Rusty cars

[Whyman]

It is quite rare to see a rusty car nowadays but I was surprised to see two today in my local Tesco car park.

Both had very rusty rear wheel arches which looked very substantial and could be made into large holes with a good tap. One was on an 03 plate and the other on an 04 plate.

What surprised me most was that both were Mazdas!

[john.wigley]

You are right, 'Whyman', it is unusual. Quite unlike cars of the fifties, which were often rusted out after 8 to 10 years. Might the cars that you saw have been 'grey' imports, perhaps, with inferior rust protection?

Regards, John.

[T5R92011]

Japan apparently does not salt their roads, so put less corrosion protection on their cars.

[biggbn]

Mazda's have a poor reputation for rust.

[Prufrock]

Many modern cars (circa 10 yrs old) suffer from corrosion, particularly raw edge corrosion around wheel arches.

Jon.

[green van man]

Originally Posted by Prufrock

Many modern cars (circa 10 yrs old) suffer from corrosion, particularly raw edge corrosion around wheel arches.

Jon.

Ford ka very noticeably. The advent of wheel arch liners has stopped a lot of rust but if they are damaged the problem is exacerbated, how many ever remove them and clean behind.

Paul.

[ITSv40]

Originally Posted by biggbn

Mazda's have a poor reputation for rust.

Just ask any MX5 owner about rust.

[capt jack]

Having been looking around for a new-to-me car just recently I'm very surprised to see how many modern cars do suffer from rust, including Mercedes Benz, Jaguars and Range Rovers. And it's not always the rust you can see, but the rust that you can't. I've lost count of how many MOT histories, particularly on Jags and Mercs, that I scanned to find included "corrosion seriously affecting the structure" as the reason for a Fail at some point.

Amazing too how many of those cars then passed a second MOT the same day with an apparent clean bill of health, and were being sold as "immaculate" or "mint".

I learned to take cynically the word "mint" as referring to the particular brand that has a hole in the middle!

Cars did of course rot much more readily back in the day, and in the 1970s and 1980s it was quite common for cars at just 3 or 4 years old to be riddled with tin worm.

As Volvo owners I think that we are a bit spoilt - our cars are amongst the better-protected, although 300-series cars and the beautiful if fragile 262 could and did rot away with the best of them.

Jack

[phil1968]

Saw this the other day & found it quite interesting, although I'd have to disagree with his statement that cars have been galvanised for the last 30 years (unless that is the case in Australia), more like the last 15 to 20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlAQP5Sng6M

[Prufrock]

Originally Posted by phil1968

Saw this the other day & found it quite interesting, although I'd have to disagree with his statement that cars have been galvanised for the last 30 years (unless that is the case in Australia), more like the last 15 to 20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlAQP5Sng6M

Youtube footage is a little misleading.

Although Volvo 700s had galvanising treatment on certain structures and panels from launch.

Jon.