This year’s late cold temperatures are making news in more ways than one. Road crews are getting better and better at salting and sanding roads with each passing year. But that efficiency, while it makes the roads safer to drive on, also takes a toll on cars. It’s not just sand and salt the road crews are dumping on streets either. They also often use a combination magnesium chloride and other de-icing chemicals. This combination of elements can be extremely corrosive to cars.

In winter weather, street crews use magnesium chloride and other chemicals to de-ice roadways. Collins said those chemicals do damage to your car’s body and paint. “They’ll just eat away at that stuff,” he said.

The Colorado Department of Transportation says magnesium chloride does contain corrosive products and it can damage to your car, so it recommends you wash your car after every major snowstorm.

“I’ve actually talked to a body shop a couple days ago,” said Collins. “They said you should wash the mag chloride off before it even dries.”

A car wash in twenty degree weather might seem crazy, but Collins said ice will melt; chemicals will not. “It’s better to have a little ice on your vehicle than chemicals and things like that.” [more...]