I wanted to was my xb a couple days after getting it but every car wash seemed to have "bristle" brushes that swirl all over your car.  I found one that had nylon strips and it did a good job, but I was wondering if you guys are picky about the car washes you use?  I'd hate to use this one too often, at $8 for the mid grade wash! 

In summer, I can hand wash...but not in Feb! 

I took mine to a local quickie drive through a while back. The guy at the start of the line did a quick brushdown of the wheels. It was a soft-cloth type wash. They did a so-so job for $8.50. I don't think I'll be going back there.

When I washed my Beetle during the winter I used a sponge mop (from ye-olde dollar store) to avoid freezing my hands off. Can't do that right now as my outdoor faucet needs replacing. I did do a real quick wash a week or so ago using the bucket brigade method with warm water from my kitchen sink. Went through most of my dozen micro-fiber cloths on that one. I gotta get a plumber out here soon.

The only self serve washes here have the long brush that looks like a push broom and is made of plastic bristles.  I will have to look and see if they have gotten anything better around here yet.

Almost all of the car wash business's in Silicon Valley are brushless and use Rainx. The only exception would be the do it yourself car washes.

I go to the local car wash and will sometimes run through the automatic wash and use the touchless option. But for the most part I just pull into a bay and spray it off really good. The guy who owns the wash showed me the bay he adjusted for his friends who detail cars so the sprayer works much better then any other bay there. SO I use the bay and get a little soap on my MF mitt and wash the hot spots and then pull it out and dry it. He also told me I could use my mitt and he wouldn't mind, as long as I am not backing up people who are waiting. As is everyone else I am deafly afraid of swirl marks and do have some on the car. I think they were an option the dealer gave me even though I didn't ask for them.....LOL So they are DISM (Dealer installed swirl marks). Living in an apartment I don't have the ability to wash my car by hand at this point. So the local car wash is a life saver for the water usage. But those brushes don't touch my car.

OK that was a wordy reply.....LOL