Road salts can damage your car. Here's how to protect your vehicle
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — With the potential for ice Monday night and Tuesday morning, drivers can expect to find more salt on the roads.
But what is that doing to your car?
"This is the bottom of your rocker panel," Caliber Collison general manager Harrison Purdy said. "Typically, when the salt gets up in there, that's how you see all the rusted outer panels on vehicles."
He sees cars come in every day with damage from salt. It starts as just white marks on the bottom.
"It's Pittsburgh. We use some aggressive salt and that's just the nature of what it is," Purdy said about the salt.
If you don't take any action, it won't be overnight when the problem starts, but soon enough the damage will be done. The salt will rust out parts or if there is rubber like an O-ring, it will dry rot. Repairs can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to more than a thousand.
"In a year, if you're not proactive in doing it, it will start to eat away," Purdy said.
According to Purdy, you can try to wash the salt and grim off yourself. It may be simpler to spend a little extra and go through an automatic car wash.
"You can always jack it up and spray it. To really get it off, it's easiest to go to your local car wash," Purdy said.
When is the right time to do this? Purdy recommends waiting until it is dry out. If it is raining or still wet, all that salt will kick up and start the cycle over again.
"Once the road is dry, that's the best time to do it," Purdy told KDKA.
There is some preventative work you can do. You can get protective coatings for the underside of your car. It's recommended you get it done by a professional.
