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> while most cars nowadays have zinc coating and more plastic and are still mostly fine after 15 years. In your part of the world, maybe. I live in the middle
by bityard 11mo ago
> while most cars nowadays have zinc coating and more plastic and are still mostly fine after 15 years.
In your part of the world, maybe. I live in the middle of the salt belt in the US and we get about 10 years out of most cars. That's when you start seeing rust holes in the fenders around the wheels, when most of the frame has flaked away and the floor pans become involuntary structural elements.
If you're a car nut who spends extra time and money on preventive maintenance and rustproofing, you can get a few more years. But the rust comes for your car at some point anyway.
Car manufacturers know how to make the frames and bodies last longer, this is not an unsolvable manufacturing and design challenge. It's just that nobody is getting a raise for going to their boss and saying, "I know how to make the company sell slightly fewer cars..."
- solace_silence 11mo agoJust look at what's on the road today, there are many more older cars still running than in the past. Even in the salt belt.
- Lalabadie 11mo agoI live up North (capital N) from you, where we have ~4 months of calcium spread on our roads to manage the accumulating ice every winter. A well-maintained car has the chance to live long enough to succumb to rust from that. Rustproofing is still a good treatment to get done to delay and minimize damage, but it's a thorough and slightly expensive job. People who have a hobby car usually retire it in a garage from November to April-May instead.
- organsnyder 11mo agoI have a 2009 Civic that has no noticeable body rust, despite being in Michigan. Two times I've had to get minor body work done (not rust-related), the bodyshop owner commented that he never sees them this clean anymore. I chalk it up to being diligent with car washes, especially in the winter. Purists will cringe at this, but I'm fine with sacrificing some surface appearance (the paint doesn't look too bad, considering how many carwashes it's seen) in exchange for longevity.
- mpbart 11mo agoWhich part of Michigan are you in? I know some people that live up in northern Michigan where they don't bother salting the roads in the winter and just put down sand instead which I would imagine contributes to better longevity
- organsnyder 11mo agoI'm in Grand Rapids. We use tons of salt here.