The problem is.. when the moisture and salt gets between the coating and the metal (and it will), it will rust faster than if it were left exposed to be rinsed off either naturally or sprayed off by your power washer. The modern galvanising/electroplating/etc rust prevention techniques are pretty good. With a minimum of maintenance, a new car shouldn't rust in the first 10 years anyway.
I'm in Ottawa, ON and salt is the order of the day from Dec to Mar. I just got rid of my 250k '93 Civic in Feb. for the E. Never been rustproofed of any sort and the only place it had started to go was around the rear wheelwells, not coincidentally because Honda put a piece of plastic trim in their for sound protection and while that worked, it also trapped road spray causing it to rust prematurely.
I guess that means my vote would be to clean it and leave it.
I'm in Ottawa, ON and salt is the order of the day from Dec to Mar. I just got rid of my 250k '93 Civic in Feb. for the E. Never been rustproofed of any sort and the only place it had started to go was around the rear wheelwells, not coincidentally because Honda put a piece of plastic trim in their for sound protection and while that worked, it also trapped road spray causing it to rust prematurely.
I guess that means my vote would be to clean it and leave it.
