[Ken Scott]

It is a lot more difficult to keep the MDX clean in the winter. Tough to hand wash when it is 18 degrees F outside. Does anyone have experience with automatic car washes? I have avoided using them for fear of swirl marks on my Mahogany surface. Any comments would be appreciated. My X is depressed because it hasen't had a bath in the last 5 weeks!

 

[octavian]

Ken, after living in Chicago for 20 years with black cars, I know what you are talking about.

My solution, when I couldn't hand wash, was to use a "touchless" automatic car wash....Sonic in Chicago....the only thing touching your car is water and, optionally, towels that they use to hand dry.

I spoke to the manager and he assured me they only use 100% cotton towels and showed me the labels. I was comfortable, but if you aren't, either take your own towels to the place or just drive off and dry it yourself.

I never had any problems with swirls in 20 years of doing that.....door dings in parking lots, well, another story!

 

[frostyra]

I use both touchless (Lazer Wash) and an automatic with "undulating strips," not brushes (brushes for tires) (AutoBell). Both work fine on my Mahogany; I've noticed no swirls. When taking it through AutoBell, I do unscrew the antenna just in case. Just don't let them do the inside of your windows -- they'll be worse than before the wash!