Worth exposing my minty 17' R to winter driving?

[bigbacon]

As others said, its a civic, drive it, wash it, and it will be fine.

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[BryanCO]

Sorry for the long ass post. Super conflicted with a decision that I need advice on. If you want to skip the story then go to the last sentence.

Purchased a brand new factory fresh R back in late 2017 and vowed it would NEVER see much rain let alone a single winter. Finally sold my pickup truck and currently relying on a 2002 Civic sedan with 350K km. Mechanically the 2002 civic is good. Rust JUST started on the 2002 civic but was told the last time I had the windshield replaced that the front window frame was very rusty and will likely not survive another window change in the future. In other words, they (Honda dealership) said "start shopping for a newer car". I have no reason to doubt my former colleagues as the car is getting up there in age...

This 2002 civic is my wife's original car purchased new and little does she know that I'm in the process of purchasing her a new car but due to the lame chip shortages that her new car won't likely land in our possession for 4-6 months. We both work from home so it isn't like I need to really commute anywhere and the only thing I really need a car for is to take my kids to and from the mountains for ski lessons. I could take my wife's car BUT the problem is that she'd be stranded at home without a car. Not necessarily a deal-breaker as I do have family that could drive her if she REALLY needed to go somewhere and I don't take the kids skiing every weekend. When the new car comes likely in June that we'd still probably keep her 2002 civic around since it is mechanically sound (sans the slipping automatic tranny when it is cold) and I'd use it as my city runabout car to run errands when I don't feel like taking the R or her new car out.

I guess my question is, knowing my situation does it make sense to get a set of winter tires for the R for the JUST in case days where she needs a car on the same days that I need it? As it stands now I'm saving on not having to buy premium fuel, not ruining the perfect paint on my car, and exposing it to grit and salt. We've managed on a single daily driver since October of this year and I figured that aside from ski days that we really haven't found a DYING need for a 2nd car per se. My reasons for putting winters on the R is because my car isn't appreciating in value and being that it is 4 years old that I JUST rolled over 22, 000kms. It doesn't get enough drive time as it is so using in the winter gives me a reason to keep enjoying but at the expense of letting the salt slowly eat away at it and it would no longer be in factory mint condition. For those wondering, I do plan to keep this car forever IF I can manage the space to store it. We typically drive our cars into the ground and will keep them for as long as humanly possible. Case in point, I have a 1990 CRX Si I purchased used in the college and that was 21 years ago. She sleeps quietly in the garage looking as fresh as the day she rolled off the factory assembly line.

TL : DR
Would you or would you NOT winter drive the R knowing you don't necessarily have to?

This doesn’t seem to make sense.

The best part of having a fun car like the CTR is driving it everyday.

 

[SGP_TypeR]

I am putting my winter wheels/tires on the Type R this weekend. I'll absolutely daily it. Granted, I am getting rid of it in a few months but, I would otherwise as well.

If I felt this were a collectors item that would be a different story. However, with so many made and an LE version, I can't imagine it will be. I want to enjoy it while I got it. Not to mention, life is too short to sweat the small stuff. Drive and enjoy it.

I've seen plenty of daily drive vehicles in the salt belt that are fine. The owners just have the habit of keeping them clean. Touchless in the winter, and then an under carriage detail in the spring when you swap the wheels out.

 

[Civics4Ever]

You have 2 garage kept cars, one for 21 years. Why would you change now? Get a beater and drive it in the winter.

 

[Civics4Ever]

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1987-honda-crx-si-7/
That CRX might be worth more than a n you think.

 

[curt d]

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1987-honda-crx-si-7/
That CRX might be worth more than a n you think.

Damn! I had that exact crx at 17. It was awesome. Sold it with 230k on it. Wish I had as much faith in the new civics.

 

[NHCivicGuy]

I was in a similar boat/thought about getting a beater for the winter and store the R. But then the more I thought about it, life is short and I love this car through and through. So I bought some 18” Enkei wheels and General Altimax Arctic tires and going to run it. My previous 2019 and 2020 Si’s did very well in the winter and I have no doubt this will too. Long term rust was my concern as well but I decided I’m not going to worry. I’ll wash the car and underside often and send it.

I also contemplated doing some rust proofing but decided against that too.

 

[charleswrivers]

Having 3 season cars you don’t want to drive in the winter for fear of salt damage long-term is tough. I got rid of what was otherwise a great type S RSX in 2012 because it lived it’s life in NY and figured it was tainted goods long term and would rust out on me. 3 years with a, then year old Xterra made its undercarriage a rusty mess once I traded it. That was *with* an undercarriage treatment new at the dealer and weekly car washes with an undercarriage spray down. I had to keep crawling under under the X that last year and putting new pipe clamps on ones that rusted through on my heat shields and at 8 years old it was positively trashed. I was close to needing new exhaust and suspension work I did near the end was *tough* because the fasteners were junk and needed replacing.

I also sold a good-bodied ‘86 300zx turbo manual before I moved from WA to NY as I knew the winters would eat it up. I loved that car and it was my DD for 4 years. I couldn’t do it to it.

Given your position, you’ve got to decide to use your existing fleet of cars like cars and not collectors pieces or get yourself a second beater you don’t care about. If you intend to keep your collectors pieces long term, there’s a good likelihood they’ll show ill effects. Maybe not after a year or two but 5-10 years. I don’t think any salt exposure to a car is good. When I changed the O2 sensors on the RSX when it was about 8 years old with 100-110k miles, I saw the rust and knew it was only going to get worse. When I let it go at 10 years and 140k miles…. It was worse despite my best efforts and a good call to sell it when I moved back down south.

Good luck. I hated living in NY for what the salt did to the cars up there.

 

[BryanCO]

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1987-honda-crx-si-7/
That CRX might be worth more than a n you think.

Or not.

 

[stevescivic]

So update: I managed to get some new winter shoes for the R and I must say that she drives quite nicely on the slick roads. I mounted my new rims and tires (and subsequently scratched the rims while installing them on the car b/c I slipped on my sloped driveway and banged the rim against the studs) and drove the car to honda to have the block heater installed since they owed me one. Funny things is, the idiots at the dealership billed their sales department 3.5 hours install for the block heater and all the tech did was remove the block plug and screwed the heater in and didn't follow the proper block heater install procedure where the front bumper had to come off. Total laziness and incompetence. I asked the advisor how am I supposed to plug this in? He says "open the hood and plug it in". Who DOES that?? So while I'm annoyed as hell they billed another department for the full install time that they did a 1/4 baked job putting in the heater for me. In the end its, fine, I'll wait until the summer to do it right myself. Having worked as a tech at the dealership I'd rather do all my own warranty work than to let the clowns at the dealership poke and pry away at the delicate clips on the car and not own up to breaking them all. No thanks. Can't do anything right unless you do it yourself! You guys were right, in that the R can now be enjoyed throughout the year!

 

[NapalmEnema]

You must really love that CRX to not have put the winter shoes on it lol.

 

[stevescivic]

You must really love that CRX to not have put the winter shoes on it lol.

Yes I reall do... I used to drive it in the winter back when I acquired the car back in 2001/2002. Drove it for several years all year round but then garaged it in 2006 to start the restoration project on it. Spent a greater part of 1.5-2 years carefully removing each trim piece from the body to give it full and proper paint job. Had the quarter panel rust fixed and the front passenger lower rocker panels replaced due to major corrosion. Spent a lot of time and effort restoring it and when i say its factory mint it is as close to showroom as you can get. Only thing I didn't repaint is the insides of the shell or the engine bay (b/c it never needed it) so while it is JUST a CRX that those cars are now quite rare to see in the condition that its in. Will it pay off for me? Probably not although I know I won't lose any money from the restoration given the current prices of the car and its just one of those things that I don't have the heart to ruin from running it in the winter. The Type R has had once single winter drive so far and its still locked up the garage for "emergency use only" lol.

First world problems I tell you...

 

[lexro]

East coast Canada here, got the R back in May this year, already put on 8k miles. Driven in 2 snowy weather so far, this morning floor is wet, my car is covered in dirt water but my smile per miles is only getting bigger

later in the future when i do sell or trade in this car, i don't wanna feel like i owned it for the sake of owning it. i'd want to look back at it, and think about how i drove it all the time and had lots of fun with it with a smile on my face. turn around to the sales, and tell him the deal is off and drive out of the dealership.

 

[boosted180sx]

You must really love that CRX to not have put the winter shoes on it lol.

everybody values things differently. ?‍

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