Help moving to Chicago
 

Help I have never lived where salting the roads was necessary.

What is the best protection for my ti and typically how long must the roads be avoided after they have been salted before being considered safe for my ti again?

I am stressed out about the move by my ti is my number one concern any and all advice is appreciated.

All you need to do is make sure you wash your through out the winter to prevent too much salt build up on your car. Also make sure you spray the underside of your car ans wheel wells when you wash your car in the winter. Other than that just make sure you wax it before the winter to help protect the paint as well. I would be more concerned about the car if you lived on the coast with all the salty air.

+1 the salty air here in Ventura oxidizes your paint over time. Excessive waxing will wear through your clearcoat leaving little protection from the elements. In youir case I'd be more concerned about the under carriage. Be sure to hose it down thoroughly with fresh water atleast once a week. Most body shops offer an undercoat protection, but that stuff is messy, weighs a ton and looks horrible. Our cars are prone to rusting in the crevices where water collects. There are drain holes up by the firewall, the sunroof, doors and I think the hatch. Make sure they're all clear of debris and drain properly. My car came from Michigan and both of the rear fender arches and below the taillights were rusted. The M technic side moldings have a metal strip behind them that rusted and stained the paint where the water dripped below the moldings. IIRC, if the front drains above the firewall are clogged, the ECU compartment is vulnerable to flooding. I've heard of this happening after people have washed their cars. Besides that, just try to keep it clean and as madfronter mentioned, give it a good coat of wax before the winter. Avoid using harsh detergents such as dishwashing soap to wash it as this will remove the wax, thus leaving your paint unprotected. Most of the car washes have an underside fresh water rinsing system which is pretty convenient when you're at the filling station.

There is no avoiding the salt issue in the midwest but along with that I will say that not everywhere in the upper midwest uses salt. There are other formulas the hwy department uses to minumize the corrosive abuse on cars. You can minimize the the winter corrosion on your car in a number of ways. Like mentioned above...wash your car regularly (not everyday). There's really not much you can do when it's 10 or 20 below for weeks on end. At that point there's really no use in washing your car unless you can completely dry it before venturing out in to the crispy cold air, otherwise you'll find yourself froze in or out of your car. One thing you can do (and this is really a matter of choice) is get an undercoating/rust proofing done. There are some pros and cons to that and it won't cover EVERYthing. You will have to do some research on that if that is something that interests you and suits your needs. Just a thought. What takes you to Chicago?