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Does garaging your vehicle every night in winter accelerate rusting?

BillyHW

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Do you think it's better to leave your vehicle outside every night in winter, even if you have a garage, to avoid the snow melting every night? Would the melting snow every night accelerate rusting and corrosion? So is it just better to leave the vehicle outside where everything stays frozen?
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DanW

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I've heard it does, but my JK says otherwise. It has been garaged every night, many covered in salt. My garage doesn't get much below 60 degrees, even when the outside temp is well below zero. There isn't any rust where it shouldn't be.
 

Rubi

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Donā€™t heat your garage. Canā€™t be any simpler than that.
 

JHJLUR

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It did for my dads old Chevy, but I wouldnā€™t loose any real sleep over it
 

jaldeborgh

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I'm older (61) and cars today don't rust when compared to cars from when I started driving. I garage all my cars and tend to keep them for 10+ years and my experience would say, garage if you can. I have an attached garage with no heat but even on the coldest New England days the garage rarely go below freezing. It can't be good to start an engine at -10F, which we saw a lot of earlier this month. Also, I worked during one of the blizzards we had early this month and the wheels and undercarriage filled with snow so the car would shake violently above 40mph. I see many reasons that a garage is more desirable, again, if that is possible.
 

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warc1

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I'm in a condo with a heated garage with nominal temps in the 70's (20's C) and I have no rust on an eight year old vehicle. In my view, its the best of all worlds. It's wonderful to get into a vehicle that's warm and runs without the stiff ride of frozen tires and suspension. Coming back in, it's hot enough that the vehicle is dry within a couple of hours so that rust cannot propagate further. If you keep a car in an unheated garage, and the temps are above 0 (-17 C), street salt will prevent water from freezing and the cold temps result in minimal evaporation so your car festers in rust conditions 24/7.
 

Pugfug

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We've always used Rust Check to deal with the issue of corrosion. That stuff works better than anything we've ever found...and it doesn't matter how bad the road salt or warm/cold cycle. When we get our new Jeep, its going to be one of the first things we do...
 

Pugfug

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I lived on the Atlantic Coast most of my life, where our vehicles were basically bathed in salt from both the air and from what the put on the roads, starting in November and lasting most years until May. I'm not 100% sure what they put in it, but they remove any of the body plugs, the product is then sprayed on the undercarriage, into the holes in doors, panels, hoods, frame etc and it basically wicks its way into every nook and cranny on your vehicle. I have literally seen dozens of vehicles that have been rust checked looking like new for 15+ years with no rust. Its a yearly application, and if you plan on keeping your vehicle, it still costs less over the long haul to use Rust Check over the factory Rust coating. Having done both in the past, I can attest that I will only ever use Rust Check...ha, ha...and no I don't work for the company...I just love the product!!

 

Capt-Zoom

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The garage dramatically helped my 99 TJ. About half of its almost 20 years, it was garaged (non-insulated) in Minnesota (Duluth and Robbinsdale). Minnesota uses as much salt on the roads as anyone. My TJ fared much better than friends rust wise. With the amount of salt put down a lot of it blows around getting on your vehicle even when its parked. By garaging the only body rust I have is a golf ball size spot below each door (which I see on all older TJ's and the winshield and tailgate hinges. I stripped and repainted my windshield hinges at about year 17 or 18. Need to get around to doing the tailgate hinges.
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