Well, when people put more faith in anecdotal reports than independent consumer organizations it's really not a debate worth engaging.
That is actually being very close-minded.
A lot of people do that because it seems to be the easy way out. Instead of doing lots of research on your own and even testing things on your own it's easier just to go to some well known source or "authority" on something and go by the recommendations.
You just must be aware that this does not guarantee the best results. It also does not even guarantee that you will have the same results as the reporting organization because as I said earlier they are taking into account everyone from all 50 states. Like when they give reliability ratings and stuff like that they are giving them for the entire group.
There are some Extremely low and extremely high that are all figured into the averages. What if your personal conditions or area are one of the ones in extremely high or extremely low result and you would not even know it from one of these reporting agencies.
For instance when you look up that the average lifespan of a new car battery now is only three to four years. That sounds terrible and actually it is compared to older ones but that is every car battery sold in this country in all locations.
They don't break it down state for state or by climate conditions to let you know that a battery in blistering hot conditions it's probably only two years and batteries in super cold climates but they're bad or not get replaced earlier to. Then you have the batteries in more moderate climates that make it eight or nine years before they end up being replaced.
So to just blindly or faithfully go to the self-proclaimed expert and say the battery is going to last three to four years is not really that accurate for each individual.
You should not put all your faith into one or several anecdotal stories on the internet either but you should certainly give them just as much faith and credit especially when you can continually find similar stories.
But we are free to believe whatever we want to believe. I don't know what climate you live in but I can guarantee you that cars in Southwest Ohio will be cleaner and less rust on the bottom of the doors and the fenders and wheel wells , and trunk area, and less frame and Chassis degradation on a vehicle that is somehow rust proved, coated, or even undercoating with tar style or rubberized spray cans early on when it's clean vs cars that are left Factory original and untouched.
It's probably not that way in Arizona, not that way and lots of California and not that way in Louisville Kentucky but I have enough decades of experience being underneath and working on and around cars to knowl that is absolutely true in this climate that I'm familiar with.
So your mileage may vary but Consumer Reports is not the authority on rust protection. Neither are the companies that sell rust prevention products or techniques as you can't put full faith into their information and recommendations because they have a big vested interest in selling products.
And by the way, that's why a lot of people are here or end up on forums such as this. To gather opinions and that anecdotal evidence to use in their decision-making process.
I guess we have the same problem sometimes in normal mechanical repair issues. It's just not super well evident or posted the exact dealer recommendation or manufacturer recommended way to fix something. When it is, there are people that will argue it there's that's the only way to do it. Or that it's the correct way so that's the way you should do it.
So some people go to forums just to find out how to fix something and other people go to find different ways or the easiest or cheapest way to fix something.
Arguing with someone that the book prescribed way is better or correct vs else's way who has done the repair 25 times is is not only silly, it's closed minded and defeats the purpose of community forums and open communication.
But that is certainly how some people roll.
Then we have the other group of people that take lots of time to make up and post life hacks at they call them. There are entire videos on Facebook YouTube and everywhere else about this and some people greatly enjoy watching them even though they've never even had the need for some of these so-called hacks.
You see things and go wow. That's neat and works a lot better. Then the naysayers come along and try their best to shoot holes and the batter easier way.
Maybe they just hate change. Nope. That's not it because I hate change but I'm always open for something that's better or makes my life easier or save me money.
Would have to have some psychologists here to really get into it but I'm sure there's some traits involved and some things we could call it. You know, Society has to have a name for everything today.
I think it's just because some people have such a self-important attitude that they know they, or their way is right and don't even want to consider anyone having a better way or even consider Thinking Out of the Box because their box works just fine.
Doing something differently or even acknowledging it works would be saying someone else is better or smarter or out did them.
Maybe it's something like this or maybe it's some other type of Personality quirk or trait.
I don't know. I'm just pondering. That's really not my wheelhouse.
But observing people, their actions, pointing out what I don't like or what I think is messed up in the world, and expressing my opinions on how it could or should be changed... That is my wheelhouse.
I think our should stop rusting. That's my opinion. I think they should stop pre-treating the roads with that salt brine crap.
I think they should stop using salt on the roads or at least so much of it. It doesn't get that bad in Southwest Ohio. Let's go back to putting sand on the road.
They destroyed the cars and the roads much faster but they like that. It's what I call spinning the money wheel.
All the groups that organization and Society in general and the country in general wants to keep us spinning it.
Companies that sell salt want them to use all the salt, the plow truck operators want to make the money for working overtime dispensing the salt, the contractors need job security for Paving the roads every two years. Car washes with the increased revenue from the bad conditions. Vehicle manufacturers don't want cars to stay nice for too long because they want to sell new ones. Rust preventative and coating companies I want this all to happen so they can sell products to people who don't believe consumer reports that want to try to protect their cars longer.
Then there's those weirdos that want the roads to be safer and less slippery so they are soft proponents too. You know, the ones that want to just jump in their car and head out in the worst winter conditions and drive like it's a sunny day in July.
How dare they have to be inconvenienced to leave a little early and drive slower and cautiously to get where they're going or GOSH..... Limit their driving for a day or two until the sun melts most of it.
But I digress... Wait , did I already do that? I probably shouldn't go on. I really need a nap.
Dum da da!!!
