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Salt that coats roads, sidewalks can lead to car problems

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At Euston Hardware in Prairie Village, ice melt and sand flew off the shelves on Thursday.

"Unfortunately bad storms means good business for us," Manager Matt Cavanaugh said of the rush.

Peter Long and his son, Matthew, packed their cart with enough supplies to de-ice an entire neighborhood.

"We've always done a few of our neighbors. We have a couple elderly people around our neighborhood that need a little extra help, and our next door neighbor just had a knee replacement today," Long explained.

While salt keeps roads and sidewalks safe, it can also wreak havoc on your car. Salt corrodes metal, which means the undercarriage of your car could be coated with rust.

Alan Heriford, who owns Johnson County Automotive, said you should take an aggressive approach with corrosion.

"If any of it's left, it will just continue to spread, and you've got problems again," Heriford said.

Avoiding corrosion is simple. Once it warms up, go to a car wash with a thorough underbody spray that will rinse the salt away.