That dirty residue is 260 million years old.
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You can spray Salt- Away salt remover before during and after but it’s expensive and would cost more than the value of the car after a while.
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Sorry replied to wrong person.
In reply to the original post “yes”
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Bit of an odd one this, but I did start the thread, but I’ve never got a pressure washer a) as I’ve heard mixed opinions on their effect on paint, by b) I can’t stand the word ‘Lance’. And given that word is always there or thereabouts when pressure washers are mentioned, I’ve never wanted to get one. Strange, granted, but I felt I couldn’t just sit by and allow my distaste for the word ‘lance’ to go not commented on.
Interesting how some words can have negative connotations for individuals yet be completely neutral for the majority.
Anyway, back to pressure washers. I use a Karcher K5, the pressure can be adjusted on the trigger handle according to requirements. From memory there are 3 settings. I tend to use it on full power for under the car including the wheel arches and on the lowest setting for wetting and rinsing the bodywork. I have not seen any damage to paintwork as a result, more from the dreaded stonechips!
Think of it as a wand. After years of car shows I think I have every AutoGlym product ever made for the paintwork and trim but underneath Schultz for the body and Testraseal stone chip paint for the subframes. Usually had the problem of trying to keep the cars show shined from March onwards but they’re still gritting the roads here in June.
Bah humbug!
WAND ! Did you say? Now that’s a triggering word! Good day to you sir…. Harumph😂
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I find in S. Wales, mid April max if you got a cold spell early in that month. But usually once April comes around, if the beginning is fine or mild/wet, they get into the habit of not getting the trucks out, and that’s it.
One sobering angle might be that salt might rust a car, but given there are a species called ‘humans’ also inhabiting the roads, a salt-free, fair weather ‘pride and joy’, might not get as harmed by 50 grains of salt compared to say, a mobile phone using ‘driver’ hitting it, say a drunk or drugged up ‘driver’ hitting it, or some high IQ, considerate, brought up well person opening his or her door in a car park on it, without a thought or care in the world. Or maybe leaving his or her trolley right next to the salt free car, all ready to bang into it, to avoid the ‘effort’ of walking 15 steps to the bay. All of which, just like that, can end the years of work and stress keeping a salt free car.
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Thanks for the BBC article link - I’d never thought about where rock salt came from, or how old it might be - now I know 
260 million years old is pretty old. However, I was in Anglsey over the summer and the Marquis of Anglesey’s Column stands on rocks circa 570 million years, so it’s all relative. Anglesey was near the South Pole back then too 
Oh and road salt rusts cars no question - my first NBFL was effectively melted by the stuff.
Road salt’s also not good for rivers, plants and wildlife.
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An extreme case but I’ve driven to work at 5am
on a June morning with snow falling and sticking. Stacked out and covered a couple of tons of bricks, the bricklayers get there at 8am in vests and shorts and being all from Preston, didn’t believe me until around 11..30 when they started seeing the bricks, the kind with 3 holes in, at the bottom of the stacks were packed with it.
Picture a load of blokes throwing snowballs each other on what was by then a clear summers day.
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Fair point. However such damage is immediately obvious and can usually (at a cost) be rectified. It’s the out of sight salt damage that is the problem. How many car owners (excluding enthusiasts) take a look under their vehicles on a regular basis I wonder? Probably very few. I would imagine most have only ever seen the underneath of their car when they get the video report from the service or MOT when it is up on the lift at the garage. I do understand that many car owners just regard their vehicle as a way of getting from A to B as cheaply and reliably as possible and servicing , maintenance and MOT time is just extra financial pain to be endured.
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I think a sacrificial anode would probably work “a bit” on a car in the immediate area but the basic problem is the lack of electrolyte. A steel boat hull is in the water and the dissimilar metals make a weak battery in the water (electrolyte through which the electrons can move) and the electrons go to the anode, being the more reactive (“less noble”) metal and it’s the anode that is meant to be eaten away not the cathode i.e. the rest of the hull.
Galvanising is a much better idea for a car. It’s actually pretty dumb (or cynical) to make ungalvanised steel car bodies. Galvanising keeps the water/salt away from the steel and provides galvanic protection when eventually the coating is broached.
I’m not a real physicist however.
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According to a quick internet search, (hardly scientific I admit) the extra cost of galvanising a car body and chassis would add approximately 0.1% to the eventual selling price. So even if it was 10%, it would make a car with a price tag of £40,000 just £44,000. Makes one wonder why car manufacturers don’t do it? Answers on a postcard (cynical expression emoji).
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If the body of the car is galvanised then the steel fasteners and components become the sacrificial anodes (see above) they corrode even more when it’s raining.
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Salt is why you never buy a second hand car from someone who lives on Mersey island. Ppl still drive across the strood at high tide 
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This topic is about the effects of road salt on a car, not the effects of other drivers. Stay on topic please.