I have a meteor Grey Mica 2016 CX-5 that I bought early 2015. I properly maintain it with 2 bucket washes and ONR rinseless wash in the winter. I also have the car coated with Optimum Gloss Coat going on 3 years now. I do not have any significant signs of swirls or scratches. The darker the paint the more likely swirls will show. The Grey isn't too bad when it comes to this but if the car isn't maintained properly you will eventually start to notice it. Like others have said stay away from those high rpm spinning car washes, they are horrible for any paint finish. The soft touch ones aren't much better. The touchless car washes won't induce swirls or scratches since nothing is physically touching the paint but the solvents they use to clean car are quite harsh and will strip any wax or sealant you have applied and they dry the clear coat out over time. I've also seen the rubber, like the door seals, turn a funky goldish color because of the harsh chemicals.
I know hand washing isn't always feasible for everyone so If I had to pick I would say use a touchless wash but only sparingly. Make sure you keep the protection up on the paint with a quality wax or sealant. I like the collonite products or Meguiars Ultimate liquid wax. There are tons of other products out there that will protect the paint as well. Carnauba wax gives the best shine but is the hardest to apply and remove and offers the least protection as far as durability is concerned, it will also leave residue stains if it is gotten on any of the black trim pieces.
Like I said, I have coated my car and really like the results. A coating will not add further protection from rock chips or anything like that but it does add some durability in regards to swirl marks and scratches. It's pretty easy to do your self if you take your time and make sure you have a 100% clean car before applying. You will need to polish away any minor swirls before application and make sure you use a panel wipe like carpro eraser or Gtechniq panel wipe to remove any remaining wax or residue before applying. There's some really great SiO2 coatings out there but make sure you stick to a name brand, the no name ebay ones aren't very good. Gtechniq Cystal Serum Light, Carpro Cquartz, Optimum Gloss coat, Gyeon Mors, Mckees's 37, Pinnicale Black label, Britemax, all make great coatings.
I love coatings! once the car is coated they are much easier to maintain and keep clean with regular maintence washes with something like Carpro reset or a similar product. There's also a growing number of coating boosters on the market that prolong the life of any coating. These you usually just spray onto a wet clean vehicle and then go about drying with a microfiber and they had durability to any coating.
