Rusty front subframe on my 2018 Peugeot 108-time to change?
Rusty front subframe on my 2018 Peugeot 108-time to change?
Author
Discussion

LT1987

Original Poster:

31 posts

76 months

Monday 12th October
quotequote all
Hi all

I have a 2018 Peugeot 108, with the 1kr fe engine, so it’s been extremely reliable in that department. Mikiage is 60k, and I’ve had it for 3 years (I do around 11-12k miles a year, so it does get a lot of use). I live in the north west, so obviously a lot of salt on the roads in winter. The car has a good service history.. gets serviced every 8k miles or so.

It had its MOT yesterday, and had an advisory for corrosion on front subframe (not excessive). This was not mentioned on my MOT last year (which was done by the same place and same person), so rust is likely progressing quickly.

I’m just deciding what to do from here….. and it would be good to have some PH opinions. Just for context, I’m looking at paying off the mortgage in the next few years, so I don’t want any further unexpected car costs.

1). Do I get the front subframe replaced? I’m guessing this will be £500-600 (correct me if I’m wrong?). Whilst doing this, they may find other stuff to repair such as rust etc. I also need to factor in the rear subframe needing to be done in the near future. My cars only worth about 2.5k ish anyway. On the positive side, getting this work done will mean that my Peugeot
is sorted - at least for a couple of years.

2). Do I get a new car? If I get about 2.5k in part exchange for the Peugeot, I could get something like a 2024 plate Suzuki swift for about 10-11k. This means that I will be putting 8k towards a new car, but it also means that ill (touch wood) gave trouble free motoring for the next 5 years, so I will save money that way. The swift is also a bit more substantial, but the Peugeot still does its Job well.

Sorry for the rambling, but any comments welcome!

Billy_Whizzzz

2,652 posts

173 months

Monday 12th October
quotequote all
If it isn’t excessive simply treat with Dinitrol

SteBrown91

3,158 posts

159 months

Monday 12th October
quotequote all
It will be years before its an issue.

Clean it up with a wire brush then spray some underseal on it - it should be fine. It could also just be a pedantic MOT tester and you might not get an advisory next time.


steveo3002

11,232 posts

204 months

Monday 12th October
quotequote all
the " not excessive" part means you can save it /get many more years from it

wire brush it and apply whatever rust prevention you believe in , dinitrol , bilt hamber etc and check it every year

Scrump

23,947 posts

188 months

Monday 12th October
quotequote all
You could wire brush and paint it.
Or you could forget about it and just use the car as before.
Either way it will last many years more.

OutInTheShed

14,823 posts

56 months

Monday 12th October
quotequote all
LT1987 said:
Hi all

I have a 2018 Peugeot 108, with the 1kr fe engine, so it s been extremely reliable in that department. Mikiage is 60k, and I ve had it for 3 years (I do around 11-12k miles a year, so it does get a lot of use). I live in the north west, so obviously a lot of salt on the roads in winter. The car has a good service history.. gets serviced every 8k miles or so.

It had its MOT yesterday, and had an advisory for corrosion on front subframe (not excessive). This was not mentioned on my MOT last year (which was done by the same place and same person), so rust is likely progressing quickly.

I m just deciding what to do from here .. and it would be good to have some PH opinions. Just for context, I m looking at paying off the mortgage in the next few years, so I don t want any further unexpected car costs.

1). Do I get the front subframe replaced? I m guessing this will be £500-600 (correct me if I m wrong?). Whilst doing this, they may find other stuff to repair such as rust etc. I also need to factor in the rear subframe needing to be done in the near future. My cars only worth about 2.5k ish anyway. On the positive side, getting this work done will mean that my Peugeot
is sorted - at least for a couple of years.

2). Do I get a new car? If I get about 2.5k in part exchange for the Peugeot, I could get something like a 2024 plate Suzuki swift for about 10-11k. This means that I will be putting 8k towards a new car, but it also means that ill (touch wood) gave trouble free motoring for the next 5 years, so I will save money that way. The swift is also a bit more substantial, but the Peugeot still does its Job well.

Sorry for the rambling, but any comments welcome!
when I had an advisory for corrosion on the subframe of my last car, I asked the MOT bloke how many years it had left in it.
FWIW, I got the same advisory 3 years running, the last time he suggested changing the car.

It might be worth getting someone to do a basic job of applying some anti-rust jollop, I wouldn't expect miracles, but it might mean you get an extra year or two.

Or, if the subframe really is only £600 to change, then that would be worth considering in due course?
Sometimes subframes rust while the rest of the body is fine, it would be good to have model-specific advice.

But once a car has a corrosion advisory on its MOT history, a lot of people aren't going to buy it.

mike13

793 posts

212 months

Monday 12th October
quotequote all
OutInTheShed said:
LT1987 said:
Hi all

I have a 2018 Peugeot 108, with the 1kr fe engine, so it s been extremely reliable in that department. Mikiage is 60k, and I ve had it for 3 years (I do around 11-12k miles a year, so it does get a lot of use). I live in the north west, so obviously a lot of salt on the roads in winter. The car has a good service history.. gets serviced every 8k miles or so.

It had its MOT yesterday, and had an advisory for corrosion on front subframe (not excessive). This was not mentioned on my MOT last year (which was done by the same place and same person), so rust is likely progressing quickly.

I m just deciding what to do from here .. and it would be good to have some PH opinions. Just for context, I m looking at paying off the mortgage in the next few years, so I don t want any further unexpected car costs.

1). Do I get the front subframe replaced? I m guessing this will be £500-600 (correct me if I m wrong?). Whilst doing this, they may find other stuff to repair such as rust etc. I also need to factor in the rear subframe needing to be done in the near future. My cars only worth about 2.5k ish anyway. On the positive side, getting this work done will mean that my Peugeot
is sorted - at least for a couple of years.

2). Do I get a new car? If I get about 2.5k in part exchange for the Peugeot, I could get something like a 2024 plate Suzuki swift for about 10-11k. This means that I will be putting 8k towards a new car, but it also means that ill (touch wood) gave trouble free motoring for the next 5 years, so I will save money that way. The swift is also a bit more substantial, but the Peugeot still does its Job well.

Sorry for the rambling, but any comments welcome!
when I had an advisory for corrosion on the subframe of my last car, I asked the MOT bloke how many years it had left in it.
FWIW, I got the same advisory 3 years running, the last time he suggested changing the car.

It might be worth getting someone to do a basic job of applying some anti-rust jollop, I wouldn't expect miracles, but it might mean you get an extra year or two.

Or, if the subframe really is only £600 to change, then that would be worth considering in due course?
Sometimes subframes rust while the rest of the body is fine, it would be good to have model-specific advice.

But once a car has a corrosion advisory on its MOT history, a lot of people aren't going to buy it.
Very common on this model, Aygos and C1’s, I looked at mot history’s for quite a few, it was an advisory on almost all, including one at a Main dealer.

Wouldn’t put me off as all the advice above is what I would do on my drive in an afternoon.

LightweightLouisDanvers

2,996 posts

73 months

Monday 19th October
quotequote all
Front subframe in these can be removed in about an hour, simple to replace.

I-am-the-reverend

1,756 posts

65 months

Tuesday 20th October
quotequote all
LightweightLouisDanvers said:
Front subframe in these can be removed in about an hour, simple to replace.
They're only 100 quid brand new, and easy enough to replace.

I'd do that and keep the car - they're decent cars and worth hanging on to.

steveo3002

11,232 posts

204 months

Tuesday 20th October
quotequote all
I-am-the-reverend said:
They're only 100 quid brand new, and easy enough to replace.

I'd do that and keep the car - they're decent cars and worth hanging on to.
after looking at it though, might be at a stage where it can be saved easily

Gary29

5,262 posts

129 months

Tuesday 20th October
quotequote all
mike13 said:
Very common on this model, Aygos and C1 s, I looked at mot history s for quite a few, it was an advisory on almost all, including one at a Main dealer.

Wouldn t put me off as all the advice above is what I would do on my drive in an afternoon.
I've got 2 x C1's '17 plates, both have just gone through MOT's in the last few months, neither have ever had advisories for this. I'm doing a service on one of them and ARB drop links on the other in the next few months, I'll have a look when I'm under there, but never noticed corrosion on either before.

But to answer the OP's question, I'd just try to treat it as best I could (wire brush and paint / underseal) and drive the thing, see what the next MOT says and go from there.

Derry Rhumba

360 posts

21 months

Tuesday 20th October
quotequote all
Have you even looked at it yourself? (It's not clear if you have).

Make a judgement after that, surely? Because of where I live every car I've had has had a rusty sub frame to some extent....doesn't mean it requires replacement/new car