Don: Walk or bicycle to work, esp in cool weather.
To slow down the rust, power wash it clean at the car wash, then spray rust spots periodically with WD-40. That's what I do, and the few rust spots on mine (all on the undercarriage) have not spread any in the past 3 years.
Dan Daughter has her '89 Pontiac Sunbird up for sale ( http://don.homelinux.net/megan/kurtie/index.html). I drove it to work today so I could park it in a high traffic area with the "For Sale" sign there for everyone to see. I've not driven this car much, but almost fell in love with it today. Very fuel efficient (30 mpg combined), peppy, and surprisingly roomy for my 6'4" frame. The AC is ice cold, so much so that I had to turn it down with an outside air temp of 95F. Since I hate to drive my 240D around when they are putting salt on the roads, I am wondering if I shouldn't just buy this car from Megan and use it for two purposes: (1) my one-mile each way commute to work, which if I understand what Marshall tells me is NOT good for a diesel, and (2) all of my winter driving, when the Iowa DOT is keeping the roads open with salt. What are the implications of driving a diesel only on weekends (or maybe once every few weekends for 100 mile road trips), and not at all during the winter? If I put it into winter storage, what should I do other than to disconnect the battery and throw a cover over it? It rips my heart out each spring to see how much new rust has formed over the winter. I'd like to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. Thoughts? -- Dan Weeks 82 VW Westfalia 1.6 TD conversion 186k 82 Mercedes 300SD, 275k
