I was stationed there. I was an avionics technician (autopilot and navigation and stability systems) on B52 bombers. When I got out of tech school I requested stations on the coast…GFAFB is as close to the center of the North American continent (as far away from the ocean) as they could possible put me, so they did.
Thanks for the enquiry.
Been there, froze that.
If you live in MN and want to keep your car indefinitely, park it before road salting season begins and don’t drive it until road salting ends in the spring. Get a waste car for salt season. There is no other way.
Not with today’s cars. They can still rust, but nothing like the cars of old. There is no economic reason to keep a beater for winter. Enjoy your good car and save money by just owning one.
I think that it is you who has missed the point. I accepted the OP as wanting to keep his/her car a long, long time, longer than 10 years. 10 years is easy now. You are wearing yours out before they have a chance to completely rust out. I suggest that you do some inspection of a car older than 10 years in salt country. Rust starts underneath, on the brake lines, the gas tank and underbody areas.
Driving habits can be a factor. A daily driver that must bring you to work will rust faster than a car owned by a retiree who can wait until roads are wet but not slushy.
Where I live, there are few 20 year old cars still in use.
After you’ve had some experience driving your new car in winter, decide if you are happy with its traction and braking. If not, and you still want to keep the car for a long time, buy a set of winter tires on steel rims. You will like the difference, and over the long run the cost of the four steel wheels is well worth it.
I live in Duluth, MN and decided after my first winter with my Honda Civic that it really needed winter tires. (The hills here are like those in San Francisco, but even driving on level snowy highways the Civic needed traction help.) By that time I had decided I liked the car well enough to make the additional investment. It’s made a big diff. There are still days when I miss my 79 Toyota 4X4 truck with its uphill traction and excellent ground clearance to get over deep snow. My Plymouth Voyager van does just fine year-round with Goodyear all-season tires. I think its ground clearance, compared to that of the Civic, is sometimes a factor.
Wax your car before winter. If there is paint damage, have a body shop fix it sooner rather than later.