This is why we can't have nice things ...

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Originally Posted By: Miller88
Why can't people be responsible for their own actions and buy a $500 set of snow tires every 4 years?

Instead, people that "can't afford" to buy snow tires every few years need to buy a completely different vehicle because they rust in half.

If people would just run decent tires in the winter, they wouldn't have to salt so much. I wouldn't have to worry about a 14 year old vehicle rusting into oblivion and my taxes would be lower from not having to pay for steep maintenance to bridges.


I wish miller88! Totally agreed.

Personal Responsibility is still widely practiced in Northern Europe. No longer (not since the 60s) has it been true in the USA.


That is a BIG problem in the USA. If we were in Germany/Austria/Sweden/Norway/Denmark/Netherlands ect that is exactly what you would see. Folks equipping their vehicles both inexpensive and expensive with proper tires for the season. Because in many of those nations failure to be prepared and a resulting accident could result in serious fines and or suspension of your license!
 
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This is how my Mazda looks like most of the winter.



And this is how it looks like after a wash. Don't worry about the salt on the paint (unless you want it in showroom condition, in which case you wouldn't be driving the car in winter in the first place) it's the undercarriage and stuff you don't see that take the beating and should be rust proofed.


 
Mods should move this thread to the detailing section. It might give The Critic a stroke.
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Hopefully you had had a quality sealant on the paint and did some rust proofing on the frame and suspension and wheel well before winter.
 
My favorite season is winter. I love snow, so I put up with the other issues that come along with it. That said however, Illinois does use an awfully large amount of salt for the comparativly little snow we get (the news media however treats each half-inch snowfall like its a blizzard, but that's a topic for another thread).

I was out all day yesterday in some rural areas in northwestern Illinois. They used sand instead of salt. The roads were kind of half-slush, half ice. At one point my wheelwells were packed with a sand-ice mix! And then when I stopped, I left sandy hunks everywhere. I should try and get a pic today.
 
By the way, when I lived in Peoria they used cinders on the roads. I suspect they were free, a by-product of the power plants in the area. I don't know if they still use them.

Unlike salt, the cinders were not water-soluable, and remained on the shoulder of the road and along the curb for months. I was an avid bike rider, and was constantly having to fix flats caused by the razor-sharp cinders. Just can't win!
 
Pushing 50 degrees in the IL today. I washed the Sonata in the driveway. Then some interior cleaning and the garage floor got a washing to rid itself of the piles of salt that fell off the car over the last month. By Monday morning we'll be back below zero.

I try to keep the washing up to 5-6 day schedule, but sometimes it's just too cold to do so.

Most of the time the salt depth > snow depth.
 
Man, I get more salt on my car than that just driving up my driveway.

Seriously, I feel for you and hate the stuff myself. Pa does very little to the roads where we live until after the storm is over but then they pour the chemicals on. Maryland, on the other had, shares their chemicals seemingly days before a storm.

We commute 150 miles per day so we carry our share of snow-melting concoctions home with us. I spend a furtune on touchless wash-o-mats!
 
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Originally Posted By: SevenBizzos
Pushing 50 degrees in the IL today. I washed the Sonata in the driveway. Then some interior cleaning and the garage floor got a washing to rid itself of the piles of salt that fell off the car over the last month. By Monday morning we'll be back below zero.

I try to keep the washing up to 5-6 day schedule, but sometimes it's just too cold to do so.

Most of the time the salt depth > snow depth.

Same here! Got out and washed the S-10 off. Looks much better!
 
Ditto. Car washes were packed with people...half of them "bros" with huge jacked up trucks that took 20 minutes to rinse clean. Ugh.

I always thought a white car would look clean for a while longer in the winter, but it just ends up looking awful from the dirty water getting slung up.
 
Our cars are both bad. We don't bother washing ours in NH winters and use the rain to do that. Unless our cars make us dirty entering then we go to a touchless wash if you fill gas for $5.

That all being said we seem to get 10-12 years ownership(~200k miles) which is fine by us.

I prefer salt/sand as roads clear quickly and you drive a good clip after. Winter tires still don't make up enough for ice.

 
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Originally Posted By: SevenBizzos
Pushing 50 degrees in the IL today. I washed the Sonata in the driveway. Then some interior cleaning and the garage floor got a washing to rid itself of the piles of salt that fell off the car over the last month. By Monday morning we'll be back below zero.

I try to keep the washing up to 5-6 day schedule, but sometimes it's just too cold to do so.

Most of the time the salt depth > snow depth.

You wash the car when it's only 50 degrees ? That's too cold to do anything outdoor for So Cal people. I only wash my cars when it's in the 70's or warmer, less than 70 then wait for few days.
 
Here's mine this morning. Doesn't look half as bad as I thought it might; I've seen much worse.

Tires are Dunlop Wintersport on Pontiac G6 wheels.

6zx9.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Do people actually buy new cars and then drive them on the salt roads?


Yep! 8 years/162,000 miles on my wife's Subie since new and we expecting another 5 years out of it hopefully.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Do people actually buy new cars and then drive them on the salt roads?



Nope. Most people buy vehicles and only drive them during the warmer months then take the bus during the winter.

Here salt is very rarely used. Sand and gravel for the most part. You only need salt when there are warm/cold cycles and the warm cycle melts the snow which turns into water which creates ice in the freeze cycle. Here there is no warm cycle,just cold so there is little to no ice.
And if there is some ice the gravel gives the tires traction. We see a lot of gravel at the stop lights and stop signs otherwise there isn't much.
I'm still driving on summer tires right now. 18" winter tires are insanely priced and I'm not paying those kinds of prices. The charger performs fantastic so I'm not worried.
Vehicles here rarely become rust buckets unless imported from the east.
 
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Do people actually buy new cars and then drive them on the salt roads?



Nope. Most people buy vehicles and only drive them during the warmer months then take the bus during the winter.

Here salt is very rarely used. Sand and gravel for the most part. You only need salt when there are warm/cold cycles and the warm cycle melts the snow which turns into water which creates ice in the freeze cycle. Here there is no warm cycle,just cold so there is little to no ice.
And if there is some ice the gravel gives the tires traction. We see a lot of gravel at the stop lights and stop signs otherwise there isn't much.
I'm still driving on summer tires right now. 18" winter tires are insanely priced and I'm not paying those kinds of prices. The charger performs fantastic so I'm not worried.
Vehicles here rarely become rust buckets unless imported from the east.


Tire Rack has a set of snows in your size for $450.
 
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