My 98 ls400 has had quite a journey. It was first sold in California. Then it ended up in sunny Florida. Now it's in New York and winter is coming in a few months. Now, there is currently 0 rust anywhere on the car. I'd like to keep it that way. Are there any inexpensive, DIY options for salt-proofing the car? Could I spray the underbody with some used motor oil or something?

 

Cheapest options include not driving it on salted roads, hosing it every couple of days and or getting a brush on underbody sealant. I'd find a balance of all three.

 

Yes you can.In fact in Mexico thats a common practice and if you keep the oil off the rubber and electrical it can,and is,done successfully to meet a goal.Not ideal by any stretch,but the result is,it works.

 

As I live in Chicago, salt is slathered on the streets in winter ...

If your garage is heated this exacerbates the salt reaction.

My solution is to not drive when snow on streets until fully cleared and no salt slush remains.

This solves two problems..motorists who can't drive and total your vehicle...and salt avoidance.

Plenty of $500 winter beaters available to get you through the salt and snow season.

 

There's no way to keep all the salt off of it if you're going to drive it in the winter. I'm in upstate NY and we use salt like somebody bet us that we couldn't. I've had my car undercoated and I wash it regularly. That's about the best I can do for it. This will (hopefully) be the last winter it sees. There aren't plenty of $500 beaters up here tho. Expect to spend $1500-$3000 for a beater that passes NYSI. And start looking now, because...



BEEN WANTING TO USE THIS MEME IN A RELEVANT NATURE FOR SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long. Thanks.

 

My 98 has been in Indiana salted road winters for 14 years and 6 yrs in Hawaii's Pacific salt air and salt spraying beaches. I have no rust. It was garage kept and washed in the winters once a week.

 

That's encouraging. I'm so scared of loosing my car to this mess lol.

 

Make sure there is no bare metal, it should all be painted, reason for my jack point gripe. Metal jack on metal pinch weld means removed paint and a great place for rust to start. That is an area where the lexus engineering team failed big time. A high dollar car with a jacking system that isn't even as good as an old VW beetle. What morons they were for doing that. Reminds me of the same brains that are responsible for the Takata air bag inflators.

 

Yea my pinch welds are beyond mangled. I used to just center the pinch weld on the floor jack and boom they would just fold over like paper and one time my floor jack punched straight through the pinch weld and crumpled the damn door sill.

Anyway, I learned to jack the car with just the very edge of the jack. This has stopped the pinch welds from just folding over.

Thinking about it, my pinch welds are kind of rusty.

Maybe I should start there first and spray it down with something like Flex Seal. Coat it with a layer or two of rubber spray. That ought to keep the salt out.