Most car-wash lounges don't give customers a hotel-lobby vibe. However, the one at Tempus Auto Spa gets pretty close, surrounding guests with marble countertops, exposed-brick walls, and large windows that cast sunlight onto posh furniture. As they wait here for their vehicle, visitors can sip gourmet coffee or browse the Internet at computer stations. The designer bathrooms' warm colors add to the ambiance—even they are part of the venue's mission to pamper cars and people simultaneously.

CS magazine highlighted Tempus Auto Spa as one business that "make[s] daily duties super swanky." As its waiting area charms clients with all that's chic, so its services indulge vehicles with careful cleaning and detailing. The technicians rely on their own meticulousness instead of traditional car-wash machinery and giant car dunk tanks, even refusing to use mitts and towels for more than a single hand wash. The same manual attention goes into their most comprehensive treatments—the Spankin New Look complete exterior and interior detail, for example, includes an engine cleaning, which technicians can do with steam or by hand.