Yea, that can happen. My neighbor bought a '66 Mustang off ebay, and it was rusted beyond repair. It was DSO'd to Florida, so it was probably here it's whole life. But you could tell it was a beach car. Even the roof was rusted out.
I got stuck in a snowstorm on 2 occasions with my 'stang, and both times nearly **** myself not to mention could have killed myself or others. From now on, the 'stang stays parked when the white stuff falls. , even a little bit. I'm buying a truck soon anyways.
i'm also in the 'no budget for beater car' category. i live in alberta. i drove the stang almost daily last year with bald ass tires, got stuck a few times, but it wasnt too bad. in the snow, it never saw over 3000 rpms or 60km/h, (even if it meant holding up traffic). it was pretty sketchy, but i was very carefull. i went for a drive yesterday, with no snow on the road (there must have been frost, or SOMETHING!) with my new mods (i'm guessing the gears mainly), and at 40km/h, in 4th gear at 1200 rpms, i was sliding the ass end out like crazy. this was on brand new bfg 275/40/17 kdws (all season) tires.
my old tires
my new tires
based on my first winter experience with the new mods (even with new tires), i will be taking the bus or the gf's car 95% of the time.
I drove a 2.3L mustang for years in the snow, and it wasn't fun, I even had studded snow tires all the way around. I wouldn't even think about it with a V8. I backed my car out of the garage years ago to snap a pic of it in the snow and I had to have my friends help push the car so that I could get it back into the garage... and the driveway was flat!
theres a 4 banger fox at my school that slammed into a curb hard and messed up the whole front end this morning, and it was just a little wet/mushy out.
luckily, i'm driving my old car [ford probe with a 5 speed] for this week, until i get my tranny fixed, or a new one. Its dry out now though.