Spring Garden Wash & Lube
There’s a reason this spot has won multiple Best Ofs—owners of Beamers and clunkers alike clap their hands in delight when they see their shiny wheels. 1111 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123, facebook.com/sgwnl.
King Limousine and Transportation Services
For those high-profile clients, for your kid's senior prom, for your wedding party: King is the way to go, with the largest fleet of luxury cars (and mini-buses!) in the region, drivers who train for 40 hours before they even see a customer, and GPS in every car, for a problem-free ride. kinglimoinc.com.
Pristine Hand Carwash Lube & Detail Center
Instead of the usual harsh spinning scrubbers and high-powered sprayers in an automatic tunnel, at Pristine you'll find a team of workers, sponges up, ready to carefully soap away stubborn street grime. How carefully? Just ask the owners of all those fancy Italian sports cars in line with you. 1000 Haddonfield Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002, facebook.com/pages/Pristine-Hand-Carwash-Lube-Detail-Center/269314083110116.
Waterless Works
This Malvern-based start-up run by a trio of local college-kids-turned-entrepreneurs comes to your home or office to do the job, eschews soap and water for a plant-based cleaning solution, and donates money from each wash (they start at $40) to provide water for communities in need. Service areas include Philly and its 'burbs and select spots in Delaware and South Jersey. waterless-works.com.
Park and Polish
Their $25 hand wash includes a dashboard cleaning and an interior vacuuming that will suck up all those crumbs the kids leave in the backseat. And if you miss that "new car smell," you can splurge on the $200 Royal Treatment package, which includes a Vaportek odor-elimination system to bring back that just-off-the-showroom-floor aroma. 220-224 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140, parkandpolish.com.
Royal Valet
The most worth-it gift you can give yourself next time you go to NYC, A.C. or just the airport. The Bala Cynwyd company boasts great prices and the nicest drivers. 275 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, royalvaletinc.com.
Jo Jo's Professional Auto Detailing
Husband-and-wife team Jo Jo and Michele bring a personal touch to their service, restoring your ride to factory condition by removing grit, oil stains and odors. What sets them apart is how they regularly surprise customers by going the extra mile. (Theyll even clean the insides of your headlights!) 1913 South Bancroft Street, Philadelphia, PA 19145, .
Spring Garden Wash and Lube
This place is the reason there are more Mercedes, Jaguars and Lexuses (Lexi?) in one block of Spring Garden at any given moment than there are on the rest of Spring Garden, like, ever. They do a top-of-the-line job-and that's true for Subarus and Hondas, too. 1111 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123, washnlube.com.
Executive Auto Salon
Christopher Toriello and his band of merry, cleanliness-obsessed detailers can turn back time on the filthiest high-mileage wreck, and specialize in exotic (read: pricey) vehicles. 2200 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130, executiveautosalon.com.
Robby Nelson at Giovanni and Pileggi
Because after an hour in his chair, we still look like ourselves, only better. Much better. 258 South 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, giovannipileggi.com.
Winner Airport Parking
Winner’s kind attendants take you to your terminal in your own car, then bring it back to you when you return. No shuttles. No car-seat shuffles. No now-where-the-hell-did-I-park-again. And it’s only $2 more per day than the long-term lot. 6717 Essington Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19153, winnerairportparking.net.
West Chester Growers Market
The way such an affair used to be, and the way it should be: food, mostly produce, all local and sublimely fresh, including brown eggs, homegrown tomatoes, Swiss chard and organic chickens. North Church and West Chestnut Streets, West Chester, PA 19380, westchestergrowersmarket.com.
Nicki Dekunchak, Hands at Home
You choose: a quickie office chair massage, or a longer deep-tissue at home. Her expert hands will leave you looser and more relaxed than you've been in ages. Call or see website for appointment, 00000, handsathome.com.
Sullivan Owen Floral and Event Design
If Anthropologie and Martha Stewart got together and had babies, and those babies were flowers, they would look like the arrangements coming out of the charming Queen Village studio of this new talent. 510 Bainbridge Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147, sullivanowen.com.
Philly Bike Ride
Last October, this truly epic social ride closed down 20 miles of city streets so 3,000-plus cyclists could pedal worry-free for the first time ever. (That’s right: no cars!) Not needing to dodge SEPTA buses or opened-out-of-nowhere car doors? Let’s make that a permanent thing. The next Philly Bike Ride is scheduled for October 14th. phillybikeride.com.