Those of you that drive your cars in the winter... did you get any rustproofing done for them? On my previous vehicles I would get oil sprayed on the underbody of the car (ie. Krown, Rust Check, etc.). This worked well because I compared my previous car to another of the same model that wasn't sprayed and it had no rust on any of the components in comparison to my friend's car who did have a lot of surface rust.

I was thinking about spraying my 997.2 for winter as I'm used to but then I realized there really isn't much exposed since the entire underbody is covered in plastic. The only things exposed that I can think of is the engine bay and the suspension in each wheel well... so I'm not sure if it's worth spraying?

So did you guys get rust protection done on your vehicles for winter? Are there any specific components that go bad when exposed to salt on the roads?

 

The car comes from the factory with some rust proofing: cosmoline; on metal surfaces.

This helps protect the engine cases, suspension, steering, drivetrain hardware and fasteners from corrosion.

If you apply some more rust protection, after a winter or two the car's underside is going to get pretty gunked up with this stuff.

And it won't help where the corrosion problem is most pronounced, and that is with the exhaust manifold and exhaust system fasteners. These will corrode. The Porsche techs I talk to at various dealers in areas where there is snow on the ground or even where there is not tell me they budget for these fasteners breaking when doing any work that requires the exhaust system be removed.

My advice is you do not spray or apply anything.

(If you want to ignore my advice, then my advice would be get some of that undercoating spray -- I forget what I used (back when I was OCD on this subject), maybe something by 3M -- and spray it judiciously at where suspension/steering or drivetrain hardware connects, to give the fasteners some protection. Be sure you do this with the car dry, dry, dry. You do not want to seal in moisture over the winter months. It might not be a bad idea to give the areas you are going to spray a bit of a scrub with a wire brush to remove the dregs of what was applied the year before.)

Just once in a while when the temperature climbs to above freezing take the car to a DIY car wash and give the car a good rinsing both the painted surfaces and underneath. When I lived in the midwest my recollection is the DIY car wash rinse water was heated some so it was not only a good way to rinse the car but it helped melt away any remaining frozen slush accumulation. This rinses away the muck and helps keep the car fresher. Be sure you give the brakes a good rinsing. When you park the car the heat melts any slush in the wheel well and this drips water down on the tire/wheel and brake hardware.

As soon as you can in the spring then really wash the car good and rinse it down and this includes the underbody portion too. Rinse the suspension, drivetrain, and exhaust hardware. Best do this with the engine/everything cold.

While my lapis blue Boxster looked horrible with all the winter muck on the paint, come spring it would wash up and shine just like a new car.

Afterwards take the car for a nice drive to get everything up to temperature. Use the brakes hard enough and often enough to get them hot to dry them completely.

Be sure the body water drains are free of trash. In the winter even if there's not much it will get damp and then freeze and this can block water from this rinsing and this water can back up and get into the cabin.