Salariphobia vs. Inactivity

Which is worse, not using my car, or driving it down a recently salted street clear of snow, but peppered by salt crystals? I have this irrational fear of road salt and grime keeping me from using my beautiful car on this equally beautiful 64 degree sunny day here in the east. How bad is road salt for my chassis? If I wash the car and rinse the underside after the drive, am I fine? Thanks.

I think you'd be fine even without washing it off, the Cosmoline will protect it. If you do wash the under carriage, I would avoid spraying < 50 degree water on a 200+ degree engine case.

They still use salt in your necko'the woods? NJ switched to sand long ago.

My '00 has been winter driven in salt (and brine!) since new, and there's not a speck of rust underneath it anywhere. Body protection is something they really got right with this car. My only advice is to make sure your rads are cleaned regularly. Leaf mung soaking up salt over the years eventually cost me a new pair of radiators and some restoration for my ac condensers.

I know that the car can handle the salt, however, the fine salt dust will get into everything...so IMHO, it is the salt dust that is the casue for concern. Just my .02.

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yeah definitely not. jersey still salts all over the place.

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They most certainly did not.

Just my .02 here but I have been working on cars, trucks etc for well over 30 years and constant exposure to salt will leave its mark. While I agree that the newer Porsche's have superior protection against corrosion, it provides little protection to the common hardware on the engine and attaching hardware. Most all of the bolts can have cadmium, zinc, galvanized or other plating to retard corrosion but it will eventually break down the protective surface. This is especially noticeable where you have high temp areas like exhaust bolts. And, while the bottom of the car is sprayed with cosmoline the top of the motor is not and I have seen a number of these cars whose engine was removed from the car and the corrosion is very apparent. I guess it really comes down to how clean you want to keep your car. It will certainly stand up to 365 day driving in all types of weather but it isn't going to look like a show car. Do a search here and over on Renntech and read the number of folks who have broken off rusted bolts and the PITA getting them drilled and tapped out. Me, I just drive the Silverado when it gets ice and salt on the highway and even then give it a good bath once a week.

I'll give you that winter driving and concours dreams are incompatible. But I don't see collectibility in the 996's future and, again, based on first hand experience, the car stands up extremely well. Replacing the odd screw wouldn't be a enough to persuade me to garage it for six months a year.

A year ago I was going to buy an '05 996 Turbo S with less than 45k miles. Original owner, all books and records, a very nice guy that stated his car was in excellent mechanical condition, everything worked as it should and that if anything wrong in the PPI he'd make it right at his expense. He was also willing to take the car anywhere within reason on the southeast coast of Florida for a PPI. He lived there in the winters and in Atlantic City in the summer. The PPI was very thorough and everything checked out fine mechanically, however it was noted that the corrosion to the chassis and suspension was horrible. I was told that it could not be reversed and that even if hundreds of nuts/ bolts and washers were replaced along with major aluminum suspension components it would never be right. The motor and transmission cases were pitted badly and everything underneath covered with white aluminum oxide deposits. Sadly this was really a mess and due to heavily salted wet roads on the east coast.

On an '05? Something fishy there. That's absurd.

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I agree with you there. I just passed 96K and wouldn't think of parking for 6 months, I just avoid the nasty days.

Might have been driven in salt water or at the beach a lot!

Thanks. I ended up not driving and washed and waxed instead. Equally enjoyable. Once it rains and the salt is gone, I'll drive it again. Until then, I bought myself a proper trickle charger, and I expect to drive it through the winter, especially if it keeps at 50-60 degrees. Nick, I agree with Bruce. It was unlikely to be the winters that did that as much as the summers in AC. The salt air there is awful, and add that to salty roads and it's not good under the car. I passed on a great-looking C4 that had been shore driven, and was rusty underneath, as if it had been soaked in brine. It was garaged in the winter, but driven at the beach in the summer. To Ogun; alas, the board is right. NJ didn't switch to sand-only. Plenty of salt on the roads in NJ and PA from what I've seen.

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+1 Bruce. I'm not saving it for someone else.

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The car will be fine. Next time you get a chance when you can get safely under the car do so and admire the substantial protection the underbody has. Be sure you use a shop that lifts these cars properly though to prevent damage to the lift areas which can compromise the underbody anti-corrosion protection and give corrosion a place to start. Lifting properly among other things requires teh lifting points be protected from marring by using something between the lift pad and the lift point. Whenever the temperature was above freezing, I'd treat the underside of my car to a rinse. Nothing fancy just a good rinsing to flush away any salt/grit/sand and such. Of course wait a while for the engine/exhaust to cool down and afterwards drive the car to dry the brakes. The only thing that can suffer from the exposure to salt it the exhaust system fasteners which can corrode so you may want to check these every once in a while (every year?) and replace any that are showing signs of getting nasty looking. Oh, there's a chance the coils may suffer some but these are relatively easy to replace and they may not suffer from premature failure anyway. Sincerely, Macster.

I drove my car on salty roads when I lived in Indiana. I just made sure to wash it frequently, including frequent sprays of the underside of the car. Here in Colorado they use gravel. Lots and lots of gravel. I don't worry as much about corrosion, but I've had to replace my pitted windshield. I guess there are tradeoffs...

Just hope they don't use magnesuim chloride in your area. They use it here in Arizona (yes, it snows here in the northern part of the state), the stuff is nasty. It contains an adhesive to help it stick to the road - and your car! The Dept of Trans here in AZ recommends that you wash your car often, not just rinse off, the underside especially. I agree with the above comment - nuts, bolts and fasteners take a beating after a couple of years of winter driving. The stuff also plays havoc with the rubber trim.

I didn't drive my first 2 Porsches in the winter, but I decided to drive and enjoy my current Porsche.So far I've done 3 round trip(280mi.)ski days to the White Mtns. and feel good about using my 911 regardless of the conditions. loon #3.JPG

What's the point of a car you don't drive? They made tens of thousands of 996/997s and the prices are always going down. When you wear one out, go get another one. All of my cars see all seasons and my '03 Infiniti with 122k miles has barely even seen the inside of a garage and the undercarriage looks fine.

Do not underestimate the damage caused by liquid deicers. Magnesium chloride and various similar cocktails work year round corroding...the re-liquify in high humidity! Their specialty is creeping up wires into connectors and dissolving them. If you see a truck spraying the roads in your area prior to a winter storm than your neighborhood has this stuff. Many cities in Colorado--Aspen etc have banned the stuff. I like sand.

Sorry-the thought of driving my car in all that salt and gravel blots out any joy I would have driving it.

So I sucked it up and drove it today. 49 degrees and salt was slightly better (that is, off of some of the roads) but I ended up with a fine film of salt-grime on the windshield and front of car. So I park outside 'cause I'm late for a meeting and come back with a cup of water and rag in hand to at least clean the windshield, and I'm treated to a flock of birds that apparently all suffered the same gastrointestinal illness, at once, over my car. Salt-grime was the least of my issues, and I was thankful I had the water/rag to clean off the bird's souvenirs. Needless to say, it got washed tonight upon returning home, so no bird droppings, no salt, no grime. Done. And it was nice to drive today.