Keeping a car's body maintained through winter

[madness410]

my camaro's paint / body is in amazing condition. I dont want the weather to screw any of that up through the winter. The car is daily driven, and will be through the winter, kept to a minimum in the snow of course or any icy weather, and i dont have a garage to keep it in since my brothers vette takes it up already. i plan to get a decent car cover.

does anybody have any advice for me to keep the body from not getting screwed up due to the winters elements? thanks in advance.

Jon

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Keep it waxed before the first snow/salt comes and keep washing the salt off often.

You can POR15 the underside too if you want.

[The Fixer]

Keep it washed and waxed, and make sure you rinse the underside of salt. Make sure to clean all the oddball places too - lower door seams, hatch area, etc. to keep rust away. Snow is fine for a car - it's the salt that kills them if it's not washed away.

[madness410]

i see...its just the salt. thanks man

[maroman88]

along with the underside... get in the wheel wells VERY good

[ws6 jim]

I would avoid using the car cover repeatedly on a dirty car as a precaution.

[madness410]

say we had a huge snowstorm...would it be better under a cover or better to have the body all iced up

[qwikz28]

I'm no expert, but I would say uncovered. The wind usually will get in the cover and flap the cover at the paint. This is undesirable. Water and ice on the other hand will eventually dry up. Remember, it isn't the snow and ice that harm the car during winter, it is the salt. Get off all the salt, and you are golden.

I limit car cover use to the car being in the garage. My aunt, for example, liked to use my car as a table. I have many scratches from it. It also protects from pets, and dust I suppose. No wind issues in the garage either.

Again, keep it clean, and drive just like you always would. A good coat of wax before winter will really help the paint.

[maroman88]

i keep a cover on my vette outside, mainly because of the big tree thats over it, with a squirels nest right above my parking spot! however it blows off all the time and is a pain in the ass to get any form of frozen precip off.... as i do occansionaly use it over the winter it becomes quite a pain