Winter, Sleeping Outside and Truck Longevity

Hi, I have a question specifically for those of you that live in cold regions... Like the Northern States, New England and Canada, Alaska and the North Pole.

We all know that here in California, in the mild weather, a truck that sleeps outside and is at least waxed often, will last just fine. However, here's my specific question:

In cold areas, how does a brand new truck fare over the course of 5 years if it's used daily, but has to live outside and not in a garage 24/7? What is your experience in that regard?

Yes, I know there is also the problem of salt on the roads. But assuming there is no salt on the road or you live in a location where they don't put salt on the road. What does the cold, the wet, the snow and the freezing temps do to the truck's paint, trim, rubber and more importantly, engine and transmission?

 

Not sure what places have snow and don't use salt.

I live in maine. We have snow and salt.
Own a 2005 that has always been outside.
I wash and wax alot. Got new frame under the recall. My rear bumper is rusted on backside. Outside looked fine before I plastidipped it a few years ago.
Small amount under hood on firewall but i sanded and repainted it.
Other than that...no real rust on body.
I don't have alot of detailed body only pictures loaded here on tacomaworld.
But should give you a good idea.

 

That's actually very helpful, thanks. Where I live now we get snow and there is no salt. Hence the question. I've always had my trucks indoors, but the property that I bought will have me leaving my truck outside until I can get around (and the funds) to build a garage. My conditions are not nearly as harsh as yours. It's only in the 20's on the cold days, and it's only for a few months out of the year. We do get snow, rain, winds and storms. But again, not nearly as hard as Maine. I'm considering a brand new 2017 and it hurts to think leaving it outside. I'm trying to weigh my odds here.

 

also Mainer here, always left my vehicles outside, the front door just isn't big enough. No issues, I actually think the sun has more effect on the paint. As long as you give the vehicle 30 to 60 seconds for the oil to circulate, you should be fine. The cold may wear on the battery a little, but now a days, I doubt thats an issue.

 

Colorado doesn't salt roads. If it did I would use some type of protectant.

 

As far as salt goes actually outside is better than inside. Bringing your now salt covered truck into a warmer garage just speeds up corrosion. Leaving it out in the cold slows down the corrosion.

 

Alaska- We don't directly salt our roads, just sand/gravel. Tons and tons of sand/gravel. Though we due use less abrasive sodium chloride to de-ice the sand/gravel.

My vehicles have always lived outside. I only wash it occasionally in summer, and never in winter. Never had a problem with any of them. In fact my Fathers 2001 Tundra has only seen the inside of a garage when we change tires twice a year: and the thing runs like a champ, no rust, only paint chips (from the winter sand/gravel).

We're pretty moderate here in Anchorage, so our temperatures through the year swing as high as the low 80's in the summer to as cold as -15 in the winter.

 

^^^ Thanks. Great feedback. Appreciate that.

 

It's the sun here in Florida that raises hell with paint, silly plastic body panels, even tires--gotta' keep them out of the sun. My '09 DCSB doesn't really fit in the garage (it will but leaves little room between it and my toolboxes, so it lives under a carport...

 

SW Ontario here. always outside. bought brand in 05 new have had the underbody and frame oiled every fall. tonnes of salt and brine used on our roads.. so far so good. one battery, one alternator and one ac unit so far. and we can get temps down to the mid -20's Celsius in the winter.

 

Yeah, I second all the comments here. I live in central Ontario, in a snow belt from the Great Lakes. We use a lot of salt as well as sand on our roads from November until the end of March. If the salt doesn't get them, the abrasive sand will. Especially at high speed on day with freezing rain, its like liquid sandpaper on the underbody of vehicles. Most year old vehicles are solid rust underneath, once the paint is blasted off in the first winter. Then its just a matter of time, and the quality of steel used by the manufacturer. Toyota has had rusty frame issues on its trucks since day 1. You won't see many, if any, Hi Luxes from the early 80's in Canada. I saw one in BC last year, but the owner told me he had just bought it from a guy in Washington State. Haha.
I keep my truck in a garage heated to +8C and a dehumidifier set to not shut off. I try to keep the truck washed, and I pressure wash the underbody by hand at a coin wash. Lots have tried undercoating, electrolytic devices etc. but in the end, entropy wins. I do my best and live with the reality that in 10 years my truck will be too rusty for me to keep driving, and I will sell it as a beater probably for under $2500 if I'm lucky. Heated garages aren't the best for vehicles, but they're great for people when you live somewhere that has real winter. My garage is big, and its a luxury to get into a warm dry vehicle in bad weather.

 

with that kind of preventative maintenance you could easily get 15 years

 

My vehicles have never been in the garage, my motorcycles live in the garage. I just start them up and let them reach normal temperature before I ever drive them. The only problems I have had are from me acting stupid in the snow then immediately parking it and the emergency brake and wheels froze up.

 

Yeah, but not a Toyota. They use poor quality steel in their frames and sheet metal, and once the steel starts to blow up from the inside the paint just flakes off. Sure you can folk engineer them together with junk yard and after market parts and get a few more years but driving a crystallized vehicle with no integrity on high speed roads is risky no matter how many air bags you think you have on board, if they deploy at all in an emergency on an old vehicle. If you save your money and keep your priorities straight, over a 10year period it isn’t hard to be able to pay cash for a replacement, at least that’s how I do it.