allkingz

Everyone makes a big deal about the salt that's spread on the roads in areas that recieve snow and ice during the winter, but what about the effects of the salt in the air from living by the coast? Which is worse?

VLich

Road salt seems much worse. I don't know about cars that spend most of their time right on the coast but cars in CA cities ~20 miles from the ocean hold up really well compared to cars in the northeast. Slush/salt from the road gets kicked up and works it's way into every little crack - behind trim, under fenders - everywhere. Drive a black car for a few hours on the highway in winter and it'll be white when you reach your destination - it's hard to accumulate that mass of salt from the ocean without driving into the water.

allkingz

I'm wondering more about long term damage.

I bought an Eclipse (first mistake) a few years ago and it was from North Carolina. It was in immaculate condition inside and out when I bought it, but most of the bolts were rusted. It took a lot of work to remove the exhaust and suspension for upgrades.

On the other hand, I have had some cars in the past that have made it through several winters and did not show anywhere near the same amount of corrosion as the Eclipse.

piecesofcurb

Where in NC did the Eclipse come from? I used to live less than 5 miles from the ocean and my black Prelude never showed any effects of being exposed to salt. The only vehicles that seemed to have problems would be older vehicles that hadn't been well taken care of and spent most of their time within sight of the ocean. And rust usually seemed to start as surface rust on the body panels due to winds bringing in salt spray. If you had a rusty exhaust, suspension, etc., I would suspect the car was flooded, at least partially, in a coastal area where the flood waters would be salty. Thousands of vehicles were flooded in NC in 1999 by Hurricane Floyd. But that being said, it was a Mitsubishi and rust may have been due to lower quality parts.

JohnDoe02

It's the salt plus the slush/ice that makes it bad in cold climates. On the beach the only way you can get that is if you drive in the ocean. Salt flying through the air isn't going to do much. But when you have salt mixed with water it's going to stick to your car and do alot more damage.

allkingz

I'm not sure where in NC the Eclipse was from, but other than the rusted bolts, it showed no signs of water damage. (I removed most of the interior for dynamat/audio installation.) For all I know, it could just be low-quality Mitsubishi parts.

piecesofcurb

If it was just the bolts that were rusty, it may just be a batch of untreated bolts. When I worked at a Honda/Mitsubishi dealership in '99-'00, nearly every '99 Accord made in Japan that was delivered had a completely rusty muffler hanger that was clearly visable from the back of the car. Customers would comment on it atleast once a week. After losing a sale because of it, the dealership started having the hangers sanded down and painted.