Is there any publication on washing or not washing to reduce corrosion?

I've been waiting patiently for a few days, hoping you'd answer that one yourself, LOL. Anyways:

Plastic linings are linings made out of plastic

Seriously, look in your front and rear wheel wells. Actually, the rear ones look to be something sort-of fibrous material. But I'm talking about any liners in the wheel wells, to protect from flung rocks, shield tank filler pipes, and so on. They're a net benefit, but also often trap grit/muck. Worth removing at least once, or even just partially loosening and peeking behind, to see what's going on.

 

The answer to the publication on washing: the owners' manual.

Dbcassidy

 

Common sense (and the owner's manual) tells me to wash my car as needed. If I were driving on salted or muddy roadways, I'd use a carwash with an undercarriage spray.

MOST cars today have much better rust corrosion protection than cars of the last two decades. Better primers, use of plastics and other non-corrosion materials help ward off premature rusting. My old 98 Taurus didn't have a bit of rust on it when I donated the car. I don't expect my Prius to have rust on it 12 years from now!

Happy Motoring,

Tom

 

My german friends tell me that nowadays it makes sense to wash the underside of a car (all wash centers have underside wash sprays) only after a long trip on the highway (where they use salt) and at the end of winter. Otherwise it is better to keep everything "there" and make sure the car is properly heated up (especially brakes) so that when parking it, any moisture can dry off from where the snow/ice melted by usage.

I had the most problems with my previous car, a Polo, parked always in an un-heated garage, on the brakes and the exhaust pipe - why? because I would drive it only 3-5 mins to get my train, which was enough to warm it to melt the ice, but not enough to have all humidity dry off after turning it off. I had to change the brake pads and the exhaust pipe was rusty (but not perforated) after 7 years of use and 2 years of this short commute.

Other than that the underside was OK when I sold it.

Washing the Prius once a month, as per user's manual is likely useless.
There is a lot of debate in Germany in other forums about this and most claim that not washing during winter in the underside is the best idea. The idea is to then wash it when it is warm (e.g. >15C) so that it can dry nicely when parked outside and no additional salt will be added by driving on the roads.

One such claim goes: