I hate road salt

[2002Z3]

I’m a born and raised California boy and my car was originally from there too. I moved to Washington state a couple years ago and was happy to hear that WA typically does no use road salt on highways. However, parking lots and various cities do what they want. That was the bad news.

My car used to be nearly perfect underneath. No rust or corrosion. I had to take the car out in the wet snow for a few days this year and the result was not pretty. I was able to clean up the aluminum corrosion on my wheels, but I still have to do a bit of power washing to blow off the dried on salt in a few places. I was careful where I went and tried to stay away from the obvious salt mounds, but no dice.

I now have another car for the bad weather, so the Z3 only goes out when it’s nice. Not too much damage, but the “perfect” undercarriage is no longer perfect. Still pretty clean, but damn.

So, I hate road salt.

[Vintage42]

... So, I hate road salt.

Me, too. After a blizzard about 15 years ago Louisville failed to clear its streets and UPS threatened to leave its hub here. So, no matter how cold it gets after rain or snow, we have had wet streets every winter since then.
Barges bring salt from Louisiana up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and it is stored in massive igloos. It is put into solution and sprayed on the streets the day before freezing precipitation is predicted. And if there is snow, salt is spread generously. The overloaded trucks spill it as they turn through intersections, creating moguls of salt that persist even through a rain.
But, for some reason, that has happened less and less often. This year, there was not one salt incident. No need to spray, certainly no need to spread. A few dustings of snow, and only a few nights below freezing.
Tens of thousands of tons of salt unused, hundreds of huge trucks idled, and their drivers missing the overtime.
My Z3 has driven salt-free all winter long. Its garage queen bottom remains clean as a whistle.

Now when I was boy here in the 1950s, the Ohio River froze over, I learned to play hockey on the ponds, and snow stayed on the ground all winter.
You may still have snow and salt in the Cascades, but a warmer era is coming to you, too.

[amancuso]

It's unlikely that a few days worth of that kind of driving rotted everything out. Can you verify 100% it wasn't like that before?