5 ms·

In any place where road salt is used in the winter, they'll be just as rotten out as ICE vehicles at the end of a five or six year auto loan.

ghaff 5y ago
>at the end of a five or six year auto loan Varies by where you are and how much you drive, especially in snowy conditions. But my experience is that most vehicles are better than that these days. You should be able to get to 10 years pretty reliably--and often 5+ years beyond before you start getting into expensive rust-related repairs. My prior SUV (a Ford) I definitely held onto about a year too long with a couple of expensive repairs associated with corroded fluids lines but that was almost a 20 year old vehicle in New England.
gpm 5y ago
What parts usually rot out on ICE's and do they have equivalents on EV's? Getting rid of a large percentage of the moving parts seems like it might be a win (but I'm really not sure).
- ghaff 5y ago
  In my experience, frame/body (though that's better than it used to be). Fluid lines (brakes, power steering), muffler, other power train components [ADDED: Not so much powertrain itself but some of the associated hardware]. So some is common. Some is not. But presumably the motors in an EV could rust out as well.
- bri3d 5y ago
  Corrosion usually affects the body, the suspension, the exhaust, and bolts. The only thing the EV doesn't have is an exhaust system. And compared to the Model 3, which is mostly steel, there are some ICE cars which could do better - for example, the Ford F-150 has had a majority aluminum body for a few years now. Regardless, this isn't a win for the EV column, it's not the powertrain that rots.
- thrower123 5y ago
  Rocker panels, wheel wells, fenders, cab corners. If that bodywork is rotted out on a modern unibody vehicle, it will fail safety inspections and has to be repaired.
seattle_spring 5y ago
Where does this myth come from? I grew up in Utah where the roads are basically made of salt for 6 months a year. There are old cars everywhere. I had two that lasted to 200k miles, and it wasn't rust that pushed them over the edge. Just wash your car and it'll be fine. I'm not saying there's no affect at all, but suggesting the car will be unusable in 5 years (less than 100k on average) is an exaggeration bordering on dishonesty.
- blackguardx 5y ago
  The 5 year thing is an exaggeration, but it definitely isn't a myth. The midwest and new england area gets a lot more snow than the western US outside small mountain towns. Also, the western US tends to use more environmentally friendly road salts that also don't cause as much corrosion as rock salt (NaCl). In the east, roads are heavily salted with rock salt and it is (or was common when I lived there) for cars to to be heavily rusted out 10 years in. People still drive those cars, but parts break more frequently. When I moved to California in 2007, a local mechanic freaked out about all the rust on my 2001 car and advised me to sell it immediately. I kept that car and eventually sold it on to someone from the east coast who didn't see any issues.
  - brewtide 5y ago
    Maine here. Not only do they sand and salt a ton, but I believe it is Calcium-Chloride that they spray down before storms are about to hit. Liquid, onto the roads. You should see cars following 10 ft behind them on the highway when this is being done... eeek. You can literally hear it eating at your car if in a quiet place. "Not too rusty" around here is... Well, you're familiar.
- rossjudson 5y ago
  Decades ago my Canadian family had a Volvo that made it for nearly 20 years, and was a total rust bucket at the end of that time ;) Somewhere near the end of that, a brand new Acura was bought. That made it through the next 20 years (on the same roads), and had next to no corrosion. The manufacturers really did get a lot better!

ghaff 5y ago

>at the end of a five or six year auto loan Varies by where you are and how much you drive, especially in snowy conditions. But my experience is that most vehicles are better than that these days. You should be able to get to 10 years pretty reliably--and often 5+ years beyond before you start getting into expensive rust-related repairs. My prior SUV (a Ford) I definitely held onto about a year too long with a couple of expensive repairs associated with corroded fluids lines but that was almost a 20 year old vehicle in New England.

gpm 5y ago

What parts usually rot out on ICE's and do they have equivalents on EV's? Getting rid of a large percentage of the moving parts seems like it might be a win (but I'm really not sure).

ghaff 5y ago
In my experience, frame/body (though that's better than it used to be). Fluid lines (brakes, power steering), muffler, other power train components [ADDED: Not so much powertrain itself but some of the associated hardware]. So some is common. Some is not. But presumably the motors in an EV could rust out as well.
bri3d 5y ago
Corrosion usually affects the body, the suspension, the exhaust, and bolts. The only thing the EV doesn't have is an exhaust system. And compared to the Model 3, which is mostly steel, there are some ICE cars which could do better - for example, the Ford F-150 has had a majority aluminum body for a few years now. Regardless, this isn't a win for the EV column, it's not the powertrain that rots.
thrower123 5y ago
Rocker panels, wheel wells, fenders, cab corners. If that bodywork is rotted out on a modern unibody vehicle, it will fail safety inspections and has to be repaired.

seattle_spring 5y ago

Where does this myth come from? I grew up in Utah where the roads are basically made of salt for 6 months a year. There are old cars everywhere. I had two that lasted to 200k miles, and it wasn't rust that pushed them over the edge. Just wash your car and it'll be fine. I'm not saying there's no affect at all, but suggesting the car will be unusable in 5 years (less than 100k on average) is an exaggeration bordering on dishonesty.

blackguardx 5y ago
The 5 year thing is an exaggeration, but it definitely isn't a myth. The midwest and new england area gets a lot more snow than the western US outside small mountain towns. Also, the western US tends to use more environmentally friendly road salts that also don't cause as much corrosion as rock salt (NaCl). In the east, roads are heavily salted with rock salt and it is (or was common when I lived there) for cars to to be heavily rusted out 10 years in. People still drive those cars, but parts break more frequently. When I moved to California in 2007, a local mechanic freaked out about all the rust on my 2001 car and advised me to sell it immediately. I kept that car and eventually sold it on to someone from the east coast who didn't see any issues.
- brewtide 5y ago
  Maine here. Not only do they sand and salt a ton, but I believe it is Calcium-Chloride that they spray down before storms are about to hit. Liquid, onto the roads. You should see cars following 10 ft behind them on the highway when this is being done... eeek. You can literally hear it eating at your car if in a quiet place. "Not too rusty" around here is... Well, you're familiar.
rossjudson 5y ago
Decades ago my Canadian family had a Volvo that made it for nearly 20 years, and was a total rust bucket at the end of that time ;) Somewhere near the end of that, a brand new Acura was bought. That made it through the next 20 years (on the same roads), and had next to no corrosion. The manufacturers really did get a lot better!