I literally just read the entire owner’s manual and am perhaps overly befuddled by certain things. Like the special neutral setting - am I correct that this is necessary ONLY if you aren’t in the car? So for gas station car washes, you don’t need to do this?

There’s also a section on car washes in the automatic braking feature and it talks about temporarily deactivating the automatic parking brake for a car wash. Is this necessary too? If all of this is necessary to get a car wash, I’d be amazed if 98% of owners did it correctly.

 

That section confused me too. I have put the car through the automatic conveyor car wash a couple times without issues. I just put it in Neutral and let the conveyor does the rest. I do have the seat belt on the whole time though. I have been taking it through touch-free car wash on days when it's too damn cold to be washing it myself, don't wanna risk those car wash with brushes scratching a brand new car. One thing to note, turn off the Parking sensors or you'll hear all those proximity warnings going off. I believe there are places where there's no driver in the car. It's placed on an unattended conveyor system. That's where the car wash mode really needs to be explained to the attendant before they place the car through that system.

 

Thank you.

 

You may find this article of value. There is an embedded video in the article. Automatic car washes (even touchless ones) are NOT safe for your car

 

Counterpoint: I am not going to hand wash my car under any circumstances. I leased, and I am willing to bet that the kind of issues described in that article fall into normal wear and tear. But thank you!

 

Thanks for the reference. My concern living in the Midwest winter is the salt, slush, dirt build up and that would not be good for the car. Touchfree would at least blow away some of these things. When it's not too cold out, I normally wash it at a coin operated wash, close the door to avoid the cold wind and wash it myself.

 

Correct, carwash neutral setting is only necessary if you are not in the car, and it's being pulled through on a conveyor unoccupied.

Dunno about automatic parking brake, cuz I don't use it, but you probably know about the parking brake lever and its indicator light. If you are in the car, you should be able to over-ride it manually. But you might need to keep the engine running. Dunno.

Don't feel guilty about automated car washes. Way better than letting it rust out from road salt. And anyway, I've had more trouble with wheels getting damaged in automated car washes than anything about the paint. Modern clear coat finishes are pretty tough.

But this topic is right up there with oil changes in terms of inciting a riot amongst otherwise rational car enthusiasts.

 

So I work at a tunnel wash. Believe me, new cars are the worst. As soon as we spray the windshield the wipers activate. Sometimes this happens while brushing and breaks the wiper. People jump rollers because of automatic parking brakes and/or because they fail to get the vehicle into neutral in time because the gear selector is abnormal (usually in Benz/BMW and other European vehicles).

Not to mention the paint damage caused by brushes.

But if it's this or nothing, definitely wash it. Especially if your in a salty, wintery climate!

 

No need for the special neutral thing. Regular netural works.
But you do have to turn off the parking sensor and auto windshield wipers.
I've been going through this type of car wash for about a year now. I recently noticed that i got swirl marks on the black trim of the B pillar, so keep that in mind.
And remember to turn on the parking sensor afterwards. It's easy to forget.

 

This was helpful. So all I have to do is turn off auto wiper and parking sensor and I’m go to go in the auto car wash?

I’ll simply set a location reminder on my phone that way I wont forget! :-) I mostly hand wash the car but I may run it though a few times to get salt sprayed off. I’m having ceramic coating put on on Friday so that should help to avoid swirl marks and I’ll tell the attendants not to dry it—using dirty towels is the biggest risk of marks.

 

If you're going to a traditional touch tunnel wash, tell the attendants not to brush it and give it a full wrap retract. In other words, tell them to make the brushes stay off of the vehicle. We do this for police units, vintage and modified cars, or anything fragile. This should reduce some of the risk of swirling.

 

I have a 2 week old RDX so i haven't been in a car wash yet. I've read somewhere that when you go through a car wash and keep the seatbelt connected then it will not shift to park when you leave the car.

 

I'm fairly certain you're not allowed to goto automated car washes with ceramic coat. Defeats the purpose and ruins all that hard work. Also can mess up your rims.

If you're really desperate then touchless car washes once in a blue moon is a little safer but the harsh chemicals does strip away some paint protection.

I fully seal and wax my car before winter and just tough it out. Goto a coin-op and pressure wash the dirt off and use Optimum no rinse.

A brush or dirty rag will never touch my cars paint. Yea I'm anal but I'm gonna baby this car for life. If this was a lease then I wouldnt care.

 

I wash my car myself, car wash has long wait and leaves swirl marks

 

I have Ceramic coating on my Fathom Blue Pearl 19 MDX and it is recommended to hand wash using 2 bucket method with grit guard, ceramic type soap for nanocoatings, use microfiber to wash and dry, and wash in the shade. Big NO-NOs are automatic brush car washes, washing in the sun, using wax/polish, and abrasive towels.

You might be better off not doing the ceramic coating if you can't hand wash at home or at an U-Wash-it coin operated place.

 

My previous car (Outback) got washed every other year. I’ve only had my RDX about 5 weeks and have been thru the Touchless car wash 3 times already. I’m going to have to look into a frequent flier type plan. I like keeping it clean, but am too lazy to wash it myself.

 

Ceramic coating is bing put on my 2020 RDX Phantom Blue today. I use the two bucket approach and I don’t mind washing the car. My only issue is the winter with salt and grime under the body. I may need to run it through a touchless wash for that.

I am not familiar with ceramic type soap for nanocoatings. Do you have a brand you recommend?

 

I have a full PPF and ceramic pro gold package on my Platinum White pearl RDX and I have ran it through the car wash a handful of times. So far, there hasn't been any swirls or paint damage. Everything still looks and feel smooth and glossy. The car wash that I go to is a hand wash.

 

I did Suntek Ultra PPF film on the entire hood, front bumper, front fenders, rear bumper area below hatch area, headlights/fogs, and side mirrors. I did CQuartz Finest ceramic coating over the PPF and the rest of the MDX. I later added Ceramic Pro to the black 20" Berlina rims, exterior glass, and interior surfaces. The Ceramic Pro folks recommended Americana ceramic aftercare soap. It only takes about 1 oz. for a 5 gal bucket. I have the Chemical Guys foam Blaster 6 gun I like to use to soak/rinse before washing to knock off loose dust/dirt. Then I use the foam gun to keep the entire vehicle wet when using the two bucket method (MDX is a big girl to wash alone). Lucky to have no salts used on the roads, only 10 inches a precipitation a year, and usually sunny with temps in 50s/60s for days during winter in ABQ.

I use a micro fiber towel with the Americana soap to wipe down the interior since it is a ceramic coating booster. Trying to see if the interior ceramic coating will help reduce interior window haze and protect just as well as other oil based sealants/conditioners.

The good things about PPF is the UV protection and self healing properties (depends on the PPF). Suntek Ultra can self heal scratches with just exposure to the sun. PPF might be the way to go if someone uses auto carwash with brushes with hand drying by attendants without microfiber.

 

I always thought about getting an undercarriage washer if road salts was an issue for me. Ryobi makes one for $45 that looks pretty good

Ryobi pressure wash broom, $44, Home Depot

 

You are a wealth of information. :-) Thank you for the information on the undercarriage washer and also on the cleaning materials. I never knew that there was an undercarriage washer I could use with my pressure washer. I will plan to pick up one soon. Thanks again for all of the excellent information.