First Time Driving on Winter
 

Hi! I have a Nissan Altima. I'm a new driver in Canada and it's my first winter. How do I take care of my car given that they use a lot of salt in Ontario roads? When is the best time to wash them? Thanks.

I usually wait until spring, but we don't get as much snow and ice here. We did heavier snow last year, and then I washed the car once the salt coating was dimming the headlights.

The car makers have gotten better at rust prevention. Do you have a corrosion warranty on new cars in Canada? If so, you could wash it about as often as you do outside of winter. Do it on a day in which any mess on the ground isn't actively melting, otherwise salt will just get back on the car as soon as you leave the car wash. Use the undercarriage wash if available.

You can look into the clear films and coatings if you want to provide better protection to the paint.

A good tip is to leave the wipers up in the air when parking, if they freeze to the screen and then you put them on, the rubbers can tear and they wont clear the screen. Keep an eye on coolant levels, and all fluids should be kept topped up incase you get trapped in the snow!

Some of your concern will be determined by where you live in Ontario. If you're in southern Ontario, you'll see some snow, but you will also have many days above freezing when you can drive through a car wash and rinse the salt off if you want, but there's no point really - it will accumulate again within 10 minutes. I live in Ottawa, where it can get down to -20C for a long stretch - you don't want to wash your car in that temperature, or you'll likely have the doors freeze shut. I don't wash my car until spring - there's no point. If you live in Northern Ontario like North Bay just hibernate until March :)

I typically will wash my truck if there is going to be a week of good weather. I'll only do it if temps are going to be cold enough that the roads don't melt or if the roads are mostly melted off otherwise as others have said, your wasting your money. IMHO, the salt really doesn't do a whole lot of damage unless it's relatively warm out anyway.

I live Hamilton. Thank you very much for your tips esp with the wiper thing. I should get used to seeing my car dirty during winter then. Cheers.

Sometimes I think having a barrier of dirt on the car, that builds up every time you use the car during winter, is better than washing it all the time. You will just end up grounding all that dirt, grit and salt into the paint. I probably wash mine every 2 months or so during winter, they tend to overuse salt and grit in the UK, as we have a cold damp climate, black ice is a bigger problem than snow.

Based on what I've read about salt and corrosion on vehicles is this: The longer salt sits on the vehicle, the more likely corrosion is to occur. Frequent washes doesn't allow the salt to act on any bare metal that it may come in contact with as the reaction between the salt and metal is a slow process. The longer it's there, the stronger the effect. Even if you wash the vehicle, and go out onto a wet road getting new salt accumulation, the chemical reaction was interrupted. That being said, I'm terrible for keeping car washed. I get about 4 per winter....lol.

I'm curious about this too. I'm moving to New York State next year and the salt concerns me. Seems rather archaic to use it rather than sand. Jurisdictions still using it should compensate for diminished value, IMHO. But it seems to me that you'll still get it on all sorts of brake lines and the like? A wash won't keep it off of everything.

No, you can't keep it off everything Jcp, however, it does take time for the salt to start reacting with the metal it comes in contact with. A good wash breaks that sequence even if new salt is accumulated right away. I've had many vehicles here in Ontario where road salt is used extensively. I've never had one "rust out" on me, but surface corrosion can still be a problem, and brake lines and such, well, I seem to have to replace them about every 8 to 10 years.

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.

I've never gone to the extent of covering the car. I'm east of Lake Huron, and south of Georgian Bay ( snow belt ). We get enough snow here that I'd never be able to remove a cover from the car with so much snow on it. It's not unusual for us to get a foot or two of snow in a storm, and it can be much more than that with the squalls coming in off the lake / bay. Still, if you have a nice vehicle, it is worth keeping it washed in the winter to break that chemical reaction between the salt and any exposed metal. Luckily, corrosion by salt is a slow process, so as I said, even if you get fresh salt on the car right after a wash, it takes a little bit of time before it starts reacting with the metal. By washing, you've broken that chemical chain. Just remember to keep a little bottle of lock de-icer handy. I make my own. It's just methanol (methyl hydrate) that you can buy in the paint section of any hardware store. Put a little in a squirt bottle (nasal spray type) or a small trigger sprayer type bottle to shoot into your door's key hole. The methanol melts the ice in the tumbler almost instantly.