Salt.

[rwleigh]

Don't you just love British winters! 

[SRGTD]

Don't you just love British winters! 

One of the few benefits of lockdown for me during the winter months - I’m hardly using my car so it’s not getting plastered with road salt deposits and currently, it’s very clean.

During normal times, keeping a car looking good at this time of year is a losing battle - dark coloured cars look particularly bad.

Maybe there’s a few candidates for the ‘what detailing haven’t you done today?’ thread over on the Detailing forum board .

[Guzzle]

No salt on my car.

Haven't been to a petrol station since October 

[Yusee]

important to give the underside and wheel arches a blast with a jet wash to remove the salt.
I think you have to accept that the car rarely looks good during this kind of weather- more about maintenance.

[SRGTD]

important to give the underside and wheel arches a blast with a jet wash to remove the salt.
I think you have to accept that the car rarely looks good during this kind of weather- more about maintenance.

Agree on all fronts; a) washing the underside, b) car rarely looks good in the winter c) more about maintenance.

[Exonian]

Let the rain pressure wash your car underside for you! A few blasts up the dual carriageway once the salting stops and the rain restarts in earnest again will do the trick! 

Much as I love a shiny clean car, I also love the look of a sporty car when it’s covered in road salt giving it a mean and battle ready look.

[rwleigh]

important to give the underside and wheel arches a blast with a jet wash to remove the salt.

Did that a couple of weeks ago before it went in to the main dealer for a major service and MOT. 


Every summer 6 month oil change gets done at my local REVO dealer too and I get under it with the XCP as well. 

[Yusee]

Is this stuff any good? Presumably you just spray on and job done.
My 205 has had rustproofing done to the underside at some point but I wonder if I should be doing something periodically.

[rwleigh]

Is this stuff any good? Presumably you just spray on and job done.
My 205 has had rustproofing done to the underside at some point but I wonder if I should be doing something periodically.

I always used to use ACF 50 with bikes but this stuff seams to get better results in comparisons I've seen and yes you just spray it on and job done.

[SRGTD]

In the days before car manufacturers applied much - if any - corrosion protection to their cars on the production line and professionally applied Dinitrol and Ziebart rustproofing treatments were very popular, I used to use the DIY version - Waxoyl. I’d liberally coat the underside, under the wheel arches and wings and inject the internal cavities of any new or nearly new car I bought with Waxoyl. The strong solvent smell was pretty unpleasant for a few days after application but it seemed to do a pretty decent job of stopping corrosion. By coating the underbody suspension parts too, there was never an issue with seized or rusted bolts or fixings if any underbody parts ever needed removing / replacing. I’d usually apply a top up application after a couple of years just for good measure. 

Was this DIY rustproofing effective? Well, I saw one of my previously owned cars that I’d given the Waxoyl treatment to many years after I’d sold it. The bodywork still looked in great condition, with none of the usual front wing, wheel arch lip and sill corrosion that was very common and typical of cars of a similar age. So I’d say yes, it was effective but as with most DIY corrosion protection products, how effective they are will depend on how well and thoroughly they’re applied.