"Where I live, the locals call it liquid rust. "
Bill Gardiner is the resident mechanic on TSN's Motoring TV and he's talking about the brine solution that is sprayed onto roads in the winter, usually in advance of snow and ice storms.
AAA in the US says drivers end up having to pay 3 billion dollars a year in repairs, because of the liquid de-icer.
Gardiner says it's not much worse than the rock salt that has been used for decades, since both will lead to corrosion.
"Because it's down on the road surface as a liquid, it tends to get sprayed up on the vehicles a little bit more."
And he says it gives it a better chance to seep into the nooks and crannies of cars, and allow rust to form.
So what can you do about it?
You can wash your car weekly during the winter, to get that salty liquid washed off, or Gardiner suggests taking it one step further.
"Some extra corrosion inhibitor is money well spent. It's usually an oily solution that's sprayed in and it's messy in itself, but it's better than rust."