The rust was under the plastic panels.I can't remember seeing any early Avalance with rust in those areas when they still had those panels.
What's with all of the plastic trim on vehicles these days?
- Thread starter grampi
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That's more likely due to the door rusting out from the inside out at the very bottom. Poor or no corrosion protection on the sheet metal facing the inside, poor drainage at the bottom of the door. Every time you wash your car, every time it rains, water gets past the window seals and wets down the door's inside sheet metal panel. There's also condensation issues. Newer cars tend to have better corrosion protection.Yea, the good old days when cars rusted in just a few years.
Plastic body cladding would have prevented rocks from chipping the paint and eventually to that rust.
Pretty sure he was not talking about $300 glass headlights.
Maybe it did prevent rust on the body. But maybe it created bigger rust problems in other areas. These trucks had frame rot problems that were far worse than other GM trucks from this generation.I can't remember seeing any early Avalance with rust in those areas when they still had those panels.
I was. And I'd much rather have plastic.
The 2002-2006 Toyota Camry is holding up really well in my area. Very little or no rust on the body which is surprising in NE. It has a plastic strip screwed into the bottom of the rocker panels. You would think the screws would create an area to rust like they do where bumpers are connected to rear quarters. They did something right.
I had two 55’s. The top of the headlights started to rust while sitting in the showroom, lol.
I had a 04 CR-V when I lived in New York. Absolutely loved the black plastic bumpers and rear mounted spare tire. Unlike painted bumpers they didn’t get all scuffed up being parked on the street which if you’ve lived in NYC is an inevitability (it’s bumper cars there). I always treated them with 303. When I sold the car in 2015 in Texas the bumpers still looked brand new with zero fade. I have chrome bumpers on my truck I’m always paranoid someone is going to dent those while parking next to me. As far as design aesthetic, black plastic cladding for some reason equates to “off road capability” to car designers. If you look at more luxury SUVs and sedans you’ll see less of it.
Wow, I've never seen glass rust before.
He was talking about the body surrounding the headlights. That was actually very common on those cars.
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1000% THIS.
These plastic headlamps ALL start losing their UV lens coating after what seems like just 3-4 years and then become crazed and yellowed,
100% JUNK.
Still looks good after 20 years. You do have to maintain it like anything else on the body.
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Lucky you, most people do not have that kind of luck, I've made sure to use UV blocking sealant on them and I've had all these modern UV coated lenses fail after 3-4 years. I've even tried different types of sealants and waxes. If you live in a sun intensive environment I can promise you most of these lenses will start to fail no matter what you do unless you can keep the thing garaged most of the time. They are j.u.n.k.Still looks good after 20 years. You do have to maintain it like anything else on the body.
The only plastic lenses I’ve seen craze and turn yellow are from being parked outside 24/7 and never getting a wash and wax.
2011 Durango picture taken in 2017, factory headlight looks brand new.
2004 Grand Caravan picture taken in 2012, van was not always garage kept. Still look great. Paint was swirl city though!
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I just saw "The Current War" and it was really good. Its about the race between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to power America in 1880.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140507/
The Current War - Wikipedia
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Many body parts have switched to aluminum without the fanfare that Ford gave it. My Jeep has plastic fenders and lots of aluminum body panels which is a good combo for what I do in the south.
Entire plastic panels would be better than plastic panels attached to metal ones...it's the contact point of the two surfaces that causes corrosion, not to mention plastic panels attached to metal fenders/wheel wells is tacky looking...
This article addresses both the CUV/SUV and plastic cladding phenomenon: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2...nette-cuvs-plastic-fantastic-identity-crisis/
I have mostly believed that vehicle marketing is not dictated by consumer input (wants and needs). I believe that vehicle marketing develops what it wants to sell for the most profit and then brainwashes the public into thinking that they need the current offering. Look at today's pickup trucks. Nothing beats the utility and usefulness of my previous minivans, but today they are portrayed as the station wagon of yesteryear - emasculating.
I have mostly believed that vehicle marketing is not dictated by consumer input (wants and needs). I believe that vehicle marketing develops what it wants to sell for the most profit and then brainwashes the public into thinking that they need the current offering. Look at today's pickup trucks. Nothing beats the utility and usefulness of my previous minivans, but today they are portrayed as the station wagon of yesteryear - emasculating.
