OK, so I'm looking to buy a house, but it is about 1/2-3/4 mile on a dirt road in Michigan. From what I've seen, it occasionally gets oiled and looks to be maintained. I got a beater truck for a winter car, but I'd like to keep my nicer summer cars clean. Will this be remotely possible driving this far on dirt; driving very slow?
Probably NOT! Had a friend that lived off of a dirt road, well maintained , but dusty when it was dry, Muddy when the rains came! Your call, Good Luck!
Remove front and rear oil seals from the beater...by spring you will have a traditional oiled-down dirt road that is very stable
You won't keep it clean. I live on a dirt road in Missouri and it it a pain! As already stated its real dusty in the dry season and muddy when it rains plain and simple.
I lived off a gravel road for 2 years. ****ed ***. As much as the county tried to keep in up it just was never good. Winter beat the hell out of it too. Early spring it was a packed rock hard wash board. They would spread new gravel over it and then the traffic and rain would wash it off. Took til mid summer before it would hold the gravel and be smooth again. Unfortunately I cant think of anything good about it.
I live on a gravel road (mostly dirt).....it is impossible to keep anything clean, including my DD's and the house. The dust is the worst thing for me, it gets in everything! I'm actually glad when it snows....NO DUST!!
Depends on what you call dirt. City folks don't know the difference between a gravel road, an oil and chip road, or a dirt road. I live down and oil and chip road. You might as well count on rock chips, but it isn't dirty....
The dirt roads is one of the reasons I did not move into the familys property in Michigan,the county finally paved the main road but I still had a 1/2 mile on the road the property was on and that did not include the 1/4 mile long dirt driveway. If I moved there I would have needed to buy another property that had a garage that was on a paved road to keep my good cars in.
Buy the house and a California duster. Then pool your money with your neighbors and get the 1/2 mile paved.
I live about 1/2 mile down a bad *** dirt road when it rains MUD when it is dry DUST. Some clown was speeding down the road the other day when i was coming home on the Harly ,had to hold my breath. It is a pain in the ****.However I love where I live.
Come visit El Mirage and after that your dirt road will seem like its concrete. By weslake at 2011-09-28
No it won't stay show car clean but if you want to take it for a drive it isn't the end of the world. Wax the hell out of it and find yourself a good car wash then give it a quick rinse when you get to town if you are that worried about it.
Sounds like a bunch of pansies. A little dust wont hurt your car. We live a mile off the highway, gravel all the way. Never once stopped me from driving my hotrod. I dont wax, I use Wizards Mist N SHine and the dust rolls off the car. Washes clean with a garden hose, no pressure needed.
Thanks for the input. I doubt it will be a deal breaker for me. May just have to get me one of those dusters maybe a pressure washer.
They paved our road about 10 years ago, we used to have to drive on a mile of dirt, now it's only 1/4 mile. It doesn't bother me much, the car gets dirty after taking it out a few times. I guess if you have a dark color car it would be a *****, but lighter colors like white, orange, yellow, red, aren't too bad. Drive slow, like about 5mph on the dirt, and you won't have much trouble, except for the rain/mud. We went about 6 months here this year with no rain, just dust. Up there I imagine it's a different story. btw I like the pic of Ed's vette on the lake....
we use to complain about the dirt road in front of my dads house so finally it got paved.after all the new traffic and neighbors he got that old dirt road wasnt so bad
My place up north is about 3/8 mile up a dirt street. its certainly not going to keep me from moving up as soon as i can. I lived 7 miles down a dirt/gravel road once. it didn't bring my life to an end at all.
I wish I lived on a dirt road with no neighbors, ah someday. AS to having to clean the car, I would prefer to clean my car everyday to having to deal with living in a neighborhood.
Your user name is Sundancevette are we talking about a Vette running up and down the dirt road? If the house is a hell of a deal and what you want cars wash up pretty easy. If you are basing the purchase of the house on the car getting dirty,keep looking.
Where in Michigan? I live on a paved road (dead end) and there are 10 properties within a 3 mile radius of my place that are currently for sale. About 1/2 of them are empty. Two of them are adjacent properties to me. Michigan right now has lots of empty houses in foreclosure and many of them are all on paved roads. I would look a little harder...
I used to live down a 1/2 mile gravel lane. No matter how slow I drove (I'm not kidding here, you could walk faster) the car got dusty. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just the outside, but it gets in every nook and cranny including the interior. Basically, you're screwed if you want a clean car...
We live at the dead-end of a one mile , dirt, farm road. Fresh mud and dust hose off real easy. The best bit is that our nearest neighbors are a mile away and we don't get any 'drive-by's'! lol
When I got my Indiana, country-driven 37 it had one inch stones lodged between the inner and outer frame rails! And quite a few "outies" in the fenders. But it was kept well lubed and it had so much grease built-up on the spindles that when you peeled all that off they looked like they were fresh out of Cosmoline! Get the neighbors to chip in for paving? Gary
Well the road isn't a deal breaker, just trying to figure out how big a pain in the *** it would be. I've drug my poor realtor to 30 homes in the last 4-5 months. This is by far the best for the money that I've seen, and room for a pole barn. The road was the only caveat. Banana, I'm primarily looking in the Davisburg and White Lake area.
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