When I was very young and had a wife, a mortgage and two childen, I had little money. My vehicle was rusty inside and out and my neighbors chided me about it. I now don't accept any visual rust and only a slight bit on the frame or wheel wells. ed
Your tolerance for rust?
- Thread starter Kurtatron
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I did not care about rust on my 2007 MDX but it made vehicle not pass state inspection as it was Swiss cheese.
Michigan has no inspections. You can literally get tags for a car missing body panels. While I do dislike salt and rust, I visited Houston in August this year. The southern heat can only be described as infernal suffering. I rather endure blistering chills than the monsoons of sweat you have down there. There is a reason Hell is hot, not cold.
Without inspections, atrocious rust buckets are not uncommon. Sights like this are a daily occurrence. And the owners don’t seem to have any shame. Can I become like one of them?
Without inspections, atrocious rust buckets are not uncommon. Sights like this are a daily occurrence. And the owners don’t seem to have any shame. Can I become like one of them?
Kestas
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No shame. Newish cars are a money pit. I have a hobby car. Other priorities are a paid-for house, good retirement package, winter condo in Florida, evenings out, etc.
With a rustbucket you don't have to worry about where you park your car.
I'm glad we don't have vehicle inspections for rust in Michigan. I've rarely seen a car with a rusty body be a hazard on the roads.
With a rustbucket you don't have to worry about where you park your car.
I'm glad we don't have vehicle inspections for rust in Michigan. I've rarely seen a car with a rusty body be a hazard on the roads.
I bet the automakers love you...
Zero tolerance rust policy. Left rust issues behind me when I moved south from crook county IL.
I had an F-150 that was rusted out so bad in the cab corners that the heat wouldn't keep up. Duct tape and spray foam got me through a couple ugly winter's.
I had an F-150 that was rusted out so bad in the cab corners that the heat wouldn't keep up. Duct tape and spray foam got me through a couple ugly winter's.
As mentioned previously, other things will go before the rust gets bad enough to warrant any heartburn. My 140K mile 2008 Scion xB was 10 years old, through tons of snow/sleet/salt and no visible rust anywhere on the body. It was also lowered and basically acted like a snow plow in deep snow. No rustproofing or anything like that. Some light surface rust underneath, but minimal. Absolutely zero visible rust anywhere on the body, even around wheel wells or anything like that. Held up extremely well and never had issue working on the car, either. Unfortunately, I was hit and totaled, otherwise it would have easily saw another 10 years and 100K miles... Bummer some idiot had to smash me, loved that car...
Currently have a 2010 Mazda 3 in the driveway and same deal, but at 85K. A little worse than the Scion underneath. If we get 15 years out of it, that's fine with me. I don't see us keeping it around more than another 2-3 years (primarily due to other issues, such as a faulty airbag wiring harness and A/C compressor failure). Body rust is only in some deep chips on the hood, very minimal/small. The corrosion is mainly underneath. If anything, it's just a bit more work dealing when doing maintenance on it (getting seized rotors off, for example!). The car was hardly taken care of throughout it's life with minimal washes and such.
Most people keep their cars on average what, 8 years or something, last I read? No car will rust out by then with recent coatings/materials. I think you are looking at a few years beyond that at the least before things start turning south in the snowbelt. And if you have some collector car or anything like that, you aren't driving it in winter or rain anyway.
As far as my tolerance? For my 10+ year old cars, as long as it's not a safety concern/issue, it is what it is and I likely have a new or planning on a new car by that time anyway. Just have plenty of liquid wrench, anti-seize, breaker bars and torches on hand to help along the way when things start getting a bit crusty
Currently have a 2010 Mazda 3 in the driveway and same deal, but at 85K. A little worse than the Scion underneath. If we get 15 years out of it, that's fine with me. I don't see us keeping it around more than another 2-3 years (primarily due to other issues, such as a faulty airbag wiring harness and A/C compressor failure). Body rust is only in some deep chips on the hood, very minimal/small. The corrosion is mainly underneath. If anything, it's just a bit more work dealing when doing maintenance on it (getting seized rotors off, for example!). The car was hardly taken care of throughout it's life with minimal washes and such.
Most people keep their cars on average what, 8 years or something, last I read? No car will rust out by then with recent coatings/materials. I think you are looking at a few years beyond that at the least before things start turning south in the snowbelt. And if you have some collector car or anything like that, you aren't driving it in winter or rain anyway.
As far as my tolerance? For my 10+ year old cars, as long as it's not a safety concern/issue, it is what it is and I likely have a new or planning on a new car by that time anyway. Just have plenty of liquid wrench, anti-seize, breaker bars and torches on hand to help along the way when things start getting a bit crusty
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Where I love cars have a very short lifespan. Rust belt.
From December till March the roads are coated in salt and it takes it toll, you just can’t avoid it. I’ll wash my vehicles, fluid film them, but you just can’t win.
I won’t tolerate rust, especially cosmetic. It takes years for that to happen though. I wax my vehicles 3-4 times a year and try to do everything I can to protect that paint, but the undercarriage, brake lines, pinch welds, floor boards...they’re all subjected to severe salt/brine exposure. You rinse it off every chance you get (not easy in freezing temps) and you get that thing treated twice a year. But I’m driving around with rust holes you can actually see. No thanks, life is too short for that.
From December till March the roads are coated in salt and it takes it toll, you just can’t avoid it. I’ll wash my vehicles, fluid film them, but you just can’t win.
I won’t tolerate rust, especially cosmetic. It takes years for that to happen though. I wax my vehicles 3-4 times a year and try to do everything I can to protect that paint, but the undercarriage, brake lines, pinch welds, floor boards...they’re all subjected to severe salt/brine exposure. You rinse it off every chance you get (not easy in freezing temps) and you get that thing treated twice a year. But I’m driving around with rust holes you can actually see. No thanks, life is too short for that.
Why do they use salt on the roads? We use sand out in these parts and it works fine for adding traction. Seems like people would be better off just buying proper tires for winter than relying on salt, which drastically decreases vehicle life and increases expenses for vehicles?
Is salt just cheaper for the state/cities to apply instead of more frequent plowing and sanding?
Is salt just cheaper for the state/cities to apply instead of more frequent plowing and sanding?
I have succumbed to buying 5 year old vehicles and keeping 3-5 and buying another. New cars are crazy(depreciation/outlay) unless you keep them a long time but they succumb to rust early.
MA yearly state inspection does not allow rust holes in the body, floor pan, or frame, if body on frame construction. Cause for rejection. So the state mandates how much rust is allowed. I had to replace the front subframe on my 94 Saturn SL2. Along with the rear rocker sills. My winter beater is the Mazda B3000, which gets NHOU. And even with that, it is not perfect. The salt use is high in this state. I have junked multiple cars because of rust. To live in a state with no yearly inspection, or rust, must be bliss.
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They use the salt to prevent ice and to melt snow or prevent it from building up on the roads (to a certain extent). Without it the roads around here (New England) would be so treacherous in the winter that you couldn’t drive on them. Impossible to drive on ice no matter how good your snow tires or how good of a driver you are.
They still use sand in the salt mixture, but honestly I don’t notice as much anymore...instead they’re using this brine mixture of salt and water and the stuff is nasty. Gets into all the crevices in the undercarriage. Not good.
We get snow banks that melt and refreeze every night, so salt keeps things open. The film of salt from previous storms keeps the roads from being icy in, say, a thick frost. You think I'm exaggerating but I got my volvo wagon sideways on frost/ frozen dew that happened on an unsalted road, driving to work at 4:30 am.
Cities use 100% salt for grit as well as melting because it doesn't clog up the storm drains like sand would.
I like to keep and maintain older vehicles but when the rust shows up on the paint, I make a plan to get rid of the vehicle.
I agree with you all about rust being an insurmountable foe in the rust belt. The best and practically only solution for a rust free vehicle is to not drive it in the winter at all. Even if it is sitting outside all winter long, being in driven, will help extend its life a lot.
One thing I'm glad I don't have to deal with. Watching SMA video's cemented the fact that I have no desire to live (again) where it snows on a regular basis.
Zero rust for me.
Zero rust for me.
Lived in Michigan for 41 years and worked on my own vehicles quite a bit. Used to think dealing with rusty components and using torches was just part of the deal. However, after moving to Arizona 9 years ago, I saw the light. I have 20+ year old suburbans that still have frame paint and any bolt I loosen comes apart with almost no effort. Will never move to or buy a car from the rust belt ever again.
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