Help prevent rust with corrosion Inhibitor

[belanger]

Hi all.

I imported my Leaf 2013 from dry central California to Canada, in an area during winter they put salt on the roads. Currently the car has 0 rust with the exception of the top of the struts due to water accumulation. I bought a pair of covers, just 10 years too late

People living in cold harsh winters, can you share the areas where you think rust prevention should be applied? I am planning to do the inside of the doors, mainly the bottom section, the struts. I'll take a look at the "manual parking wire" but I'm not sure yet if it's exposed or not. The calipers are still the original ones but I expect degradation to happen unless there's a magic product like some nano coating?

Thank you for sharing your "rust attack" areas.

 

[Dala]

Drop the battery, paint the sides and under the battery. Salty water likes to collect there.

Covered it in this unrelated video:
https://youtu.be/bJzX3OLwv1E?t=25

 

[MikeinPA]

On my white 2013 leaf with 9 winters so far in the northeast:

Brake shields--falling apart
Hand brake cable aluminum parts where it fits into rear axle--decomposed to white powder
Front suspension and carrier--these are stamped and then welded assemblies and there is corrosion all along the the welds
Rear license plate light bracket--completely corroded to bits
One of the lifting points has rust coming out of it some how

I am currently doing all the corrosion proofing on another car and plan to do the white leaf this fall. Hit the rust with a wire brush wheel on a drill and then spray with conversion coating. Do regular inspections after that.

On my blue leaf, there was limited corrosion up above the main battery as Dala describes. The aluminum plate that is part of the safety disconnect has a lot of corrosion on the side mating with the battery enclosure. The blue leaf is otherwise in good condition, having spent most of its life in Florida.

I really like the idea of a thread focused on heading off corrosion. I would still be driving some beloved cars from the 70's if they had not succumbed to all kinds of metal rot. I am planning on never letting that happen again.