Salted 911

Well, it finally snowed here in central NJ--if you can call 1/4" "snow". It quickly melted, however our streets are now covered in salt. This is my first winter as a 911 owner and I've been debating whether or not to drive on salted roads. I was dead set against it until this morning when both of the other 911 owners (black 997s) at my gym drove up in their cars. Any experience with the effects of salt on a black 996?

Yes, the salt turns them gray. If you wash them they turn Black again.

Buy a winter beater for the season, you will appreciate the 996 even more when the flowers start to bloom.

I drive mine daily, even in the snow (with snow tires, of course). Sunday morning we had the first measurable snow here in Indy. I ran lots of errands in the morning and drove to the game later in the day. The car is now white from the salt but I'll rinse it off in a day or so.

This is my 6th winter in the 996. Snowed about and inch and a half yesterday along with freezing rain last night. Was really icy this am, but the Blizzaks were just fine. The Shell station near my house has a no touch car wash that will get most of the salt off but I still have to hand wash to get all off. If you plan on driving in snow over 6 inchs, invest in zip ties. The plastic undertrays will get cracked up!

Stephen: Curious about the zip ties comment. Can you expand a little?

No way in hell I'm driving my car on salted roads. It doesn't just rinse off. It gets in places you will never get clean, and it will cause damage. If you are just driving your car for a few years and then moving on to the next thing, maybe it's OK. My car is a keeper (and in no way do I baby it.) It will never see salt, if I can help it.

Winter alternative, is what I am recommending. Rain is one thing, but snow and salt? Achht dun think so!!

Depends on the situation.... Right now my car is in at the dealer. We've had great weather for weeks... Friday (the day before it was due to go in) we had our first snow of the year and they put salt everywhere... okay, no big deal, the roads were dry by the time I had to drive the 3 miles to the dealer... yesterday it snows again and they dump tons for salt on the roads (which are still wet). The car has to be picked up tomorrow. Not sure I have a choice but to drive it back on the salted roads. The best I can hope for is that the roads dry out by tomorrow evening. ...all this trouble to keep it in immaculate condition and a trip to the dealer that was booked a month ago gets me salted

You could have the car "flat-bedded" from the dealer to your house.... that would be a switch!

LOL They salted the roads here for the first time late last week and they went totally insane salting the roads last night after a dusting of snow. I usually use my 996 as a DD but I have refused to take it out since there has been salt on the roads. Damn, I am going through some serious P-Car withdrawl, does anyone know of a rehab in my area. Better yet, does anyone know the 12-Step P-Car anonymous program. HELP!!!

Flat bedding... hmm, now that's an idea. Tell me what it is about PA that makes them think that at the slightest hint of snow they have to dump mounds of salt all over the roads... seems that they don't think they've done a good enough job unless there are mounds of salt piled up every 10 feet. Bizarre.

A good question might be to ask what hurts a Porsche more - salt or sitting in the garage for extended periods of time. I tend to believe a car that is driven experiences less problems. These cars are meant to be driven, not hide in the garage like they were some delicate flower.

Last Sunday we had great weather here in the Dallas area with dry roads after 3 weeks of rain, freezing rain, snow from the Icy-Blast. Of course they lay down a lot of salt and sand on the roads which is nasty for cars in the long run (I used to live in NE and OH). I am trying to minimize the exposure to salt but with Sunday sun, I could not resist even though I knew some area will still have some sligthly wet roads with salt mixed-in, but I couldn't wait any longer to take my baby out for a spin especially with a newly installed Schnell CAI Awesome... Cheers,

Mine gets salted, but I just take it to a coin op wand wash and blast as much of the wheel wells and undertrays as possible. I prefer to drive my cars than park them for 5 months of the year...who am I saving it for?... The next owner? I think not. FYI: My last 2 M-B's were winter driven for 3 winters each and when I turned them back in, the dealer said to me " you obviously don't drive your cars in winter".

Mine stayed in during the Dallas snow and ice but hey, my 16 year old 928 use to stay in also. I have a 4x4 for these kind of days

I plan to drive it...if a few things rust (bolts)...no big deal. IF plastic cracks...I get more plastic. I plan to drive my every day.....if possible. Snows on the car make it amazing (TT). JB

I just use the no rinse car wash stuff. I never worry about the elements. Modern cars simply don't rust like their counterparts 20 years ago.

Mine goes away for the winter. Besides Toyota was doing a $269.00 lease on the Tundra how can you go wrong there. I'll always have a truck as I need to haul other toys.

Snow you say? This winter is just stupid with snow here- I havent driven my car since Dec. 16th - I am having serious withdrawls. I dont care whats on the road as soon as I can get out of my hood and to a dry road I will!

snow? i've never heard of this thing before.. what is it?

I purchased mine to be a driver....I already have the garage queen Porsche thing covered. Here's a quick picture from today.

Pretty sure these cars were designed with winter driving in mind. My C2 with Conti Snows has no issues getting through the white stuff and comes out perfectly clean after a good weekly wash. Get er good n dirty!

ML My plastic undertrays are now held on with zip ties since most of the original mounting locations have cracked away. Hitting frozen ice clumps on the side streets busts em up. Sounds like heck, but no damage except for the plastic. When I am done with my 996 it will be pretty much used up. I drive it daily just like my previous 911. Any way you look at it, a car is a depreciating asset. Might as well enjoy it as much as you can. The value is never going to increase!

Salt is WAY more damaging, hands down. Sure, bodies don't rust like they used to, but every other undercarriage component gets totally destroyed by salt in short order. My car is no garage queen. Snow & ice are OK. But NO SALT!

Drove mine Sunday 200 miles north into VT and back today. Previously it had only left the garage since November on a few very short local trips on the best of days. I was in withdrawals and also felt burning out the full tank of gas couldn't hurt. Got back today and I can tell you that only after three + hours of washing did I feel I had gotten all the salt off the car. That would be my contribution to the thread- if you are going to drive in the salt it really does take a while to get all the nooks and crannies cleaned out under the car. I used a leaf blower to thoroughly dry the car and with Stabil and a full tank of gas I have scratched the itch for any further winter pcar driving.

I guess the question is, do you own your car or does it own you?

What a stupid question. I own the car and I intend to keep it. For some of you, it might be a matter that the Porsche isn't that important of a car. I drive my other cars, which have higher book values than my Porsche, in the salt and think nothing of it, where people I know with similar cars would never consider it. If you like driving your car in the salt, and don't mind that you are destroying it, then fine, do so. I would never deny anyone that. But do NOT try to convince anyone other than yourselves that you are not hurting the car, or that you can wash the salt off. I would not want to be on the track with my car next summer and find out the hard way which undercarriage components had been weakened by the salt. For my daily drivers, it doesn't matter. They are expendable.

I think that the only time you really have to be concerned about salt is if you park your car in a heated space. That's what does the damage. Salt plus moisture plus above-freezing temps. If I tracked my car, I'd probably keep off salty streets, too, but honestly... has anyone ever heard of a suspension component failing because of salt damage? I haven't, and I've been driving in the road salt capital of the world for decades. FWIW, I always have my 'toy' car fully detailed in the spring, and that process includes steam cleaning the undercarriage. Might be stupid, but it gives me peace of mind and it certainly makes it easier for the mechanic to keep an eye on things under there.

Thanks.

These are not your fathers' porsches in terms of corrosion....drive them like the Germans....and, yes, it snows in Germany.....a lot. Tennktm

Every year I do the same stupid thing, put her away in mid to late december...comes some time (soon I think) I get withdrawals....take the cover off, unplug the battery maintainer, deflate the tire to the proper pressure and zoom off in the snow....

I drive it year round. Drives like a champ in the snow and rinse the salt off as required at the coinwash. I'm not saving it for the next owner. Just say no to the whole garage queen concept.

...and you have a lowerd suspension it make one heck of a snowplow.....

Another day in paradise...

My question wasn't stupid. If you use your Porsche as a track car and want to go 170mph, then that is a different story. I think the OP was asking about being able to use his car as a daily driver and the consensus seems to be that they hold up just fine in the winter.

Here in the Boston area, they throw down buckets of sand on the roads in the winter, and when driving on the highway you can hear your car getting sandblasted This bugs me more than the salt - paint and windshield takes a beating in a few years So i use a beater car for when it looks too crummy out

I sat in the dealership the other monday morning to collect my car and the tech tells me they have had four service cancellations that day. Perfectly normal he says - every time it rains people phone up and cancel 'cos they dont want to get their car wet. I just dont get all this nonsense about driving it in the wet/snow/salt Has anyone here ever been to Germany? It rains and snows. Quite a lot. It's a car. Drive it.

I was told exactly the same thing yesterday. I figured that I'd waited a month for my appointment, so I wasn't postponing for anything. Weird.

My point for storing it in the winter and not driving it is yes, the weather and elements but also the risk factor of having someone loose control in the snow and colliding into me. I looked for over 2 years finding my 996 with the options I wanted and I wouldnt want to go through that again. my 2 cents

Your question was stupid. Not as a question, but as a statement. You could just as easily say: You don't let your kids climb through the car with chocolate shakes with no lids? Well, I guess the question is, do you own your car or does it own you? You don't drive on potholed dirt roads? Well, I guess the question is, do you own your car or does it own you? You don't shift constantly without using the clutch? Well, I guess the question is, do you own your car or does it own you? It is OK if you want to drive in the salt. In some way I admire the people who can. But to deny that it causes damage to the car is just wrong. The "just fine" that cars hold up under salt is subjective. You can get five or six years out of your car in the salt. When you look to buy a classic car, do you look up north or down south? Any of you that drive your car to the country club in the salt, let's compare cars in another ten years.

I'm in VA and there's two reasons I don't drive my 99 996 (w/ LSD) in the snow. 1. Other drivers. It's not worth the risk. It's too crowded and it doesn't snow enough for drivers to know that you need to leave enough space in between cars for emergency stopping. 2. Salt. I plan on keeping the car for some time. Like it or not, bolts do corrode. I've had cars which have been driven in the snow previously, and the bolts are the first thing to go. It may be the only thing, but if I'm going to be wrenching on the car in the future, the less corroded bolts, the better. I do however, make a point to drive it at least every 1-2 weeks in good weather (i.e. no rain/snow). The main issue I've experienced is slight flat-spotting on the soft and sticky tires after not driving. After a few miles, it goes away.

Modern cars are far better shielded from the effects of corrosion than the classics. I'm curious where you came up with your "five to six years" figure as the cut-off for a car no longer being drivable due to road salt.

Are you drunk? Nothing that you are saying makes any sense. Cars are meant to be driven. In the snow, in the rain and in the heat. If you want to race your car or just ********** it in your garage, fine. But to compare driving a modern, galvanized car year-round to dumping milkshakes on the seats and grinding the gears is a bit of a stretch. Grant

I didn't say anything about it being a cutoff for the car being drivable. It comes from experience. Replace the shocks on a four year old car that has been driven all winter without a torch, if you can. The bodies on modern cars are better protected from salt, but not much underneath a modern car is better than the classics.

Nice.

thanks.

Much ado about nothing. These cars are designed to spend at least 3 months of every year caked in salt. That's normal for most of Europe. My 928 is 11 years old, does 20,000 miles a year, gets washed once a week tops in the winter (and rarely sprayed underneath) and is in pristine nick (a few rusty bolts aside). And my 997 still looks like new underneath after 2 years. Cheers Mark

I'm sorry, but I think that's kind of ridiculous. I live in an area where winters are messy and salt is used liberally. The only way you'd need a torch to remove shocks on a four year old car is if you never, ever washed it. Yes, salt will eventually damage a car. So will cold starts and so will heated storage. So will intense sun. So will living by the ocean. So will pollution. All you can do is take the best care of it you can, and accept entropy for what it is. It's good practice for what you're going to have to do when you look in the mirror in a few years anyway.

This is how it looks in Sweden after a snowfall...

Well said. I drive my TT every day...no reason to save it for the next guy. Plan to keep it for 10y and perhaps get another to keep it company in old age. :-) Great car in the snow and cold, btw. Me, I had a garage queen too....I am having more fun now by far. A 993 C4S.....so I know garage queen thinking a little. jb

I recently purchased a 1999 C2 coupe, which was originally titled in NY, spent some time in PA, and was in Ohio before arriving here in Phoenix. Only 33k miles on it. The body is immaculate. Wheel wells are fine. But when I changed the oil for the first time, I noticed that the engine and tranny were crusty, no doubt, from road salt. I don't think that this has compromised the integrity of the cases, but do think these would be difficult if not impossible to clean up once corrosion has set in. And the paint was actually flaking off of the rear anti-sway bar. And when I replaced the standard exhausts with PSEs, the nuts holding the catalytic converter to muffler collars were rusted to the point of being unrecognizable. Mufflers themselves were rust-free, though possibly not original. I haven't looked under the front end yet. So, yes, modern bodies and paint can withstand the salt (to a point), but if you are **** about how your engine and other components look underneath, avoid the salt. Of couse, where I live, it's easy for me to say.

The best snowmobile ever!

so... use a torch. Isn't being able to drive this car worth 5 bucks for new bolts every 40,000 mi when you change shocks? or should we avoid bumps so shocks don't wear out?

Bet I can. The plastic bits under the front tend to get banged up pretty good. I plan to replace mine this Spring, but for now I've got them wired with plastic zip ties myself. Happens when driving through deep snow.

Yes, there's more salt than snow on the roads today, but i love driving my car any chance i get!