SoCalRDX

Fellow RDX owners -

I recently leased a 2021 RDX. It was a dealer trade, and the car had the roof rack cross-bars on it, so my dealership left them on and threw them into the deal at no charge. I've never had a car with roof rack cross bars on it. Can I run the car through a conventional car wash, or does it have to be hand-washed?

Thanks!

NooYawkuh

Should not be a problem at all. I've gone through car washes dozens of times in my Pilot that had the rails and cross bars. Never had an issue.

spoiler900

Yes you are fine. They are OEM and attached to the car so no problem

leomio2.0

Perusing the Google, it seems there are a few horror stories with them getting caught on the spinny wheel things that do the roof of the car. You'd probably be perfectly fine almost every time ... but that one time that the stars simply align and you get f-ed, that'll probably be a few grand to repair the roof ... and Lord help you if the panoramic sunroof explodes as a result. Knowing my luck, it'd happen to me ... while others will go 10yrs going thru automated washes weekly without ever having an issue.

Midnight Mystery

As long as they retract the top brush you should be just fine!

SoCalRDX

Is that something I have to ask them to do, or does the system do it automatically?

bluntman72

I don't have a roof rack, but on my previous vehicle, I did. I also only use touchless washes, but of the soft-touch car washes that I have seen, they all have signs warning vehicle owners to remove roof (and bike) racks. However, they also recommend that you fold in your side mirrors, but they post those signs to absolve them from liabilities or any car wash related incidents. To be safe, find a touchless car wash.

Midnight Mystery

They should be trained but it never hurts to ask or request.

swttsx007

Just for what it's worth, my local car wash will NOT allow vehicles with roof racks to go through the wash. That tells me that they've had issues in the past with them.

Jfkmk

FYI, if you’re not actively using the crossbars for something, you can take them off. It is a little bit of a pain, but the vehicle looks better without them and they do cause some wind noise.