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Anecdata: I live in Minnesota. It is cold here ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minnesota_weather_records#By_month https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_

Anecdata: I live in Minnesota. It is cold here ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minnesota_weather_records#By_month https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minnesota_weather_reco... ) -- and here in my fourth decade of life, never had an issue with brake fluid. I've seen issues in the cold with: electronics, radiator fluid, washer fluid, ignitions, batteries, tire pressure, bushings, plastics, even fuel back when EFI was less common, but never issues with brake fluid. Road salt is our big problem here, but that's true for everyone who has winter. FWIW my neighbor has a Tesla and loves it...

giantg2 5y ago
I think the colder areas don't use salt, right? Like some areas of Alaska are too cold for salt to work.
- zdragnar 5y ago
  In the context of minnesota, road salt is used on most flat or heavily trafficked roads. Steep inclines and intersections all use grit or small gravel instead or or in addition to salt.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    True, but the second half of the sentence was that it was true for everywhere with winter weather. I was just pointing out that it isn't necessarily the case. Edit: and also, some areas are not using salt for environmental reasons, like Portland.
    - zdragnar 5y ago
      Yeah, outer portions of Minnesota avoid using salt near wetlands as well- most states do, I think. You have to get pretty far into northern latitudes before salt stops working well enough to abandon it, though. Mixing sand or grit helps warm it up in direct sunlight enough that it can still be beneficial below zero F.
- SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
  Once you get below -20 C (-4 F) salt loses a lot of effectiveness. Here in Edmonton we had a few weeks of ~-30 C and the roads were polished to an icy shine, there was no getting away from it and no amount of sand or salt helped for any amount of time.
ChoGGi 5y ago
> Road salt is our big problem here, but that's true for everyone who has winter. Not if your municipality uses grit instead of salt.
- mhb 5y ago
  So they have two problems.
duxup 5y ago
>Road salt is our big problem here Road salt problems always makes me wonder how much the vehicle plays into that. I've driven 20+ year old cars without a spot of rust while there are vehicles that are 5 years old with rust problems. I think the real variable when it comes to road salt issue is vehicle quality.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  >I think the real variable when it comes to road salt issue is vehicle quality. It depends on how much the OEM wants to spend on fancy paint and coatings, how much the vehicle's use degrades that coating, how much salt the vehicle is exposed to, what kind of salt (liquid stuff gets everywhere much more effectively) and what if any steps the owner takes to mitigate the salt. You can make generalizations like "Volvo loves to galvanize stuff and Toyota DGAF" but without controlling for the life the vehicle will have that doesn't really let you make predictions about a specific vehicle.
  - duxup 5y ago
    I feel like your two paragraphs conflict.

giantg2 5y ago

I think the colder areas don't use salt, right? Like some areas of Alaska are too cold for salt to work.

zdragnar 5y ago
In the context of minnesota, road salt is used on most flat or heavily trafficked roads. Steep inclines and intersections all use grit or small gravel instead or or in addition to salt.
- giantg2 5y ago
  True, but the second half of the sentence was that it was true for everywhere with winter weather. I was just pointing out that it isn't necessarily the case. Edit: and also, some areas are not using salt for environmental reasons, like Portland.
  - zdragnar 5y ago
    Yeah, outer portions of Minnesota avoid using salt near wetlands as well- most states do, I think. You have to get pretty far into northern latitudes before salt stops working well enough to abandon it, though. Mixing sand or grit helps warm it up in direct sunlight enough that it can still be beneficial below zero F.
SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
Once you get below -20 C (-4 F) salt loses a lot of effectiveness. Here in Edmonton we had a few weeks of ~-30 C and the roads were polished to an icy shine, there was no getting away from it and no amount of sand or salt helped for any amount of time.

ChoGGi 5y ago

> Road salt is our big problem here, but that's true for everyone who has winter. Not if your municipality uses grit instead of salt.

mhb 5y ago
So they have two problems.

duxup 5y ago

>Road salt is our big problem here Road salt problems always makes me wonder how much the vehicle plays into that. I've driven 20+ year old cars without a spot of rust while there are vehicles that are 5 years old with rust problems. I think the real variable when it comes to road salt issue is vehicle quality.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
>I think the real variable when it comes to road salt issue is vehicle quality. It depends on how much the OEM wants to spend on fancy paint and coatings, how much the vehicle's use degrades that coating, how much salt the vehicle is exposed to, what kind of salt (liquid stuff gets everywhere much more effectively) and what if any steps the owner takes to mitigate the salt. You can make generalizations like "Volvo loves to galvanize stuff and Toyota DGAF" but without controlling for the life the vehicle will have that doesn't really let you make predictions about a specific vehicle.
- duxup 5y ago
  I feel like your two paragraphs conflict.