How much salt is usually on your vehicle in the winter?

No salt here 😁

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I run the F-150, Jeep, and the Honda through the automatic car washes on a regular basis. I have unlimited washes and pay every month however it doesn't keep the vehicles from rusting. I usually get rid of them before any rust shows up. Generally around here the vehicles show rust in 7 to 10 years and there is not much you can do to stop it.
What kind of oil spray did you try to keep it from rusting? Around here vehicles rust out in 7-10 years if the owner doesn't do any kind of undercoating... Oil spray should definitely delay rust well beyond 10 years if it's done every year. This truck is 17 years old and is going to last well over 20.
I had to pass a liquid deicing truck the other day and my truck was completely covered in salt water. I went straight to the car wash that day but most of the winter I rarely do. I'd rather crawl underneath and spray more oil than wash it. A can of oil spray is about the same price as a wash.
 
I rarely wash my cars (period). Just seems like a waste of time, hit one dirt driveway and it’s trashed, let alone any dirt road. And that’s in summertime.

My driveway slopes downward, which is nice, but I’m not sure I want to hose something off and then have a skating rink—that would have me sliding out into the road. 10+ miles drive to a local carwash, which would allow it to drive off on the way home—oh wait, does that make sense, since it’ll just get dirty again on the way home?

I’ve tried to FF my vehicles but that stuff doesn’t stick. But if I drive 20+k per year, after 10 years the car has high levels of wear on everything. At what point do you just accept some slow rate of decay as the cost of living here?
I got 38 years out of my 83 Caprice I sold a year ago. To be clear I didn't (I was born in 83) but I got 12 winter's out of it and 120,000kms. Previous owners were gentler on it, it wasn't always driven in winter but it was earlier in its life, and there were some receipts for undercoating.
When I sold it the frame was like new, body had a few rust spots here and there, but mostly the original paint was just shot. The only major rust was under the vinyl roof. Had to patch the drivers floor once from the carpet getting wet all the time (should have had better floor mats) but if it wasn't for the vinyl roof that car had lots of years left with only minor repairs here and there.
It's definitely not easy to prevent rust, but at the minimum they should be dropped off once a year at a undercoating shop. Our local Rust Check drives around a 78 Plymouth Volare station wagon with 500k miles and a 91 Blazer with their advertising all over them. They bought an 81 Camaro from a customer we had at the Goodyear I used to work at....I saw that car on the hoist snd i couldn't see any rust. He had it rust checked every year.
 
Usually not much since I ride the bike. She mostly drives the Focus and we're not concerned about its longevity. The Festiva is parked till March and I try to protect the Escape and truck within reason. Not sure why though not like they'll be a collectible, probably spend too much time on it. Just should replace it at certain amount of rustiness with new, although our financial accounts rate of growth says otherwise. Guess it won't matter in another 40 years 😂
 
Usually not much since I ride the bike. She mostly drives the Focus and we're not concerned about its longevity. The Festiva is parked till March and I try to protect the Escape and truck within reason. Not sure why though not like they'll be a collectible, probably spend too much time on it. Just should replace it at certain amount of rustiness with new, although our financial accounts rate of growth says otherwise. Guess it won't matter in another 40 years 😂
If I had to replace my truck all of my mileage income would go to the truck payment and scheduled maintenance... nothing left for profit or spending money. The truck makes me a couple hundred extra per month that I don't have to put back into it.
 
I got 38 years out of my 83 Caprice I sold a year ago. To be clear I didn't (I was born in 83) but I got 12 winter's out of it and 120,000kms. Previous owners were gentler on it, it wasn't always driven in winter but it was earlier in its life, and there were some receipts for undercoating.
When I sold it the frame was like new, body had a few rust spots here and there, but mostly the original paint was just shot. The only major rust was under the vinyl roof. Had to patch the drivers floor once from the carpet getting wet all the time (should have had better floor mats) but if it wasn't for the vinyl roof that car had lots of years left with only minor repairs here and there.
It's definitely not easy to prevent rust, but at the minimum they should be dropped off once a year at a undercoating shop. Our local Rust Check drives around a 78 Plymouth Volare station wagon with 500k miles and a 91 Blazer with their advertising all over them. They bought an 81 Camaro from a customer we had at the Goodyear I used to work at....I saw that car on the hoist snd i couldn't see any rust. He had it rust checked every year.
I hear you; I bought the stuff to undercoat but I just don’t think it cut the mustard. The rest of the car feels worn out. In pre-pandemic times I would be getting out of it now, perhaps in this new reality I will need to push it yet further, putting up with yet higher prices of repairs.
 
I rely on nature to "wash" my vehicles from about December to April. By November I try to give them a thorough top to bottom cleaning, wax job and touch up the fluid film / woolwax job underneath.

It sucks, but I find it's worthless to attempt a DIY or pay wash when by the time I get the vehicle home, it's covered in salt again.
 
Too darn much!

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Soon after the storm is over, it gets pressure washed top and bottom if the temps are near 30°. If not, the nearest day that it is. I can still run it through the touchless at 15°.
 
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If I had to replace my truck all of my mileage income would go to the truck payment and scheduled maintenance... nothing left for profit or spending money. The truck makes me a couple hundred extra per month that I don't have to put back into it.
I don't disagree with you I see it the same. But we might a minority on this way of thinking.
 
My car is a 2003 Jaguar X-Type. It's been in Florida all it's life, until the last few years. It was completely rust free and clean. 3 years up North and the back of the trunk is completely rusted along the seam, the rear calipers rusted and seized, the suspension arms looked much like the George Washington Bridge, that is, perforated in places and needed to be replaced. Every seam, bolt, and steel component is rusting heavily or rusted out.

To make matters worse, they are spraying roads now before a possible storm, as a preventative measure. And, of course, the storm never comes.
 
Our roads are officially white now. Prior to the cold snap, we had a 35 degree day, so I took the cars to the local self service bay and gave them an upper body spray down. I Fluid film underneath and in as many interior panels as I can reach, so I don’t go nuts. It’s been about 2 weeks and my cars are still fairly salt free.

We haven’t had much for precipitation, which helps, but the streets are white.

I saw a Hellcat Challenger out yesterday. No way I’d drive that nice and expensive of a car this time of year, with salt coated streets. It is dry, but there is still salt dust being kicked up underneath. It’s their money, not mine, so more power to them!! We get a lot of International students here who immediately want a Vet, Mustang, etc. and then drive them all year round. I saw a Saleen Mustang for 3 years in town all salt covered.
 
No salt for runoff into the ocean, ok, got it.
Yeah sounds weird, but they are more worried about all the spawning streams. They just had a project near me to reroute a stream for the salmon where it went under a 4 lane highway. It will coast over 60 million when complete and I can't get a pot hole filled.
 
I hate frozen doors and locks so only when it gets above freezing plus I've always owned a second vehicle for driving when salt and gravel get laid down so it doesn't bother me as much.
 
That's what happens here, I will purposefully avoid the highway if I think they probably just sprayed it.
One thing I noticed on my truck is very little rust on the brakes after several years, when most vehicles rust very fast here. I assume it's because it spends so little time in between moving compared to the average vehicle.
 
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