Which camp are you in? "Yes, it's wise to hose off the bottom of your car in winter," or "No, get a life"?

GorehamJ
Wed, 14 Jan 2026 22:58:57 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

Hello fellow owners of vehicles in places with harsh winters and salt-encrusted roads. I’d like to have your thoughts on spraying the underside of your car with a hose to help remove salt, mud, and sand. When I do this to my Bronco Sport - after coming home from a car wash that includes “Undercarriage,” it pours gray and brown for minutes before the rinse water runs clean. I can see sand and salt cubes being washed out of the crevices of the wheel wells. Is it beneficial, assuming you don’t fall and break a hit doing it? Or am I wasting my time and possibly pushing the corrosion-causing muck into places it would otherwise not have gone? Comments please.

25 posts - 15 participants