Cars that don't rust?

[mr_fibuli]

CYMR0 said:

This. I don't know what they're made of but it appears to be some kind of advanced alien technology compared to BMWs, Mercedes, and Fords of the era. Same goes for 205s and 206s as well actually.

Don't forget the 309 - my D-Reg example refused to rust even when I left large areas of exposed metal untreated (the result of removing a bollard imprint from the boot lid with a lump hammer).

[calibrax]

DaveZT260 said:

You never see a rusty Rover 75.

So true. Despite the general opinion on here that the workmanship at Rover was below the standards of other manufacturers, when it comes to rust they beat the likes of Mercedes and BMW hands down.

[Eunos]

The 1985+ Reliant Scimitar SS1 w/ the galvanised chassis never seem to have rust problems, unlike the earlier cars...

Never seen a rusty Ford Probe either.

[Mandat]

The old East German Trabants didn't rust, as they were generally made from plastic

[Wild Rumpus]

Another vote for 90's Citroens and Peugeots. When I rallied my ZX I regularly went to scrap yards to buy panels off scrap cars. The only rust I ever saw on a ZX was caused by leaking battery acid around the battery tray.
I remember the bad old days, I had a Fiat 127 1300GT and you could almost hear it rusting! My Dads 1972 Mk 1 Escort estate also rusted though both front wings in 18 months from new.

[CraigyMc]

kambites said:

300bhp/ton said:

kambites said:

Doubt my Elise is going to rust.

Good shout actually.

How are the tubs standing up to corrosion in general? They're bonded aluminium aren't they?

There are two corrosion problem areas that I'm aware of.

Firstly, the floor-pan can start to corrode if you let the carpets get and stay wet. Never seen this do any structural harm, but it makes a hell of a mess.

Secondly, anywhere where mild steel comes into contact with the tub can corrode badly. Generally, it doesn't but some cars have had mild steel spacers fitted when adjusting the suspension geometry which has eaten into the suspension mounts and written the car off.


The rear subframe and wishbones are steel, but they don't seem to rust particularly.

Some of this varies by elise.

<affixes lotus beard>

The Elise S1 crevice corrosion issue wasn't the carpets, it was moisture between the factory-fitted (industrial glued) rubber floor, and the aluminium chassis floorpanels.

The recall/fix was to take the car to a lotus dealer who would remove those rubber mats, tidy the thing up a bit, assess damage (some people had big holes in the floor due to this issue) and fit new panels if needed, then give the customer free floormats.
(I was one of the people with purely cosmetic floor damage).

The mild steel thing is also true, although it's worse with stainless: the corrosion process for this is galvanic corrosion. It's why lotus didn't put stainless fasteners on the car (there's a healthy aftermarket for those now, though!).

I did a suspension change during my time with the car from leaky red upside down koni dampers to a set of S2 bilsteins. Lotus had moved the rear suspention pickup points, so I bought some that were made of stainless and laser cut to fit. I recall that because it had to have a jointing compound between, something like Duralac or similar - it was years ago so I can't remember clearly.

The S1 wishbones (at least the early ones) were actually aluminium too - including toe-links, which made them too weak for heavy track use; eg. sticky track tyres or slicks. This is why there are lots of S1s running about with aftermarket toe links.

<unfixes lotus beard>

C

[twazzock]

ANOTHER +1 for 90s PSA stuff.

Had two ZXs, no rust at all. 1987 309 was absolutely spotless. First 205 was completely rust free too. Latest one admittedly has had a patch at the bottom of the driver's door, which seems to be the only spot they go... not bad for 25 years old.

My 106 had rusty arches and where the boot floor meets the rear arches. However I think that was stty damage repair. The whole car was a nail; it was a Cat C with 13 previous owners (+ me, +the guy I sold it to after a fortnight) in about 13 years!

[sjabrown]

As many have said 205s seem to be rust resistant, unless they've been crashed and poorly repaired (a replaced panel often rusts first). I've a 1989 GTI and the only rust on it is some surface rust on the battery tray. Great cars.

[V8mate]

[twazzock]

J4CKO said:

For their time, and even now they were superb for rust resistance, kind of a zenity for Peugeot was about 1990, before they got complicated and lost their dynamic edge, my cousin had a 205 that had been converted from a van, it ran and ran, think it did 250/300 miles, I bought a 309 "Look", well my dad bought it salvage to sell on and I nicked it £140 and it came up pristine, decent little car, hillarious handling on skinny cheap tyres, brilliant ride, rattly but willing little 1.3 engine which summed up what the French did best, cheap, cheerful and charming small cars, it all goes to pot when they try big, fast and complex.

I really loved that 309, despite being about 13 years old it had not a spot of rust so yes, Pugs dont generally disintegrate, not totally immune but fatr better than most.

Totally agree with this post. Had a very similar 309 (1.3 pov spec) and it was just brilliant to drive. Crude but enjoyable. Now on my 2nd 205 which is great too in a slightly more accomplished way.

I think they still made some great hatches up until the mid/late-90s (306 GTI-6/Rallye, 106 GTI/Rallye, Xsara VTS, ZX 16v, the slower TD variants) but I've never driven a decent one so can't really comment. My 106 Rallye was bloody fun but it was also very tired and I gave up on it quickly. Want another one day.

[jbi]

mat777 said:

Despite every other LR model prior to it rusting for fun (Mk 1 Discos and Rangies anyone?), I've never seen a rusty Freelander. The same can be applied to any of the monococque Land Rovers that followed it

freelanders are usually scrapped long before they have a chance to rust.

[flatline84]

jbi said:

freelanders are usually scrapped long before they have a chance to rust.

Aye, half of the classifieds are "if you can get it running, its yours. Just get it off my lot"

[v8will]

Most of the French stuff we've had has been very good. Only exception was the VTR Saxo which did need some welding to a front jacking point at 8 years old. The 2 850 Volvos I had were completely solid although my 460 did have slightly grotty rear arches.

Sometimes there can be exceptions, a Mercedes 413CDI Sprinter I used at work in 2001 and which I still see everyday is completely rot free and my recently departed SLK 230 was completely mint at 12 years old.

[trashbat]

Twincam16 said:

Any Fiat Group car post-Type Four project. Saab-style rustproofing became part of the design process for nearly all Fiats, Alfas and Lancias from thereon in, and almost overnight Italian cars went from having a dire rust reputation to one of the best in the business. Strangely, people who don't know anything about cars still trot out this 'all Italian cars are rustbuckets' line to this day. Well, Lamborghinis, De Tomasos and Paganis may well rust, but Fiat-owned cars certainly don't, or at least not much. You get some rust nibbling away at the rear floorpans and suspension mounts after 20 years of road dirt has flicked up at them, but nothing that can't be fairly easily identified and dealt with.

They obviously improved but they're not perfect. For instance the 156 is all galvanised - apart from the roof and floor! The GTAs have rusting arches, and come to think of it so did mine for a while. The undersides of many of them were half undersealed - literally only half the car. Touch wood, it's not giving me any grief yet, but it ain't bulletproof either.

[MG CHRIS]

calibrax said:

DaveZT260 said:

You never see a rusty Rover 75.

So true. Despite the general opinion on here that the workmanship at Rover was below the standards of other manufacturers, when it comes to rust they beat the likes of Mercedes and BMW hands down.

Another one for mgrover my 11 year old mg zs hasn't a hint of rust anywhere on it compared to my mothers 8 year old street ka the front subframe is covered in rusty metal the body and floor is fine though.

But my other car a quantum coupe has a fiber glass monocouque design so will never rust.

[k-ink]

jbi said:

Liquid Tuna said:

Major Fallout said:

Model T fords!
This is part of a bonnet off a 1920 ford T, its only thin steal and its spent most of its 92 years outside.

Im guessing the paint started to flake off after about 20-30 years, so parts have been bare metal and open to the elements for 60 years.
And it still only has surface rust, a quick oat blast and its good to paint.

Awesome!

yank cars tended to be built with better/thicker steel than their euro counterparts

My late Grandad used to work for Briggs Motor Bodies before they became Fords. In his life time he saw the thickness of bodyshell metal reduce to a mere fraction of that once used. Consequently what used to be termed surface rust would now probaby have eaten its way through a panel.

[TheCanonBall]

Most modern Alfa's don't tend to suffer with rust. AFAIK they galvinised the st out of them after getting a reputation years ago for rusting.

[m44kts]

I'm going to say Trafic/Vivaro/Primastar van's don't seem to rust. We have 2, Mine has had a very cheap/quick respray before it went to auction where we bought it 4 years ago and there's a few signs of rust on the rear arches just starting to creep in, but I'll put that down to bad prep. work when it was painted. When you compare one with it's factory paintwork against a similar age Transit or Vito, they're spotless.

[Eighteeteewhy]

johnpeat said:

flatline84 said:

What about pug 405`s?

I'll field that - mine is 17yo with 218K on and the bodywork is rust-free apart from one rear door which is bubbling where it's been damaged behind the trim (so water gets trapped there) - oh, and the rear bumper is rusting which is visible in the rear arches (the rear bumper is older than the car tho - I picked-it-up when I removed the towbar and wanted one without a hole in it!!).

All the doors are chipped-to-hell around the edges but none of that is rusting either. There are FAR older 405s and 205s around here which are still solid too.

Underneath it's pretty solid - engine bay looks half it's actual age - rust won't kill this bus (the electrics might!!)

The 405s are galvanised as well. The thing to watch out for though is the paint, some of the colours had a poor laquer which peels off. 205s also had this but it doesn't seem as bad.
Google "405 Le Mans" to see this at it's worst.
Strangely though 309s of the same time are terrible for rust.

[B Huey]

Wild Rumpus said:

I remember the bad old days, I had a Fiat 127 1300GT and you could almost hear it rusting!

I had one of those too. Rust wasn't an issue with mine.