Wow, this ended up being long.
I live in Michigan which means I have to deal with some serious salt. We get consistent snow fall all winter so it is everywhere - the roads are coated white from salt all winter.
The problem I have having is that my vehicle is going to rust out before I get any miles on it - before the truck itself wears out. I only put on about 4-5k a year because work is right down the street and I don't do much. I have a 2013 Silverado with 31k on it. I was looking at it today and it just doesn't look like it should. It's starting to show some wear already. The panels and everything are fine, but the hitch, the hood latch, etc. I'm worried that in a few few years things are going to start going to hell and it will only have 45k on it. I'll have to start to replace parts because of the salt instead of from using the truck itself - bearings and what not. It wouldn't be a big deal if it had 100k miles on it like most trucks of the same age but it just doesn't.
I had the same issue with my 2001 GP. It only had 90k on it but it was literally rusted out. The frame was falling apart. The struts just rusted out. All the supports were just nasty. You could pick pieces out of it by hand. I sunk a lot of money into it to fix it because it was a good car but I should have just parted ways with it.
Washing it in the winter is a pain in the ass. Aside from going to the car wash every few days, is there anything that I can do? Some sort of frame protection? Powder coat? I have no idea.
I really don't want to trade it in but I feel like I should so that someone gets to use the truck's mechanical life. It's still a great truck and would be a great buy for someone. They can put 30k a year on it for 4-5 years and it'll be junk by the time it starts to rust.
TL;DR - Vehicles are rusting out due to age/salt but they don't have any miles on them (<50k). Is there anything I can do or should I just trade it in so someone else can put some miles on it.
I live in Michigan which means I have to deal with some serious salt. We get consistent snow fall all winter so it is everywhere - the roads are coated white from salt all winter.
The problem I have having is that my vehicle is going to rust out before I get any miles on it - before the truck itself wears out. I only put on about 4-5k a year because work is right down the street and I don't do much. I have a 2013 Silverado with 31k on it. I was looking at it today and it just doesn't look like it should. It's starting to show some wear already. The panels and everything are fine, but the hitch, the hood latch, etc. I'm worried that in a few few years things are going to start going to hell and it will only have 45k on it. I'll have to start to replace parts because of the salt instead of from using the truck itself - bearings and what not. It wouldn't be a big deal if it had 100k miles on it like most trucks of the same age but it just doesn't.
I had the same issue with my 2001 GP. It only had 90k on it but it was literally rusted out. The frame was falling apart. The struts just rusted out. All the supports were just nasty. You could pick pieces out of it by hand. I sunk a lot of money into it to fix it because it was a good car but I should have just parted ways with it.
Washing it in the winter is a pain in the ass. Aside from going to the car wash every few days, is there anything that I can do? Some sort of frame protection? Powder coat? I have no idea.
I really don't want to trade it in but I feel like I should so that someone gets to use the truck's mechanical life. It's still a great truck and would be a great buy for someone. They can put 30k a year on it for 4-5 years and it'll be junk by the time it starts to rust.
TL;DR - Vehicles are rusting out due to age/salt but they don't have any miles on them (<50k). Is there anything I can do or should I just trade it in so someone else can put some miles on it.