300DFarmer has a lot of good advice, which I will vouch for keeping my cars together here in the rust capitol of the world. Except for the washing part, ...

grease and kerosene make a good rust preventer, spray it everywhere and let it run out on a sunny day, ... a friend used to do it every fall to keep his Volvos rust-free.

Personally, I don't bother with the goop spraying routine, but I don't drive a 123. My method is to wash frequently and thoroughly in the winter, my '85 quattro was my winter driver from '86-on, then my daughter's winter car, retired last year and still rust free. The quattro is a zinc-dipped body like the 124 sedans and the later 201s though, much more resistant to rust.

The manual says use lots of water, I agree. Wash under the car with a hose whenever possible, knock down the sand and junk holding moisture/salt, spray lots of water around where it will run down sunroof drains, in doors, rocker panels, spray upwards to clean off the fender lip and under bumpers, ... a big pain really I've done it for decades. On the other hand, I haven't had a rusty car in 25years.

The other thing is how the car is used. If you can spend your first block or so driving in fresh snow, you will pack the fenders with clean snow to protect it from salted slush later in your drive. Freeway travel is brutal, the salt mist gets everywhere and is nearly impossible to clean out. Also the salt will get into the engine. I mean IN the engine. My '91 4matic was not run on the highway. In '95 we were chasing a problem with hesitation, were changing parts out to find the source (out of warranty). Used intake parts were noticably more corroded from local/Michigan cars (such as the airflow meter) than from my non-salt-driven car. These were parts downstream of the air filter, and there was lots of salt corrosion. This indicated to me that the salt mist we drive in here somehow passes through the filter and corrodes the engine intake system, ...

If you really like the car, drive it. Funny thing is, if you sell it before you move to WI, you will likely end up like the rest of us in the rust-belt; looking for a car from a rust-free state to fly out and buy so you'll have it to drive. You already have that car, keep it.

As far as the post about the '85 that has been in salt for 5years, big deal. If that car was five years old and driven in Michigan all of its life, it wouldn't be rusty. It will get rusty eventually, might take longer than five years if it started out really solid.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

That's all very nice, but it wouldn't work for me. I wouldn't want to spend 5 months of the year driving a car I didn't like at all and that I therefore didn't care about, while I kept the cars I like in storage. That's too much of the year.

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1974 240D, 125K mi, B100 now, SOLD
1980 300TD, 115K mi, 4-speed stick, roll-up windows, greasecar with two tank conversion (daily driver)
1985 300D, 220K miles, greasecar with two tank conversion, SOLD
1993 300D 2.5turbo, 158K miles, green/tan, B20-B50

That is sort of my point. I was referring to a posting that said that the 123s will melt in the salt like a sugar cube in the water. And I said that that was exaggerated. So yes, maybe in another 5 years it will have some rust. So that is 10 years. Big deal, exactly. If the original poster's car also is pretty solid now, as he says it is, then he might have some 10 years, and then he'll just have to repair it for a couple thousand bucks. Not too bad, considering that a new modern car will not last even that long.

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1974 240D, 125K mi, B100 now, SOLD
1980 300TD, 115K mi, 4-speed stick, roll-up windows, greasecar with two tank conversion (daily driver)
1985 300D, 220K miles, greasecar with two tank conversion, SOLD
1993 300D 2.5turbo, 158K miles, green/tan, B20-B50

Well my last beater was the 1982 300SD, I didn't love it but I certainly didn't mind driving it. I am hoping I never actualy have to drive the VW, if things go well at my job this year I will dump it for a MB of my picking(E320). Since I got said VW for free I have nothing to lose either way.

I enjoy driving the SDL a lot, just not all the time. Sometimes its nice to drive a car that I don't really care that much about, or have to keep as clean. I'd rather have a work car, something I can store work crap in, curb the wheels and not mind to much, drive through construction sites, etc, etc. Then a nice perfectly clean car for when I want to not work..

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

As much salt as they drop on the roads in Chicago area. I would just park it for the winter salt season. In a garage would be the best. At lest on the driveway far from the road as possible would be 2ed best. Till there is no possibility of freezing weather and after the last salt is washed from the road for good.