Walker Automotive

A testament to their meticulousness, the auto experts at Southland Auto Wash spent a decade developing their signature tire protectant and polish, Tire Blaze. Though they'd tried Armor All or angrily shouting at tires to scare grime away, they envisioned a mechanically applied tire dressing that would function something like hand cream. With the help of Qual Chem, they finally cracked the code. After a treatment, tires look newer, with a glossy, almost wet appearance and a deep-black hue. They also resist rubber breakdown, cracking, and damage from road detritus.

Tire Blaze is only one service at Southland Auto Wash's five locations, but its history reflects the company's devoted attention to detail and insistence on top-shelf car care. These values, along with the wash's extensive water-conservation projects, earned the sudsatorium a nod as Grand Rapids Magazine's Best Car Wash. This should come as no surprise since the family-owned company—now in its third generation of car washers—has been detailing cars on increasingly advanced automated lines since 1950.

The staff at AutoClean scours cars, boats, motorcycles, and RVs with an extensive slate of detailing services. They tend to both interiors and exteriors, shampooing carpets, cleaning vents, shining tires, and hand-waxing to bring paint to a shine. For rides in need of a small sprucing rather than an entire detailing service, they also offer their treatments a la carte.

The detail technicians at Great Lakes Chemical Services revivify rides with skills drawn from an in-house training program and more than a century of combined experience. To get autos looking their showroom best, the team restores exterior luster with paint sealant infused with nanotechnology, in which each individual molecule works in tandem with the next to seal the metal's pores and, like pointless water balloons, prevent moisture from ever causing harm. Technicians also touch up vehicular mishaps by erasing scratches and uncorking dents.

Drawing upon experience accrued during more than 25 years in business, crews at Walker Carwash, Inc.—a family owned business—scrub rides clean with a quintet of cleaning packages. Once the staff hand preps vehicles, steely exteriors soak up automated washes and powerful cleaning products before enjoying treatments such as an underbody flush, pre-wash bug spray, hot air-dry, and Magic Bond Protectant, the company's most popular product. After cleaning out dusty interiors, patrons use free vacuums to scare away nosy canine officers.

From a single shop in Sturgis, Michigan, Auto-Lab has grown into a full-service franchise that cares for cars' every nook and cranny. Each location's ASE-certified technicians keep autos flourishing with regular maintenance check-ups, helping identify and stave off problems before they metastacize. These experts peer into the dark abyss under the hood, employing high-tech diagnostic tools to identify and repair computerized engine issues, and keep tabs on brakes before they seize up and stop you just as you're about to break the sound barrier. In addition, they guarantee all services for 12 months or up to 12,000 miles.

Pennzoil’s rich raceway heritage spans decades, from its first appearance in the early 1930s lubricating the engine of Indy 500 driver Russell Snowberger to its recent use in 2007 Daytona 500–winner Kevin Harvick’s car. Whether on the track in the Sprint Cup Series or in a garage in the suburbs, car owners who lube their rides with Pennzoil motor oil benefit from a more than 100-year lineage that dates back to one of John D. Rockefeller's original companies. The velvety substance contains trademarked Hyper Cleansing Technology and Active Cleansing Agents, which help to purify the engine's components and ward off damage caused by gasoline byproducts such as soot, carbon, varnish, and sulfuric and nitric acid. Pennzoil’s many service stations dot terra firma from the Atlantic to the Pacific and feature friendly technicians who perform oil changes and replace parts gone missing after the neighbor’s metal-detector-club meetings.