Road Salt

[Sasquatch Jim]

Salty air from the Pacific ocean eats thru any metal and corrodes aluminum. If you have any chrome near it good luck.  ~;

  Tell me about it.  I live in the middle of the pacific on a peninsula of an island with salt water on three sides.

[Guzzistajohn]

'99 Tacoma 157K runs great-washed maybe 10X/year-never garaged-not a speck of rust. DK is right if you're ever in the wilds of Kansas, the salt mine tour is a must see. The size of the salt deposit in the central US is amazing.

[pauldaytona]

Almost all newer cars here have a layer of zinc under the paint, that will not rust. My 2002 volvo has zero rust, also bottom is like new. Cars that still rust are from legacy or very cheap manufacturers.

[Rough Edge racing]

 I've never heard of volcanic cinders polluting any waterway.
  I've never heard of them corroding any vehicle.
  People who live in places that get snow and ice on the roads
  have an obligation to learn to drive safely on the stuff or not drive in winter at all.
  They should not depend on road crews to keep the roads so that they can continue to drive at high speeds and
  use insufficient distance between themselves and the vehicle they are following.
  They should understand that nature creates ice storms to better the gene pool of drivers.

 I had that very discussion in our town with other citizens. The town has cut back on use of deicing chemicals and used a cinder like product and plow more often. I thought the cinders provided decent traction without the false security of salted roads. People were bitching the roads were unsafe...I said most now drive cars with all wheel drive, traction control... Get yourself a set of dedicated winter tires ,slow down and learn to drive in a snowy climate instead of relying on the gov't to spread nasty polluting chemicals  that destroy vehicles ,roads and bridges....All I got were blank stares and the kids won't be safe in school buses....

[Nic in Western NYS]

That depends on what aluminum alloy they use.  6061 isn't too bad with salt, but we had some 2024 (called 24S at the time) that mounted rollers on a boat trailer when I was a kid.  The trailer was used in salt water regularly, but hosed off afterward.  It took only a few years and the 1/2" thick 2024 looked like a stack of cardboard.  When unbolted, it immediately fell apart.

The aluminum Ford used on my 2007 Five Hundred hood did corrode and needed repainting at the leading edge.  Not promising.

[Aaron D.]

It surely seems I see American,maybe some Japanese cars with rust,but my German cars, never.

[Two Checks]

I've been told in Indiana they use beet juice instead of salt.

Here in MO they have ben using beet juice but it has to be mixed with a salt solution.
They spray the rads prior to a snow event but it gets picked up by vehicles which makes it less efectivewhen the snow arrives. Cars turn white with the stuff.
Plus, when it does start snowing it melts the snow until it is diluted and becomes ineffective and the water fcreezes. Then traffic packs the snow on top and when the plows go over it it only polishes the snow like a zamboni.

[Kev m]

Do I understand correctly that many/most modern vehicles use aluminum alloys that will corrode on the surface, but that will form a protective layer to halt further corrosion?

I.E. despite how bad that Subaru looked under the hood, most of those components were not going to be compromised in anyway by that layer?

Obviously the Jackal's fenders and chrome were another thing...

[Lannis]

It surely seems I see American,maybe some Japanese cars with rust,but my German cars, never.

Some of the worst rust I've ever seen has been on 70s and 80s Mercedes.   I looked over a 220D for sale once, but passed because of the rust.   A friend bought it, and the drivers seat almost fell through the floorboard about 6 months later; there was nothing holding it all together.    I don't think German steel has any magic that says that says "It is ORDERED that Oxygen and Iron will NOT combine here!!" .....

Lannis

[Nic in Western NYS]

Some of the worst rust I've ever seen has been on 70s and 80s Mercedes.   I looked over a 220D for sale once, but passed because of the rust.   A friend bought it, and the drivers seat almost fell through the floorboard about 6 months later; there was nothing holding it all together.    I don't think German steel has any magic that says that says "It is ORDERED that Oxygen and Iron will NOT combine here!!" .....

Lannis

I had started to make some similar remark as to my experiences with German cars but Lannis beat me to it (in style of course).

[Two Checks]

If you like rust get an 80s Volvo 240.
Wait, you can't, they rusted away!

[steven c]

 Here in CT. My 2012 Subaru Forester is fine so far, but I replaced my 97 Outback with it because the rear of the car was disappearing. Then there is my 88 S10 PU which I call the Rust-10 Valdaz ,but I think they would rust in a desert.

[GearheadGrrrl]

The german car makers were ahead of the curve, as TUV was flunking any unit body car with rust perforation... Thus a lot of 6 year old Mercedes and such were failing and pretty much worthless, other than in export markets. Thus the german automakers switched to galvanized steel in the 80s and 90s. The galvanized steel is so much more rust resistant that VW can afford to offer a 12 year rust out warranty, and they seldom have to pay off on it.

[Cheese]

The german car makers were ahead of the curve, as TUV was flunking any unit body car with rust perforation... Thus a lot of 6 year old Mercedes and such were failing and pretty much worthless, other than in export markets. Thus the german automakers switched to galvanized steel in the 80s and 90s. The galvanized steel is so much more rust resistant that VW can afford to offer a 12 year rust out warranty, and they seldom have to pay off on it.

I can just imagine what would happen if NY decided to enforce some kind of rust through inspection failure. Get out the duct tape! In the mid 90's Nissan trucks had frame rust/break issues as did Toyota in the early 2000's. Toyota replaced frames and I was told 2 tech's could switch one over in 8 hrs.!