As a native northeastern Illinoisan, I have come to really dread all the salt they use on the roads here in winter. In recent years, even a few flurries in the air would result in the trucks out dumping tons of salt on the roads. Which is as hard on the tires as it is on the sheetmetal!
This year is a bit different, road salt got so expensive all the towns around here are trying to cut back a little. And even dilute their mixtures with beet juice! But it is snowing every other day so the end result is salty roads with areas, especially sidestreets, of packed snow and ice. So your car might not last long enough to rust because you'll slide into a tree and total it!!
I typically will own a car and a 4wd truck. My last 2 cars and my new Challenger if I am able to buy one, stay in the garage when it is snowy or even if the streets are wet with melting snow. My poor truck takes the abuse, and my last truck rotted away. My mid 90's Ram is starting to get rusty too. But the worst thing is the mechanical problems all the salt causes. In recent years a front axle U joint replacement and a front axle bearing replacement both ended up being big expensive jobs because the nut had rusted to the axle and axles were destroyed cutting the nut off with a torch. A starter replacement last spring was a mess because I couldn't get the rusted starter harness nut off without trashing the connector bracket and the connectors on the harness in the process, off to the Dodge dealer to order a new $120 harness.
And when I got the starter and new harness installed, I fired her up and soon found my wrenching under there had been the last straw for the rusty trans cooler lines. ATF all over the driveway.
Then a couple months later the brake pedal went to the floor as I approached a red light. Rusty brake line burst. Lucky was going slow when that happened!
Same stuff had happened with the old truck, along with a rusted out gas line. I smelled gas when I was taking off the rear license plate when I sold it, I think the gas tank was rusting out too.
You dry climate folks should try working under a salt belt car someday, nothing like getting a face full of rust flakes when your trying to wrench on something!
With the government threatening to ruin the utility of light trucks in the future with unobtainable gas mileage requirements, I think I need to baby my next truck so that it will survive several decades. So will that mean I need 3 drivers, a nice car that stays in the garage in winter, a nice truck that I won't drive when the streets are salty, and a beater to drive on bad days?
Maybe it would be easier to just move down south.
