Clayman

With the last blast of minor winter weather in my area (Philly suburbs), the road crews were out in full force to keep the roads clear. I noticed they switched from using gravel on the roads to salt this year. I think I'm happy for this because salt is much easier to deal with on your car than gravel. My front lip got annhilated last winter from all the damn gravel they threw down. I think with the salt, everything will look like crap on the surface, but be all good underneath. At least I won't have to worry about as many stone chips this year! Any other retentive detailers out there feel my joy?

wanabe

we dont have that stuff here so i cant feel your pain!

but i can tell you that salt is horrible on your underside. be sure to wash it often- and be sure to dry it (a good spirited drive after the wash will do a good job of this). and you might consider an undercoating...

usace

After having lived in Northern NY (10 mins. from canada!) for several years, I can tell you that the salt will still do some damage. First off, you'll have a salty residue all over the exterior. And this residue is abrasive, so limit contact with the paint when the vehicle is dirty. And like wanabe said, do your best at getting the undercarriage clean when you wash because the salt will lead to rust.

WPS

i dont worry about the salt as much as the gravel. i'd figure i get just as much salt on the car takin it to the beach.

robs_silver_s2k

They use salt over here in the Uk and it is not good for the underside of the car at all. Some Uk owners are experiencing issues with seized suspension arm mounts (the things that they have to loosen when sorting out the geometry of the car) this is mainly due to the large amounts of rain and the salt used in the winter.

S2kracka

Salt is far worse than sand. Sand may chip your paint, but the salt will actually eat away at metal and paint and cause massive rust and corrosion problems.