Ain't that the truth Thanks again.

 

I live in northwest Indiana and we also see a lot of snow and salt. Fortunately, I am able to store my car during the winter, but if i had to drive it in the snow, this is what I would do. I wouldn't use an automatic car wash unless its an absolute must. The salt will be able to get into certain spots that the automatic wash will not be able to get. Not all automatics wash the bottom of the car where a lot of the salt will collect. I usually use one of the do-it-yourself car washes so I can wash the bottom of the car and remove the salt. I don't know if you have stripes on your car, but if you do, that another reason to be concerned about. Any kind of contact in an automatic car wash or the high-pressure wash in the do-it-yourself wash could possibly damage the stripes. After washng the car, make sure you dry up the water on the under edges of the hood, trunk, and doors. These are the places that rust will be likely to start. The best way to keep salt from damaging the exterior body of the car is it to have a couple coats of wax on the car.

 

The manual says the brushes on automatic car washes plus the strong detergent will slowly remove the clear-coat on the wheels, so I've stuck with touchless washes. The high pressure jets do force a small amount water over the windows so have a towel ready. Overall I'll stick to hand washing but when the weather is crappy, I think it's better to use the auto wash on the express setting and hand dry verse not washing at all. The rain here is slightly acidic so it's not a good idea to let it build up on the paint too long.

 

I did forget to mention the reason I only use the express is I've read that the spray wax on the other settings will build up on the ragtop and make it difficult to clean. It would be nice if you could turn just that one cycle off.

 

Wax will build up from the car wash and then the salt will eat it away I was forced to go through a normal automatic car wash once already, it's not so bad other than the drying jets. I'm a little worried that the air will do damage to the top. As far as touchless go - they are good to blash loose stuff off bith on top of the car and from the bottom. You still have to wash the car by hand (near damn impossible in this friggin weather).

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LOL...re-read my point number 2 above

We are SOOOO lucky down here in NC, given the lack of winter---and I have a garage as well! I washed it (mitt and bucket) last weekend, and put the cover on....I can't imagine trying to take care of it up north (where I lived for over 20 years!)...so much easier down south.

 

I've washed my car before with the top down. You just have to be careful which direction the spray goes when you're getting it wet or rinsing it off. If I plan to drive it right away with the top down, that's a better choice than taking a chance of putting down a wet top.

Nobody but me gets to wash my car. And I'm thankful to live where there is no need for road salt.

 

How does the water drain off of the back of the top? Are there drains in that groove between the top and the back deck?

I don't disagree with anything mentioned so far. My vert, at least right now. is my daily driver in the Washington DC area - that means lots of traffic and a fair amount of crappy weather. To make things worse my stang is black. I quickly lost the battle with dirt because it was too much time and back strain to keep a daily driver looking the way I wanted it to look. So I took it to the soft cloth automatic car wash that I've used with my black SUV for a couple of years. I got good results. I didn't get the swirl marks I was afraid of, and water didn't leak in - a first for any of the convertibles I have ever had.

If you can find a soft cloth carwash, sometimes called brushless, that doesn't use the spinning brushes, you might consider giving it a try. The one I use sprays underneath the car and sprays on wax and spot free rinse. The water still beads a couple of weeks later. No way is this better than washing by hand and using McGuire's wax and polish, but again it's a daily driver and this gets me 80 -90% of the approving looks I would get if I hand washed it in the 40 degree weather every week.

I haven't seen the spray wax do anything bad to the top so far. I'm really glad these cars have glass rear windows.

I know what you mean about the drying blower making the top flat around. But, after a half dozen washes I've seen no bad effects. I think the top is tough enough to take it.

I'll tell you what a convertible top can't take and that is the AAA guy trying to unlock your door when you've locked yourself out. The plastic wedges they use to make some space to get in really do a number on the top. My neighbor's top leaks like a sieve after having a lockout service break into her car twice in the last couple of months because she locked her keys in the trunk. The convertible is not a mustang though.