I bought my RS a few months ago. It's my "winter beater" but it's in great shape. No rust except for some small exceptions. Just wondering what the seasoned Suby owners suggest to keep it relatively rust free? Undercoat? Wash it once a week?
I wash it once a week atleast. Depends how bad the week was as far as snow and how much the road crews were out. I guess I can't really chime in as to how well this works, because my car is only a year old and no signs of rust yet.
Wash it regularly at one of those big car washes that do the underneath as well. My RS went through 3 MN winters without any apparent ill effects.
Try to wash your car at least once a week to get the salt out Look around at your local gas station (w/ touch free only car wash) to see if there is any special or package deal you can get. Also Holiday gas station have this unlimited wash thing you might want to consider too. http://www.holidaystationstores.com/wash/washpass.html Lastly, when you wash your car (by hand) make sure to pull both rear quarter protector (that plastic weather strip thingy above your rear wheel) off a little and clean the lip inside because salt seem to trap insider a lot. GL
I did that holiday touchless last year, and it was phenomenal. Switched from the DIY's to the automated, as the price was right and I've got less and less time (and energy) to handwash my car once a week. Will probably do it again this year.
We have owned our 03 since almost new (bought it with 1500 miles) and I run it through once per month in the winter. No rust. I will also put on 2 heavy coats of wax as late into the fall that I possibly can as well.
definitely; pay close attention to the side skirts and wheel wells, also if your RS is anything like mine or any other Impreza ever made watch out for rust on the A pillars around the windshield.
The important part is getting moisture and salt out of certain spots where it'll accumulate. You have to find them since they're specific to each body style. I use my compressor to blow water out of these areas as well as all the seams. In general, the spots to look out for imo are the back edge of the wheel wheels since they collect a lot of grime. Depending on the car you might need to pull back the fender liner. Car's with rally armor muflaps tend to get a ton of build up in this area. Door jambs, and bottom outside corner of most doors (where the water drain hole typically is) are also places to clean and dry thoroughly. With wax, be very careful around the seams. I typically mask off my cars when I polish and seal. If not, I stop 1/8" or so from any edges where you definitely don't want product building up... like along the windshield, along the pillars, and for cars that have them, around door molding.
I wax the car in the fall. I wash the car maybe once or twice all winter...maybe 3 times if I'm in a good mood. :laugh: Well, I almost never wash the car all year. The underbody already has corrosion protection. More is never bad of course. Frankly, I haven't seen too many Subarus these days with any rust on them. Heck, a LOT of cars these days don't really have rust issues, either from using plastic paneling or using better metal treatments(galvanization, etc.). I did find one rust spot on my chassis, but it was inside the car. :laugh: ...basically on the cross beam for the front seat. I can only assume someone spilled something or maybe just from all the winter melt inside the car from boots and such. Mine's getting to be an 8 year old car now, all MN driving.
i wish i could do the holiday package too but the one by me is touch. i guess it will be BP and DIY car washes this winter.
I've seen and detailed plenty of bugeye/blobeye imprezas with rust. When you really start looking at the nooks and crannies you'll find rust.
Remove those plastic wheelwell liner things in the back that hold salt, wash and dry it a few times a week.... Spray some undercoating like once a year on exposed spots. Just keep an eye out for early signs and make sure to fix it before you need patch panels your dad owns a bodyshop afterall.
I have the unlimited holiday car wash thing too. There's only one near me that I know of that is touchless, so I go to that one. I go there probably 2 times a week in the winter. I just kept it in the summer too because I'm lazy. However there is some rust starting inside the door area on my 2005. Sounds like that's pretty standard with subaru's though.
DUDE my dad owns a dealership. He'll totally hook you up, bro. http://mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15448
Hey, what's the cost, info, etc on the Holiday pass? The website appears to be down and it sounds like a great deal...
They changed the link but here is the new one: http://www.holidaystationstores.com/Carwash.aspx The 'Works" $29.99 The "Basic" $19.99 Try to look for special deal, because some Holiday gas station offer buy one month and get another free deal. Good Luck!
Awesome, thanks for the link! Is the "Works" worth the extra $10? Theres a touchless right on my way to and from work, I'll go 2-3 times/wk.
From what I understand: Basic: body wash, rinse, dry. Works: body wash, underbody wash, rocker panel blaster, conditioner and polish, high presure wheel cleaner, clear coat protecter, spot free rinse, dry.
I noticed a difference between the two, so I paid the extra $10. If you want to save some money, you can cancel it in the summer, but like I said, I was too lazy to do that.
Yeah, you want the extra stuff that comes with the works package, even if just for the underbody spray. Here's a list of the Holiday car wash's around the metro, for those looking.
