Question for MN folks...Do Cars rust in Minneapolis? Salted roads? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

where it's really cold, like when i lived in N. Michigan, they wouldn't salt roads, it was pretty ineffective, they would just put sand down...
 
Thanks for all the responses. I was actually looking at an 08 200 that is in Minneapolis that appears to be clean but I'm in Arizona so obiously kinda picky. Growing up in the Midwest taught me to know better.
 
MN trucks are pretty rough when it comes to rust, more so than neighboring states even from my experience. Plus the new salt formulation they are using these days is more aggressive when it comes to rust formation. Its not just sodium chloride anymore as they try to get creative with costs and effectiveness.

swore I found rust starting on my elbow last winter, I should really think about moving......
 
After seeing that chart I'll keep buying local used cars. WA & OR don't use real salt.

And I'll quit bitchin 'bout the occasional water leak my sunroof drains cause.

People bitch about the salt substitute but I've yet to see rust form on my 80 aside from where I've scuffed the underside on stuff.
 
don't think the PNW gets consistently low low temps and storms that bring in 12+ inches of snow on a regular basis. There have been years that the road salt supply was used up way before the end of the season. I think its that the mush of the treated snow collects in places like the wheel wells and will sit there not melting or moving for quite a while probably accelerating the process.
 
You drive on a highway and there is a constant salt spray from the car in front of you. It goes EVERYWHERE. Your fan throws it throughout the engine bay and between the inner and outer panels of the hood/fenders/rockers/etc-it goes past the wipers and down inside your doors-covers your frame/axles/suspension/brake and fuel lines-fuel tank-including up on top of it-on and around your bumpers and I guarantee it creeps into the tiniest cracks. I've looked at mine after it dried after washing inside/through and under everything and seen the white crystal formations that crept out of bolt threads, drainholes, seams and crossmembers. I think that the only thing that finally gets it all off is almost submerging it hitting huge water holes in low spots in the roads like you're trying to test it's fording ability when you get the hard rains and thunderstorms.
 
don't think the PNW gets consistently low low temps and storms that bring in 12+ inches of snow on a regular basis. There have been years that the road salt supply was used up way before the end of the season. I think its that the mush of the treated snow collects in places like the wheel wells and will sit there not melting or moving for quite a while probably accelerating the process.

Very true, coastal WA/OR (sea level - 1500') gets a few 6"+ snow showers annually, and every couple yrs we'll see a "big storm" of 12"+

Elevation is so varied though that some neighborhoods get snowed in, 3 mi away you get light frost.
We freeze, but rarely freeze & precipitate at same time. Takes high pressure to clear skies & get cold, low pressure to get our cloud cover & see snow. We prob get 15-20 nights below freeze point.

And it's been that way for a very long time - this isn't the global warming "effect".

Seattle drops a ton of sand / fine pit run, but for some reason we don't salt - never heard why. We just mis-manage our sanders.

I've heard many times the salt substitute is a real killer, but aside from a tell-tale white coating on the sides of cars that washes off easily, I've personally never seen it corrode.

Anybody here see salt substitute & see it rotting their cars?
 
I live in the rust belt here in Canada. Keys to minimizing the impact of road salt on my cars are:
1. every fall, get an application of Krown rust-proofing treatment (there are other similar products) - a sticky and runny oil product that's sprayed all over the underside, inside body panels, door bottoms, brake lines and parts, etc. (they drill holes to insert long rods to shoot the stuff all over inside hidden body cavities). You have to get that done every year, but it's well worth the $100-120 or so
2. every spring, when the snow has melted and roads are dry, I park my vehicle in the driveway, and run a hose and sprinkler underneath, to wash off the accumulated road dirt and dried salt - I slowly drag the oscillating sprinkler from back to front of the car, and a lot of stuff is washed away by the running water
I have a 1989 Toyota Cressida that I drive year-round and is still virtually rust free underneath, in part because of the above.
I've owned 60 series Land-Cruisers that rotted out no matter what I did to them, mostly because people who owned them before me didn't use preventative measures, and the rust had already taken hold underneath. 80 Series are obviously much better designed and built for coping with rust, than the 60 series were.
 
Since we've totally hijacked the thread, (sorry OP) ----

Can one of the Canadians who have exp (rstl99?) - tell which provinces are better than any others?

I'm know a guy with a relatively new ('03-'04) BMW in Vancouver who wants to sell & the price seems reasonable- should I expect it's rotted on the underside?
Motor / bare aluminum spots look better than E coast power trains, using that as indicator before I trip up there to really PPI it. Is it worth a look having lived in B.C. for 10+ yrs?
 
In Canada, generally the prairie provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) are better for rust-aversion. And BC also, maybe most of all, because of the gentle winters over there which means that road salt is not used nearly as much as in the prairie provinces, or the eastern provinces. I live in Ontario which is quite bad, Quebec is just as bad. The east coast provinces also get their fair share of snow-salt winters. So I would expect a vehicle from BC would be as nice as you could get from Canada, unless it's a vehicle from elsewhere in Canada that has been stored in a dry place during winters and not exposed to winter driving and salt. Also in Canada, rust-proofing places like Krown that I mentioned are present in most cities, so people who use this service also greatly minimize the onslaught of rust. Hope that helps.
 
Vancouver gets very little snow, but it is a coastal city. Depending where the car lived, it could have been bathed in salty, coastal fog every morning.

Generally cars from the west coast are less rusty than cars from the east coast where they soak the roads in salt all winter.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom