Until recently I was provided with an Mreg cavalier for work. I noticed that the offside (drivers) rear wheel arch was rusting badly (so much so that when my boss asked me why i hadn't washed the car I explained that I thought that it was the mud and dirt that was holding the thing together!)
Anyhow, I've noticed that most cavaliers I've seen on the roads seem to rust on this particular area, i.e. not the nearside wheel arch.
Why's that then?
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I think this is because the offside arch has the fuel cap pipework situated and mud can get trapped between it and the wheelarch and create a nice little breeding ground for the rust lurgy to live in.
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Could this be some kind of Vauxhall/Opel design fault? It appears that all Vauxhalls from the 80's and early 90's, be they Novas, Astras, Cavaliers, Calibras, Carltons and Senators all seem to suffer rusting of the tops of the rear wheelarches in one way or another.
They might have solved it - I've not seen a rotten Vectra yet (the earliest cars are seven years old), and the Corsa has lots of plastic around the arches. Still seems odd that all models from that particular era are affected though!
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Believe it or not I saw a V reg Vectra a couple of days back with noticable rust starting on the n/s rear arch and small flecks on the bottom of the n/s doors.
Obviously as it was white it was more noticable but this is absolutley shocking on a 3 year old car. My old 8 year old ZX had none at all when I traded it in for my current car.
For some reason (don't ask me why) I think white cars are alot more rust prone than any other colour, and not just because this colour makes it easier to spot!
I'm a loser, baby....so why don't you kill me?!
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But when the rust finally emerges from under that plastic where it has being festering you really have a problem, r_welfare...
Rust under wheelarches is almost inevitable but when washing if wash carefully can lower amount...
Perhaps old vauxhalls are often old rep mobiles who never wash and/or care for their car
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That's a very good point Gen - rust of course never sleeps, and if manufacturers made rust-free cars then would we change them so often? Probably not!
Having said that though, I think in the medium-to-long term the plastic hides any rust, which will help a lot when you sell the car on - even at banger level, most people are put off by the sight or rust, regardless of whether it's superficial or structural. Of course, once the rust starts to eat up past the plastic on something like a Corsa (where the bottom of the rear wing is quite high up), you should be very worried indeed...
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Maybe I'm just a cynic, but my old (F plate) 2.0GL Cavalier started to rust in the rear wheel arch just 6 months outside the bodywork guarantee. Both arches went the same way. As you say, more modern Cavaliers did exactly the same thing. I think that GM made JUST enough car. They knew it would rust. They could have designed it differently, but it would involve soending more money on each car. As long as it lasted for the 6 years... Incidently, I tried lots of people to try and fix it, but nothing worked more than 12 months. The rust always always popped up a few inches away.
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Regarding the paint colour and rust..
ISTR years ago when Renault (?) were overcoming a problem with rust they rationalised the colour choice for a range which "stuck" to the car better.
Anyone else remember that ?
If so, which were the best colours?
Would it be relevant these days anyway?
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my old (F plate) 2.0GL Cavalier started to rust in the rear wheel arch just 6 months outside the bodywork guarantee. Both arches went the same way.
I have owned 2 Mk3 Cavaliers; a 1991 J reg that I bought when it was 3 yrs old and sold 4 years later; then a 1993 L reg one, again 3 yrs old when bought and sold 5 years later. ie, aged 7 years old and 8 years old respectively when I sold them. Neither had rusty wheel arches - reason being I regularly washed the inner ledge of the back wheel arches, and every couple of years applied fresh underseal. I previously looked after all my other cars this way and will go on doing so with my current ones. A few minutes of preventative maintenance can save money in the long run, and also helps to increase the cars value when you go to sell it.
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My cavalier 2.0 gls (k) did exactly the same thing, there is a seam on the rear arch situated behind ( not inside) the door that turned to rust, and there where little spots of rust all over the place, shame cos it was a really nice silver colour and it spoiled it really.
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