There is also another school of thought that using the warm water or having a heated garage is actually WORSE than just letting the salt sit on a cold car. The salt apparently only reacts with the metal after hitting a certain temperature and using the warm water can cause "salt water" to enter more crevices. Now I'm not a scientist, but any excuse to not go out in the cold to wash my car is good for me! :whistling:

Here in Ottawa they use both salt and sand, because it can get cold enough that the salt has no ability to melt the ice, so sand is used for traction.

Lets face it, modern cars of the last 10-20 years dont really rust anyway, its not somthing we need to worry about too much. Back in the day, some cars would begin rusting after a few weeks, especialy Italian ones!

That's true to some extent, but when I was in Rochester, I was shocked by the number of cars with rot on the rocker panels, etc which would have been solid, viable cars where I live. Nasty stuff! However the Volvo my mother in law drives is 15 years old, it was a New York car it's whole life, is still pretty solid.

Volvos never rust. Never seen a rusty one! Those Sweedish car builders have mastered the art of rust protection after decades of living with snow filled roads.

my 2004 Volvo S40 1.9T started rusting in both rear quarter panels and hood grille area after 2010. The undercarriage was alright but suspension components were heavily corroded (I snapped a spring once in 2012).

but its fair to say i rarely washed it and it was left outside all the time because I didn't really care as it was my beater. We use some pretty harsh stuff (rock salt, salt solution sprays) near Toronto, Canada...it ran and ran though...a true workhorse of a car.

i'm from the OP's area of Hamilton, Ontario and our roads during the winter months are garbage. The minimum one should do is wash it once in a while with an underbody spray to wash out some of the salt build up...a coin op wash would do. If your car is your baby then i would also rustproof the car at somewhere like Ziebart or Krown Rust Control. Avoid the electronic rust prevention modules as i have seen them not work at all.

Is that one of the Volvo's based on a Ford? If so, that would explain the rusting! Generally the stuff from the mid 80's right through the 90's seems pretty good.

One of the things I do a lot which helps is to buy a few tokens for your local jet wash. If there is an option for just a hot shampoo with a lance, then that's ideal. The hot shampoo will help dissolve the grit and salt, and the high pressure will also remove the worse of the build up. If you just have the shampoo too, and don't use any kind of brush, then only hot water/shampoo will be contacting the paint so there's no risk of rubbing any dirt into the paint. You can also reach under the car and around the wheel arches with a lance too.

This was a pre-Ford Volvo S40 before the change mid 2004.

Yeah that's what I tell people all the time. The brushes at the self washes are brutal. I see people dragging them on the floor. Sandpaper city! I use them on alloys that I don't care too much about for heavy brake dust but that's it. I won't use them on my good expensive forged wheels...no matter how dirty.

Too, don't forget a good silicon based wax before the salt season. it'll keep the salt out of those microscopic cracks we all get in out paint over time. My old "Putter Bug" diesel that I don't care too much about gets a good wash 2 or 3 times a year whether it needs it or not, LOL. Cars I've had in the past that I cared about a great deal more got a good wax job in the late fall, and a light wipe-on, wipe-off coating of vaseline on the alloys. I used to wash them about every 2 weeks in the winter.