This winter PennDOT workers have sprayed more brine than any other winter on record. "Six hundred and fifty thousand gallons of brine down in York County," said Mike Summerville who is the assistant highway maintenance manager for York County. The brine is finer than traditional rock salt meaning it can't get into cracks and crevices underneath your car that are too small for rock salt. Also, because it's a liquid, it can splash up into the undercarriage which can cause your muffler to rust and create problems with your suspension.
"Maintenance is definitely a critical thing during the winter months because if you're not going through a carwash that washes the undercarriage you're leaving that on and it builds up over time," said Thomas Oglesby who works a Jack Giambalvo Collision Center. It's not just the undercarriage. If you don't get it cleaned the salt can cause scratches on your car if anything brushes up against it. Despite the damage it can do to cars, it's not going anywhere. "We've experimented with different types of chemical agents and stuff like that, we find this to be the most cost effective so therefore we've stuck with it," said Summerville.