Lets talk about our favorite Winter Waxes

[Old Pirate]

Back in the day when I was station in Ohio, the 2 products I use were Collinite or The Twins. These were the only 2 that work well me.

[Accumulator]

Back in the day when I was station in Ohio, the 2 products I use were Collinite or The Twins. These were the only 2 that work well me.

Still my number 2 and 3 choices.

KSG can really be something if you get enough layers on there, a literally discernible build-film that can protect against light contacts/etc. causing marring. Only conventional product I`ve ever used that I can say that about, which is why I still use it on some exterior plastics.

[Old Pirate]

I use 3 coats of them on my old 65 Buick Electra 225 when I was there. What a tank, didn`t even need snowtires!

[Fskof]

I use 3 coats of them on my old 65 Buick Electra 225 when I was there. What a tank, didn`t even need snowtires!

Wow my dad had a 64 Buick Electra 225 when I was a kid. It was the family car until my sister was born (child number 4) and he had to sell it for a van.

[John U]

I use 3 coats of them on my old 65 Buick Electra 225 when I was there. What a tank, didn`t even need snowtires!

My parents had 4 225’s (65, 2 66’s and a 69) and I detailed the neighbors ‘63 Continental once a year. That’s why my rotator cuffs hurt!

[Lonnie]

If you live in an area that uses salt or calcium chloride as a de-icer in the winter and you drive the same vehicle year after year in that area, it will rust. Unless you are fastidious about washing it off after driving it through such treated roads when it snows or there is ice, it will inevitably rust.

Here is another "misnomer" about winter-driven vehicles: such vehicles experience less rust when kept in heated garages. That simply is not true. If fact they may experience MORE rust due to the fact that the water and salt salt chemical reaction that takes place happens more readily in a warmer temperature. like a heated garage. and hence, my reference to fastidious washing of a vehicle.

Anyone who has driven in winter weather where it snows and is then followed by sub-zero temperatures know their vehicles look like winter-white ermines (Northern weasels whose fur changes to white in the winter) and stays that way until it warms up, when car washes are open. Little rusting takes place in such cold weather. Rust happens in warmer weather or heated garages.


Does waxing help "preserve" a paint/clear coat surface from the effects of winter salt and the chemical reaction with water/moisture? Yes, to some degree. But it will not stop the eventual and inevitable rust of today`s unibody vehicles.
Now if some vehicle manufacture comes out with a carbon-fiber frame, stainless steel running gear and plastic panels, that may negate that statement. Just don`t ask about the purchase price because most of us could not afford it anyway.

[Desertnate]

Anyone who has driven in winter weather where it snows and is then followed by sub-zero temperatures know their vehicles look like winter-white ermines (Northern weasels whose fur changes to white in the winter) and stays that way until it warms up, when car washes are open.

This is any of my cars. They are never totally clean between December and late March. Things will range from totally salt-encrusted to I-just-drove-it-through-a-touchless-wash-to-knock-the-salt-off.

[Accumulator]

Just FWIW...I keep ours in heated garages and I don`t always clean the salt/etc. off immediately by a long shot. Yet...basically no problems (if the Tahoe hasn`t rusted out yet after all those winters..).

I`ve had *one* vehicle rust out. Just one, and we keep our Dailies a long, long time. (That was the Mazda MPV, and it rusted from the inside-out, in areas where they all do if they get wet a lot, including areas that didn`t get the salt, because of a manufacturing defect.)

Not saying my experience is typical, or that nobody else oughta be concerned about such stuff or or or, just sayin` And when I do get around to washing things I am indeed fastidious about all those areas that retain [stuff].

One thing that`s *NEVER* been a problem is surface rust. I`ve let to-the-metal chips and frames/etc. that lost their paint go for ages, but that has *NEVER* resulted in the rust actually getting serious. Not once.

EH...I bet my "I let it go for a long time.." isn`t as bad as I think. That, and the way I wash when I do finally get around to it, might explain my apparent good luck

And I know better than to drive the Crown Vic in the salt. But OTOH, I drove the Jag of all things in the winter numerous times and had to leave it salty for extended periods. No, it didn`t/hasn`t rusted out either, but yeah...probably pure luck.

[John U]

Rust!!!!

One of those fore mentioned `66 225`s was kept until 1971.... I was already a "Bondo artist" at 15 yrs old when that car was 4 years old. The lower rear quarter panels behind the fender skirts were already rusted thru!!! This was in Michigan and salt was apparently cheap. Every spring I`d try a new technique with fiberglass & cloth with Bondo on top. The car was midnight blue with a fat piece of chrome trim down the side. To make color blending easy I painted the lowers black.

Kit Wax on the body. Pledge on the tires.

It was always a dream to see some rust free cars in the west. Now I live that dream and marvel over seeing old, original 60 year old Buicks that are not rust eaten away.