Galvanising seemed great to me and the answer to cars rusting out before 15yrs, but are things changing again re corrosion protection?.
Some cars now have 12 year rust warranties but other *newly introduced models* only have a 6 years corrosion warranty.
I wondered if standards were changing a little in this area, perhaps as accountants and costs get priority over engineers?
Just reflecting on my past experiences, in 1984, I had a new Fiesta which was rusty underneath in 1 year. I then bought a VW polo in 1985 and there was no structural rust in the 15 yrs it was in the family.
The 84 Fiesta seemed like modest paint thickness on ordinary steel, the Polo thick layers of paint on ordinary steel.
The Fiats I have had recently seem to have a modest paint thickness, but on galvanised steel.
But some new models such as Vauxhalls new Corsa seem to only have a 6 year corrosion warranty , I wonder what that means and whether it is another variation on the protection methods?
In other words, I thought ordinary paint thickness on galvanised steel was the way forward, but do 6 year warranties mean something else?
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IMO corrosion warranties are a waste of time these days. Modern cars don't rust. A car is scrapped these days due to some hugely expensive component failure such as ABS. I doubt very few cars in a scrap yard are there due to corrosion rendering them unroadworthy.
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Two stories:
I had an '83 metro Turbo bought 2nd hand in '85 shortly after which I had a prang, two years later rust bubled through the wing, Rover (or whatever they were called then) covered it with no quibble, the body repair had been done by a Rover(?) dealer, as it happens the car was registered just three months after they introduced a 6 year perforation warranty in early 1983.
My current Mondeo suffered corrosion along the bottom edge of the rear doors, white powdery oxidation rather than rust due to being galvanised, caused by hardening of the sealer, as I posted here a year or so ago the sealer on these doors is was hard to touch where as on the front doors, hatch etc it is soft to the extent that you could make an indentation in it with your finger nail, the car was nearly four years old and had done 102000 miles, so it was a year and 42000 miles out of it's warranty, yes it has a 12 year perforation warranty though it was certainly not perforated. Ford held no liability to me at all in respect of this problem other than goodwill however, no quibble, it had two new rear doors fitted and a complete respray of each side of the car, front wing to rear wing and I had a brand spanking new C-Max to drive while they did it. Ok, it is better to not have the problem in the first place though 10/10 for Ford for taking it seriously.
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Xileno said "modern cars don't rust"..
Well , define "modern"...
Post 1995 Mercedes certainly do.
And Mark5 Ford Fiestas do.. and KAs
I have seen very few rusty Peugeots but our 106 does rust underneath the boot floor ( a well known issue).
Jaguars ? Mid 1990s rust underneath..
And I have seen some very grotty Mark4 VW Golfs...
So I'm afarid that I disagree.. to be pedantic:-))
madf
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We consigned a 94 Golf estate to the scrappy because it had rusted very badly underneath. Small rust on the rear wheelarches was all you could see until it was on the ramp. Not the first, the garage said.
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I was speaking in general terms. There are always exceptions to any rule (that's my excuse anyway...)
One certainly doesn't see the rusty heaps that dominated the 1970's though, think of French and Italian cars - they're some of the best protected now.
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It's interesting that you say manufacturers are going back to 6 years.
I was not aware of this and thought 12 years was the standard.
I know Honda were pretty late to the party and have only just recently started to introduce 12 year warrantys.
Having said that I do see alot of 10-15 year old Honda's on the road that look in good nick (and I'm sure there are plaenty not in such good nick - so probablty depends again on use and care).
I also think they are useful especially if you are a MB owner.
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Well , define "modern"...
The average life of a car in the UK is about 14 years, so anything much older than that is unusual and is living on borrowed time.
--
L\'escargot.
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Haven't Vauxhall always been 6 years anyway? No point bucking the trend! IIRC they're the only major car manufacturer to offer only 6 years.
The Fiesta and Ka are based on the same car, all relating back to the Mk3. I wouldn't be surprised if they rusted. Modern Fords are much better.
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Mike Farrow
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"Haven't Vauxhall always been 6 years anyway"
I think the previous model Astra (the one that had its fully galvanised bodyshell headlined at launch) had a 12 year warranty but my (new) Zafira & Corsa are back to 6 years.
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I'm pretty sure that the old Zafira/Astra were only 6 years - contrary to HJ's car-by-car breakdown. Well mine's a 2004 and that's what the service book says.
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I'm pretty sure that the old Zafira/Astra were only 6 years
The Astra-G was 12 yrs.
(look under "anti-corrosion treatment")
82.34.52.15/sytemsandsoftwaredevelopment/Brochures...g
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