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it00 t1_j66asdj wrote

Any form of salt accelerates corrosion in any form of steel, iron, well, pretty much anything (yeah, including certain types of 'Stainless Steel').

If you live next to an ocean or sea you'll know all about it - hint: DON'T buy a car or machinery from an island area.

Salt mixed with water and oxygen will simply accelerate corrosion beyond belief - it accelerates the transfer of the electrons from pure iron to form iron oxide. For an example take a look at ladder irons on a tidal quay, pier or shore structure. The rungs permanently underwater will be OK(ish), the rungs halfway up will be pretty badly corroded, the rungs above the water will be utterly destroyed. It needs all three elements to make rust - iron, oxygen, sodium chloride.

Where all three are present in sufficient quantities they can literally reduce an entire vehicle to oxidised nothingness within a decade. This includes entire engine blocks etc.

Roads are optional.

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PlaidBastard t1_j68wnji wrote

Puget Sound in WA state is a good exception to this, because the water is less salty and probably because the constant rain keeps the air from getting brackish.

Seriously, cars don't rust here. Sunroofs leak and mildew destroys them from the inside, but the green algae usually scrubs right off to reveal shiny clearcoat....

Then you go 50 miles west to the actual Pacific coast, and everything you say about rust is true again...

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it00 t1_j68yx3y wrote

I took a ferry near Puget Sound on a road trip in 2018 - from Clinton to Mukilteo - is it Possession Sound? Genuinely just thought it was a regular sea crossing - I suppose looking again at the map that area is more like a river than a regular seaway.

The rain held off for the most part - although the greenery was spectacular compared to the other (?rain shadow) side of the Cascades. Lovely part of the world. Good you don't get the rust problem - same here in Scotland. In the sea lochs it isn't a problem - on the coast and islands on the other hand...... it's hellish!

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