Only hand wash my XF. I'm used to washing a motorhome and dually pick-up, stacker trailer, etc., so the Crossfire is a piece of cake! I guess it's dependent on if you have time to wash it yourself. I would never take it through an automatic car wash. I guess if I couldn't wash it at home, I'd find a "quarter-wash" that only uses fresh water(not recycled water). I took my last car through one of those leather cloth strip, brushless carwashes and they use presssure wands at the beginning of the sequence. They accidentally scraped the tip of the wand on the car and scratched it pretty deep, but you can never prove that it was done there. Don't need more stress. Washing it at home is actually a stress reliever.