it uses reverse osmosis water in the final rinse to filter out any contaminants and offer a spotless clean.
“Our equipment is the most sophisticated equipment in the industry,” said Keith Zimmerman, owner of the 50-year-old franchise. “It’s not just automation. It’s automation with a purpose.”
Through Sunday, you can bring your car to the new location at the corner of Forest Hills Road and Riverside Boulevard and get The Works, the highest-level wash that typically costs $20, for free.
Tommy’s tech
Tommy’s says it uses about half the water for its washes as a normal tunnel-wash system. The industry standard, Zimmerman said, is about 70 gallons of water per wash. Tommy’s uses less than 32 gallons.
“All the water we do use is captured. It goes underground to a reclamation tank. We recycle it, filter it, clean it and reuse it,” he said. “We’re extremely green and energy efficient.”
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The franchise uses a rubber conveyor belt system, rather than the conventional chain and roller system, which it says is safer and allows for a wider range of vehicles to use the wash.
“Ground clearance doesn’t matter. We can take low-profile sports cars, wheel-width doesn’t matter,” Zimmerman said. “We can do trucks, Jeeps with oversized tires, we can do dually pickup trucks as a result of not having a track limitation. It really opens up the options that we have for vehicles we can wash.”
Tommy’s has a smartphone app that customers can use to join TommyClub, a monthly subscription service ranging from $20 to $35 for unlimited washes.
Members put their vehicle info, including their license-plate number, in the app. When you pull up to the wash it reads the license plate to match your subscription to the wash system.
“The wash knows exactly what your vehicle is, it knows what size your vehicle is, it sets all the equipment to your specific wash package and you’re in and out of our wash in less than three minutes,” Zimmerman said.
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There are 140 Tommy’s Express car washes in the country and this is the first in the region.
The company is also working on other locations in Illinois, including Huntley, Naperville, Algonquin and Crystal Lake. Zimmerman said he and his business partner Rich Divelbiss would eventually like to bring more locations to this region, too.
Fast facts | Tommy’s Express Car Wash
Where: 6803 Forest Hills Road, Loves Park
Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday
Contact: 815-200-8020; il188@teamtommys.com
On the web: tommys-express.com/locations/il188
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas