On 2015-05-26 9:16 AM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:

>>> We throw it on roads in the winter. It can also be sold as "sea salt",
>>> cuz that's what it is.
>>
>> From pics I have seen, it's really bad for rusting out cars though.
>
> Yeah. But it's either rusting out over the long term, or
> immediate auto body damage from sliding on the ice.
>
> My car is about 15 years old, and isn't a rusted-out hulk
> by any means.
>




Cars have much better rust protection now than they did in the past.
Back in the 1970s when I started buying cars you could count on serious
rust damage within a few years. Engines also tended to die quickly, so
if you were putting a lot of miles on a car you would be lucky to get 5
years out of it. I just replaced my mother's 1997 Buick last week. It
only had 140,000 clicks on it and was running great. I sent it to the
shop for a leak in the fuel system and when my mechanic put it up on the
hoist he spotted some serious rust damage. There was only one spot on
one of the doors that showed surface rust.