Wonder what a coat of wax does!

[JockoT]

Originally Posted by MJamson

Every autumn I give the exterior a really deep clean, then steal a garage for a few days, and put several coats of wax on - it really helps protect the car from salt and dirt.

My reasons for the winter wax too. Once they start salting the roads every night you need all the protection you can get.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Salt on the roads is not an issue here in Brazil, but the salt mist on the coastline had been a matter of concern.

[JockoT]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Salt on the roads is not an issue here in Brazil, but the salt mist on the coastline had been a matter of concern.

We get that here in Kirkcaldy, if conditions are right for it. And when I stayed in a flat, further along the coast, the front windows used to get a salt deposit on them regularly.

[MJamson]

In Sweden it gets salted due to the conditions, but we can generally say that it gets salted alot, it is only when it gets really cold that they use less.

Not sure if it is the same in UK anymore but here it gets put out as a liquid and not in the solid grit form, so if you get stuck behind a truck or one drives past the car gets splattered in salt.

I expect that with in the next month it is time for me to re-spray the underside and the cavaties.

It is a mixed feeling with all the salt, it is good as fewer cars need studded winter tyres, so there is less particle pollution and less road damage, but there is far more rust on cars and environmental issues due to the high levels of salt.

[JockoT]

We do not have a lot of snow here in the UK. It is usually freezing overnight temperatures on already wet roads (it rains a lot). It is put down as crystals of rock salt mixed with coarse sand but the salt soon dissolves. Because of the frequent rain they have to re-grit regularly, usually every evening.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

IIRC urea had been often used as a replacement for salt, but it's still quite corrosive once it dissolves on water.