QUES: 4WD Santa Fe and Delta Sonic

When I take my 2003 Santa Fe 4WD to the Delta Sonic car wash, they
have a detail shop where they drive your car onto a large, very slow
moving conveyance belt to do the inside cleaning. The first time I
took my car there I noticed that with most cars they just drive onto
the belt, but with the Santa Fe they stopped the belt and then drove
onto it. They also turned the belt off to drive my car off. I
believe this is the correct thing to do due to the full-time 4WD.
This is for the same reason that you can't tow the car with one end
lifted.

Today, a different guy was just going to drive my car onto the moving
belt so I stopped him and told him to turn the belt off before he
drove onto it. He looked at me like I was nuts, but since I was
insistent he humored me and shut the belt down. When it got to the
end, another guy shut the belt down and was about to drive my car off
when the moron at the other end started the belt again. The smart guy
yelled at him to shut it down until he was off.

What's the deal here? Will it damage my car if they don't shut the
belt down? Do I have to watch them everytime I go there? Should I
stop going there?

 

Is your SF 2.7L or 3.5?

 

2.7

 

I don't see how geting on/off the conveyor would damage the 4WD system.
you might want to read up on how the system works on the tech site.

http://www.hmaservice.com/webtech/iindex.asp?id=394880398#_394880398

 

then what difference does it make if it is 2.7 or 3.5?

 

3.5 has an electronically-controlled AWD system. Your SF's AWD is a mechanical
device.