Hey there, I recently picked up a 2012 G37xs and couldn't be happier. One thing I was wondering about though is if snow will have any long term negative affects on the car's body. I want to keep it in great shape, and I live in Colorado and currently do not have a garage or the option for covered parking.

I know the issues with road salt, and am going to do my best to clean the car as often as possible to remove salt but I am just wondering what precautions I should take with Colorado winters to keep my car's body looking great.

Thanks!

 

The sun will have a bigger effect on the paint/body than snow.

 

Yeah snow is not great for the body. Removing the snow is going to put micro scratches in the paint; then again, anything that touches the paint will put micro scratches in it. Dont use a brush. You’ll probably deal with some level of rust on the underbody.

Putting some coats of wax on her may help. Or just give it a good detail when the season ends.

 

If you don't drive it, your underbody shouldn't look too bad. If you drive it, it will begin to rust. (Canadian, canadian cars, canadian snow...) If you are concerned about rust on the underbody, hit it with some rocker guard spray, underliner, whatever you want. It's like a thick paint that coats and protects.

As for body panels themselves, I can't say the snow has done much harm to my car, other than a few pinhole rust spots that will only continue to spread.

 

Clay and wax the car before and after winter. That's it.

And buy some snow tires. AWD is unbeatable when matched with snow tires. AS tires, not so much.

 

Snow and rust are interesting together. The rust process is significantly slowed when snow/ice stay frozen. Melting is where the rust happens fast... Drive in the snow and park it in your warm garage? Great way to rust out an underbody,, but park it out in the frozen driveway and you'll have significantly less rust problems.
Iirc from my time in Utah, Colorado valleys get thawed out pretty often. Best wash your car regularly on those dry days, especially the underbody.

 

Snow itself will not cause your car to rust. Its salt from the roads that cause it.

 

Correct, but where cars and snow meet... Salt is implied.