Michael Beers pulled his 2001 Volkswagon Beetle into a long line at the car wash. The wait was about 20 minutes, but it was worth it to him, he said.
“I live on a rural road in Greene, and they use a lot of salt on our roads,” Beers said. “Too much salt, in my opinion. It makes a mess.”
His concern: rust.
And rightly so, says Joe Conaty, owner of Wash At Joe’s, 1431 Upper Front St., Town of Chenango, where Beers brings his car once a week in the winter. Rust is a big issue, and it comes about from the salt used on the roads during snowstorms. “Salt,” Conaty said, “is a car eater.”
It may make the roads safer, and reduce the ice and hazards that come from slipping and sliding while driving, but salt has another effect, too, Conaty said. “It eats your finish and once through paint it gets into the metal and continues from there.”
The corrosive action of the salt, is “winter’s worst hazard,” he said.
But salt isn’t the only hazard. Cars just need a little more love come winter, experts agree. The engine needs a different weight of oil, drivers will want to top off wiper fluid regularly — and don’t be surprised if vehicles need more than one set of wiper blades, too, the Car Care Council says. “Over 70 percent of motorists admit that they did not have their cars winterized in preparation for inclement weather,” according to a survey they conducted. “Winter only magnifies existing problems like pings, hard starts or sluggish performance, so make certain the engine is in peak condition.”
Getting a regular wash is important this time of year to remove the mud and sludge, in addition to the salt.
“A frequent wash will remove the salt, especially underneath where it can get caked on, on the undercarriage,” Conaty said.
Some car washes offer special undercarriage cleaning, which can be very helpful for removing salt you may not realize is even there.
Laser washing, on the other hand, offers “touch-free technology” that avoids any kind of contact with brushes or friction that might cause or accelerate the paint corrosion that can be such a problem in winter.
Conaty also suggested that vehicle owners maintain car exteriors with a good wax job a couple times of year, “to keep the finish looking its best.”
The line at Joe’s was similar to the lines at every car wash in Greater Binghamton last week, due to the spring-like weather conditions. “We might get 200 cars a day on days like that,” Conaty said. “As long as it is dry out, people tend to want to get the salt off as quickly as possible, and sunny or mild weather certainly brings them out in forces.”
It brought out Alicia Smith of Chenango Bridge, another person who lives on a muddy road and worries about salt on her SUV. “I come once a week in winter,” she said.
So does Bob Prambo, also of Chenango Bridge, who brought in his Dodge 4×4 pick-up for a wash: “I am here for one reason, but it is important: to get that salt off.”
