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Posted: 4/9/2019 5:39:31 PM EDT
I found a new channel on youtube, a mechanic in upstate New York. Every car he touches is a rust bucket. Living most of my life in Texas I've seen 50 year old cars not as bad a s 2 or 3 year old cars up there.
How long do cars last up there? How do you mitigate the rapid rot? |
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South Main Auto?
That channel kicks ass. I solved it by moving to Texas. |
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Depends on make a lot.
Most cars are well rusted at 5-8 years. Serious damage at 8-10 years. Like, bed falling off pick up truck level. I had my 2008 F250's bed replaced last year. Rest of the body is okay to good. I've also had my frame painted twice. |
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You must be watching South Main Auto. Eric is brilliant at diagnosing.
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Depends on make a lot. Most cars are well rusted at 5-8 years. Serious damage at 8-10 years. Like, bed falling off pick up truck level. I had my 2008 F250's bed replaced last year. Rest of the body is okay to good. I've also had my frame painted twice. View Quote |
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Through the early 80's, most cars would have serious rust issues in 8-10 years, IMO.
Nowadays, rust is really only a minor issue when cars are pushing 200K miles. They've really improved things. |
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I have a 14 year old Toyota Highlander that is rust free.
The cars can last a long time, with rusted bodies. |
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Through the early 80's, most cars would have serious rust issues in 10 years, IMO. Nowadays, rust is really only a minor issue when cars are pushing 200K miles. They've really improved things. View Quote I had a 14 year old truck that had only minor cosmetic rust by the time I traded it in. It was a Dodge. |
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keep them clean and wax often. i dont drive nice cars in the winter. i usually buy a 1500-2500 car every few years to dd/winter duty. my nice cars are always in the garage most of the year
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My 18 yr old Nissan truck with 170 + thousand miles has no rust
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American cars rust to shit in a much shorter time than Japanese cars. Especially pick ups.
Under coatings such as fluid film help quite a bit. Washing helps Everything rusts eventually. |
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Mostly by keeping areas where dirt builds up clean..
I usually crawl under my truck with the pressure washer and clean everything when it gets warm enough out every spring. Also gets waxed in the spring and fall. |
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I bought my 2013 F150 brand new. The frame was rusted the day I drove it off the lot.
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I've learned a ton watching that guy. And he's personable as hell, which makes watching his channel entertaining.
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Through the early 80's, most cars would have serious rust issues in 8-10 years, IMO. Nowadays, rust is really only a minor issue when cars are pushing 200K miles. They've really improved things. View Quote |
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Honestly, if you’ve never lived a few winters up this way, you just cannot understand the amount of salt deployed every season. EVERYTHING is covered in salt for 4-5 months. It’s almost more prevalent than actual dirt on the ground.
Most people take their cars through the car wash every week, just to get the undercarriage cleaned and try (fruitlessly) to stay ahead of the salt. |
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His videos show otherwise. Unless he is lying about the year of the car, the date he uploaded the video, or planted the rust. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Through the early 80's, most cars would have serious rust issues in 8-10 years, IMO. Nowadays, rust is really only a minor issue when cars are pushing 200K miles. They've really improved things. They may not have holes in the body work in 8-10 years, but there's rust everywhere. It really comes down to the amount of salt or other corrosive de-icers they throw down. Some states are worse than others, and there's even variation in the same state. SW Ohio is nowhere near as bad as NE Ohio, for example. My 2002 Miata (daily driven all winter long, and washed religiously - often twice a week including the undercarriage) looked pretty good when it got here in 2016. No visible rust on the body. Then I got to look at it on a lift. Ho-lee-shit. Ask @m35ben. They're just used to it, and will accept more of it than you would. |
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Best ways to prevent rust I have found are:
-Not parking in a heated garage - the freeze/thaw cycling promotes rust. Plug your vehicle in instead, best is in a non-heated garage with vehicle plugged in on an HD timer. -A few good runs through the car wash (with the undercarriage sprayers, not the cheap package) in the fall; coat bottom of vehicle with Fluid Film and go drive a few miles of dusty gravel. Same in spring. -After undercoating, don't wash the care frequently in winter. I usually only wash maybe once a winter. -Sand off any surface rust that forms ASAP, then hit with a "rust neutralizing" (inhibiting, it never goes away) agent, then repaint over the top. -Wax the vehicle well at least once a year -Maintain things before they get too bad. There are a lot of people around here that will wash their vehicles religiously but won't treat rust when it pops up - their treatment is "wash more frequently." Lots of Dodge/Chevy trucks 5 years old with rust through the bed above rear wheels around here. -Drive a beater vehicle when roads are covered in salt. Can't really avoid it, just take steps to mitigate damage before it can occur. Once it starts, the body's lifespan for not looking awful is limited. |
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Honestly, if you've never lived a few winters up this way, you just cannot understand the amount of salt deployed every season. EVERYTHING is covered in salt for 4-5 months. It's almost more prevalent than actual dirt on the ground. Most people take their cars through the car wash every week, just to get the undercarriage cleaned and try (fruitlessly) to stay ahead of the salt. View Quote My reply to all the people who would tell me to just take it to the carwash all the time was "And then what, pick it up and carry it home? I've still got 3 miles of fucking saltwater to drive through". |
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It rots and destroys everything. I love my state (not my state government) but damn is it hard on vehicles.
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Living in NH I got 11 years out of a Dodge van that I rarely drove in the winter, but didn’t have a garage. I was denied an inspection sticker because the front frame was all rotted out.
My wife’s Cavalier lasted 13 years. The whole undercarriage, particularly under the trunk, completely rotted out. |
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I don't give a shit really . People up here that complain about the roads being sprayed maybe never have to drive in bad weather , I don't know . Many years ago they use to sand the roads and people complained about all the sand on the roads also.
It's just something you have to deal with on your trucks or cars if you live in the North. |
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Exactly. I'm learning a ton. I've searched his stuff for videos on Jeeps and Taco's, just in case i get the same issue View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I've learned a ton watching that guy. And he's personable as hell, which makes watching his channel entertaining. |
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Does all that salt on the road kill the grass and plants along the sides of the roadbed?
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Honestly, if you’ve never lived a few winters up this way, you just cannot understand the amount of salt deployed every season. EVERYTHING is covered in salt for 4-5 months. It’s almost more prevalent than actual dirt on the ground. Most people take their cars through the car wash every week, just to get the undercarriage cleaned and try (fruitlessly) to stay ahead of the salt. View Quote |
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Lets just say that up here.....we really have to justify buying a nice new loaded car or pick up knowing it will be a pile of rust in just a few short years.
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The other thing you'll hear from people, is to just drive a winter beater.
This works marvelously well (obviously), as your nice car just sits in the garage all winter. No more rust. But here's the problem I always had with it: I just spent $40k on a nice ride, and I want to keep it that way for a VERY long time. So for 6 months out of the year, I get to stare at a depreciating pile of cash in my garage instead of enjoying it. And for that same 6 months, while it's cold, miserable and the roads are shitty, I get to add insult to injury by driving a fucking shitbox for half the year. At least I get to throw a loving glance or two at the second most expensive thing I own when I get home from work, while dusting it off. I love Ohio to death (seriously - it's one of the best kept secrets in the nation and I mean that), but man...I fucking HATE road salt. I really do not miss that part of living there. I guess it's different if you grew up with it, but I didn't. My daughter has a part time job at a Wendy's and is saving up to buy her first car. It'll be about $5k. That will get her a ~12 year old car with ~120k on the clock that is absolutely rust free. That same car for the same price is borderline unsafe in NE Ohio, because of all the fucking corrosion. And you're constantly fighting stupid rust-related issues, like brake calipers that lock up, or brake lines that develop pinhole leaks all over the fucking place. And snapped fasteners while fixing other shit. And... ...ugh. Really don't miss this shit. |
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Living in NH I got 11 years out of a Dodge van that I rarely drove in the winter, but didn’t have a garage. I was denied an inspection sticker because the front frame was all rotted out. My wife’s Cavalier lasted 13 years. The whole undercarriage, particularly under the trunk, completely rotted out. View Quote |
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My other favorites were the people who, without even a hint of irony, would tell me "They don't rust like they used to, just wash it occasionally" as they returned yet another lease after a lousy 3 years, before getting a fresh one. Mother. Fuckers.
Still bitter. |
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See, that's just amazing to me. My 2000 Jeep has superficial rust on the frame, but nothing that wont wipe off easily. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Living in NH I got 11 years out of a Dodge van that I rarely drove in the winter, but didn’t have a garage. I was denied an inspection sticker because the front frame was all rotted out. My wife’s Cavalier lasted 13 years. The whole undercarriage, particularly under the trunk, completely rotted out. Salt destroys everything. |
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it's not NaCl2. "salt" is a very broad term, chemically speaking. not all salts kills vegitation View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
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These guys are just used to the rust, and have accepted what's there (he's right in that it's way better than it used to be) is normal. The kind of normal that would appall you, once you crawl up in it. They may not have holes in the body work in 8-10 years, but there's rust everywhere. It really comes down to the amount of salt or other corrosive de-icers they throw down. Some states are worse than others, and there's even variation in the same state. SW Ohio is nowhere near as bad as NE Ohio, for example. My 2002 Miata (daily driven all winter long, and washed religiously - often twice a week including the undercarriage) looked pretty good when it got here in 2016. No visible rust on the body. Then I got to look at it on a lift. Ho-lee-shit. Ask @m35ben. They're just used to it, and will accept more of it than you would. View Quote |
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You just accept that you have a winter beater that you'll replace every 10-15 years once the rust gets bad enough. My previous ride was a 2002 Grand Cherokee, bought it in 04 with 53k. It finally dropped a valve seat in the 4.7 in 2017. Was looking underneath, and was deciding how bad the cancer was on various bits that are kinda critical... mainly control arm brackets, and where the front frame rails attach to the rest of the unibody. They were lookin' kinda rough (which, for people down south, would be more like HOLY WHAT THE FUCK THERE'S NO METAL LEFT ON YOUR FUCKING JEEP!!!!!. But we're used to it. They don't fail vehicles for rust at inspection, if they did, half would fail in the rural/lower income ares (which are growing). So, with 309k on the clock, I called it. Now it's in the driveway, need to take some performance parts off of it before calling the junk yard to get it.
I have a '16 now. And, for a few years, it'll look nice, then the rust will start to take over underneath first. Rotors will fall apart, calipers will seize, brake lines will rot away, bolts will snap, and the engine block (it's got a hemi, iron block) will look like a fucking bad horror movie prop. Stainless exhausts fall apart around here, too. No amount of washing it will really help much. The "Underbody" washes really just hit the rocker panels from the side, and don't really get up underneath enough. Only choice is to not drive it from... maybe late October through Mid to late April. My SRT-4 stays in the driveway thru the winter, doesn't see salt. I haven't even taken it out yet this year. Not until we get another good rainstorm to wash the roads off, and turn them dark grey again. Oh, and you'll have to love getting salt over all your clothes any time you get near your vehicle, too. |
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Quoted: See, that's just amazing to me. My 2000 Jeep has superficial rust on the frame, but nothing that wont wipe off easily. View Quote |
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Speaking of yankee shit, this fucker needs to go back along with the owner. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/390973/20190409_171835-907136.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/390973/20190409_171505-907127.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/390973/20190409_171613-907131.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/390973/20190409_171608-907132.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/390973/20190409_171533-907133.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/390973/20190409_171528-907134.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/390973/20190409_171525-907126.jpg @Subnet View Quote |
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