Going to a car wash is safer than using white-out on windshield smudges or parallel parking between two waterfalls. Opt for a less risky wash with today's Groupon: for $79, you get two base-detail services at Total Recon Auto Salon in Rockville (a $198 total value).

At Total Recon, skilled technicians team up to resuscitate worn-down and dirty automobiles. During the shop's base detail, an attentive crew member hand washes the visiting vehicle with biodegradable shampoo that keeps the environment smiling. The tidy technician then washes dirt from wheels and their corresponding wells, offers the car a spot-free rinse, gently pats the chassis dry with a chamois, and paints on a silicone-based tire dressing. An interior overhaul leaves windows and mirrors glistening like an icicle at the end of winter, and a vacuum scoots through trunks and across upholstery to erase all evidence of parking tickets. Finally, the staff slaps on a layer of paint-preserving carnauba hand wax and carefully checks the auto to see if it smells like muffins.