I lived in Michigan for a year and let me just say that their winter roads are always clear.

And a lot of their older cars are rusted.

I was driving a 1991 Subaru Loyale at the time and more than one person asked to buy it. My car was rust-free from all its years in Oregon and had four-wheel drive - basically a Michigander's dream. (If it weren't for the foreign make, I probably would've had more offers.)

I write all this because of a recent warning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

Model year 2007 and earlier vehicles may be susceptible to brake pipe corrosion that can occur after seven to eight years of exposure to winter road salts. If brake pipe corrosion is not properly addressed, there is the potential of brake pipe failure which could result in a crash.

Data show that this corrosion problem is linked to brake line coating materials that several manufacturers used during this time period.

Scary stuff, but also laced with OBVIOUS stuff, as Alex Nunez at Road & Track articulates oh so gently:

1. Wash your car thoroughly at the end of the winter.

2. Wash it throughout the winter. 

Seriously? We needed the feds to tell us this?

No.

Shorter version: Take good care of your car, especially if you live in a state where you experience Annual Winter Hell.

That goes a long way.

Wash your car.