I don't have the experience that most have here, but I am pretty careful with my gear. I take a large bin from Home Depot (<$20) and two five gallon pails. The wet gear (wetsuit, BCD, fins, mask, etc.) goes into the bin, the weights go into one of the buckets, and any small/fragile items go into the last bucket. The vehicle stays dry, the gear stays wet, and everything is protected.
When I get home I fill two 55 gallon trash cans with water and soak everything. First in one to get the salt off, then in the other for a final rinse. After that, everything goes into the shower with me for a good rinse and then allowed to dry in or hanging above the tub.
The small stuff gets soaked and rinsed in the buckets with the water exchanged two or three times during which all movable parts are manipulated several times to work out the salt. The regs get attached to a tank which is put into one of the trash cans for a soak and several good purges before it joins the party in the shower for a good rinse.
The whole process only takes an hour and at the end my gear and myself are squeaky clean. So far, it seems to work well.