Daily driver or not poll

[Mike88]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

it isn't about salt and rear wheel drive, its about salt and steel. Salt+steel+water =rust. There is a bit of a problem with snow and rwd, back ends have a tendancy to slide out easily

oops, 3rd person to say something like that

you're entirely right about the water thing which is why salt won't cause corrosion when it is severely cold out. Corrosion occurs when the temperature is right around freezing causing ice and snow to melt and mix with the salt. That's why they say cars parked indoors over night are more prone to rust as the ice melts off each time the car comes in from outside.

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Another option is to use some sort of electronic rust proofing device. They really do work and are used on ships, bridges, trucks and busses all the time. This site has a good explanation as well as products. http://www.ruststoponline.com/rustpr...mitations.html They say that their product is 75% effective or so, which means that the car will last 4 times longer before it gets totally eaten by rust. Of course, there is still the option of getting a cheap car that gets you from point A to point B and has a working heater, otherwise known as a beater. Very low operating cost on these vehicles, they get good milage, low insurance, cheap used parts are plentiful. And they are often surprising hard to kill, they will last for years when you think that any day could be its last.

are you sure these things work? I've been thinking a lot about installing them on my cars, but I'm just not convinced. I know the Canadian Tire ads say they've been widely used in the shipping and mining industries for decades, but I have heard relatively little about their effectiveness in the automotive industry. I'd like to see a comparative study with and without the product on the same type of car with similar driving conditions.

[cspd]

I will be driving it every friggin day. gotta love south florida weather.

[DGthe3]

I'm a bit 'rusty' on the chemistry behind them. Also, those are the numbers from the companies site. But it should work. Basically, in order to rust, the iron in the steel needs to react with oxygen. When it does this it has to give up electrons. By making the steel positively charged it has few electrons to give up, therefore significantly slowing down the rusting process. By how much, well that I can't say

[Mike88]

^ haha...pun intended

[Good53X]

Another thing about driving in the winter is other stupid drivers. Someone hits you in your Camaro and DOESN'T total it? Then you're stuck with a repaired Camaro. Fixed cars are seldom fixed perfectly.

[rray200]

Originally Posted by Good53X

Another thing about driving in the winter is other stupid drivers. Someone hits you in your Camaro and DOESN'T total it? Then you're stuck with a repaired Camaro. Fixed cars are seldom fixed perfectly.

You can clipped by a stupid driver at anytime of the year, not just winter.

[rray200]

Originally Posted by 2010_5thgen

salt will destroy paint! especially if you have any rock chips it will make it rust 10x quicker. i dont mind driving a rwd car in the snow(i did with my 99camaro) im just not a fan of salty cars. plus i dont want to have to take it through a drive through car wash. i wash all my cars by hand. it just sucks in the winter time.

I live in the land of harsh winters (Canada) and I rarely see badly rusted out cars on the road, unless they're from the '80s and early '90s.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by rray200

I live in the land of harsh winters (Canada) and I rarely see badly rusted out cars on the road, unless they're from the '80s and early '90s.

Exactly. You also don't see many rust-proofing shops around anymore either, do you? That's all due to the newer cars coming "rust-proofed", or "rust-resistant".

[2010_5thgen]

ill just keep mine in side in the winter.

[2010_5thgen]

Originally Posted by rray200

I live in the land of harsh winters (Canada) and I rarely see badly rusted out cars on the road, unless they're from the '80s and early '90s.

yeah...the panels dont exactly fall off over 1 winter but you will notice rock chips that turn to rust in a short period of time. especially with this new liquid salt we have here. this stuff is terribale.not only to the underbody but to the paint. it dulls the paint and crap sticks to it like glue, and it wears wax down quickly also.

[Mike88]

Originally Posted by rray200

I live in the land of harsh winters (Canada) and I rarely see badly rusted out cars on the road, unless they're from the '80s and early '90s.

I have never owned a car that hasen't rusted out around the rear wheel wells except my 94 camaro and that's because I don't drive it in the winter (yes the rear quarters are metal on a 4th gen).

The rocker panels on my 97 ford escort were destroyed by rust, so I replaced them entirely with fresh sheet metal. The wheel wells were full of body filler when I sold the car. Its not just a domestic thing...my sister's 98 Civic had the same fate. It has to do with where you live and how much salt is used. I think Ottawa probably uses less salt...also Ottawa's population has one of the highest socioeconomic status' in Canada, which suggests people are probably getting rid of older cars before they have the chance to rust out.

That's why I now own a saturn...ppl can say what they like about saturn but at least it won't rust (current models don't use polymer anymore...what a shame)

[rray200]

Originally Posted by Mike88

I have never owned a car that hasen't rusted out around the rear wheel wells except my 94 camaro and that's because I don't drive it in the winter (yes the rear quarters are metal on a 4th gen).

The rocker panels on my 97 ford escort were destroyed by rust, so I replaced them entirely with fresh sheet metal. The wheel wells were full of body filler when I sold the car. Its not just a domestic thing...my sister's 98 Civic had the same fate. It has to do with where you live and how much salt is used. I think Ottawa probably uses less salt...also Ottawa's population has one of the highest socioeconomic status' in Canada, which suggests people are probably getting rid of older cars before they have the chance to rust out.

That's why I now own a saturn...ppl can say what they like about saturn but at least it won't rust (current models don't use polymer anymore...what a shame)

You make some good points. Since I don't live in Montreal, I don't know about the salt situation there. But yeah, the cars I have had rarely got that caked on salt look here, even in the middle of February. They probably do use less salt in Ottawa.

You are right about people getting rid of older cars in Ottawa. You see very few of them. Most people trade their cars in within 4-5 years average here. That's what I've done with all my past cars, and that's what I plan to do with the Camaro. I'll want to upgrade to a higher horsepower version by then.

[rray200]

Originally Posted by 2010_5thgen

yeah...the panels dont exactly fall off over 1 winter but you will notice rock chips that turn to rust in a short period of time. especially with this new liquid salt we have here. this stuff is terribale.not only to the underbody but to the paint. it dulls the paint and crap sticks to it like glue, and it wears wax down quickly also.

Not familiar with the liquid salt, but where I live they just have salt trucks that dispense regular road salt on the roads. I've had rock chips on my cars before and they have never spread into all out rust. Usually the touch up paint covers it up nice and it never spreads for me.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by 2010_5thgen

...especially with this new liquid salt we have here....

I think I just crapped my pants. liquid salt?!?! Damn!