Discussion
I have narrowed down my preference in my next car to one with: torque converter auto box, higher ride height for easy access, reversing camera, digital Speedo and it seems the Mazda CX3 or CX30 tick the boxes. Then my friendly garage guy says, don't buy a Mazda, they are rust buckets.
Checking on line seems to confirm this, even with 2 year old cars.
Members thoughts appreciated.
Checking on line seems to confirm this, even with 2 year old cars.
Members thoughts appreciated.
Can't speak for more modern stuff but our 6 MPS was seriously rusty. I'd say at 10 years old it was far more rusty than our Mondeo is at 15 years old and 100k more. Mondeo is still on the original exhaust (although it *does* need replacing), Mazda needed a new one at 10 years old etc.
A lot of it was bad design (ie water traps) but some of it just seemed to be rust bubbling up as if it's not well galvanised from the factory. One time I took a look under the rear wheel shrouds and just poked a hole through the end of the sill.
The MOT history is just a massive list of "corroded, corroded, excessively corroded" etc.
Personally I wouldn't not buy one but I would be buying pretty new and seriously rust treating it, buy one that has been rust treated or look to keep for only a few years and then get shot before the rust becomes too bad!
A lot of it was bad design (ie water traps) but some of it just seemed to be rust bubbling up as if it's not well galvanised from the factory. One time I took a look under the rear wheel shrouds and just poked a hole through the end of the sill.
The MOT history is just a massive list of "corroded, corroded, excessively corroded" etc.
Personally I wouldn't not buy one but I would be buying pretty new and seriously rust treating it, buy one that has been rust treated or look to keep for only a few years and then get shot before the rust becomes too bad!
Really you want to start at 5 yrs old and steam clean underneath every 6 months and then coat with Bilt Hamber UB/UC type stuff each time.
They used to have steam cleaner buggies for lorries and machinery, you ran them on rails under a vehicle and they’d sweep side to side with a multi-nozzle head.
Kinda surprised car washes and the like don’t have them.
Getting all the crud out and regularly coating with a water repelling coating would likely see stuff last 50 years rather than 10.
But people just obsess over the paintwork and wheels and let the underside rot away.
They used to have steam cleaner buggies for lorries and machinery, you ran them on rails under a vehicle and they’d sweep side to side with a multi-nozzle head.
Kinda surprised car washes and the like don’t have them.
Getting all the crud out and regularly coating with a water repelling coating would likely see stuff last 50 years rather than 10.
But people just obsess over the paintwork and wheels and let the underside rot away.
I had a brand new Mazda 6 for three years, wife had a brand new Mazda 3 for three years, just both sold, no issues at all.
I have a thirteen year old MX5 which is virtually like new underneath and on top, but it never goes out in winter or bad weather to be fair.
However, you do hear of some horror stories of very old ones.
I have a thirteen year old MX5 which is virtually like new underneath and on top, but it never goes out in winter or bad weather to be fair.
However, you do hear of some horror stories of very old ones.
When I was younger I used to have a 2001 NB MX-5 that was 12 years old when I bought it, I kept it until it was around 15 years old. It never had any issues with rust. I never gave it any kind of rust prevention treatment and I lived about 200 yards from the sea. Looking at it’s MOT history, the terminal rust didn’t begin setting in until 2020, by which time it was 19 years old.
steveo3002 said:
how long do you plan to keep it?
a proper undersealing job before rust has set in would go a long way to making it last , not that should have to on a modern car
This is what I did to my mx5 when I got it new. Saw it on the ramps. No underseal and many sections just painted without even stone chip protection.a proper undersealing job before rust has set in would go a long way to making it last , not that should have to on a modern car
All sorted by a place called pro-tect down Milton Keynes way. All they do is undertaking and wax injection. They did a proper job and it's still looking great underneath four and a half years later.
georgeyboy12345 said:
I'm not sure about 2 years?! Maybe once they get to about 15 years or so it tends to be a problem I find. It is easily mitigated against by checking the MOT history and actually looking under the car, checking wheelarches, etc when looking at the car.
That car was based in Canada with the bad winters and salted roads, apparently.Mr Whippy said:
Really you want to start at 5 yrs old and steam clean underneath every 6 months and then coat with Bilt Hamber UB/UC type stuff each time.
They used to have steam cleaner buggies for lorries and machinery, you ran them on rails under a vehicle and they’d sweep side to side with a multi-nozzle head.
Kinda surprised car washes and the like don’t have them.
Getting all the crud out and regularly coating with a water repelling coating would likely see stuff last 50 years rather than 10.
But people just obsess over the paintwork and wheels and let the underside rot away.
6 months seems a bit keen. I think I'd be more inclined to something annually around October time before any salt goes down. A proper coating of something high quality, BH, Dinitrol etc should last a few years before it needs redoing completely so I'd be looking to get it done once properly and then have it cleaned annually and any areas that need recoating addressed. It's not always easy to find places who do this kind of work properly though and it's a truly horrible job to do on axle stands. I found a local land rover specialist to do my 996 and they were excellent. Process took about a week (also a serious consideration on a daily driver). Most places I spoke to, only needed the car a day which means that they either won't be prepping and cleaning it or if they do, they won't be drying it afterwards and will probably do more harm than good.They used to have steam cleaner buggies for lorries and machinery, you ran them on rails under a vehicle and they’d sweep side to side with a multi-nozzle head.
Kinda surprised car washes and the like don’t have them.
Getting all the crud out and regularly coating with a water repelling coating would likely see stuff last 50 years rather than 10.
But people just obsess over the paintwork and wheels and let the underside rot away.
Gad-Westy said:
6 months seems a bit keen. I think I'd be more inclined to something annually around October time before any salt goes down. A proper coating of something high quality, BH, Dinitrol etc should last a few years before it needs redoing completely so I'd be looking to get it done once properly and then have it cleaned annually and any areas that need recoating addressed. It's not always easy to find places who do this kind of work properly though and it's a truly horrible job to do on axle stands. I found a local land rover specialist to do my 996 and they were excellent. Process took about a week (also a serious consideration on a daily driver). Most places I spoke to, only needed the car a day which means that they either won't be prepping and cleaning it or if they do, they won't be drying it afterwards and will probably do more harm than good.
Process took a week. Crikey. Can you say what that cost?Tafia69 said:
Gad-Westy said:
6 months seems a bit keen. I think I'd be more inclined to something annually around October time before any salt goes down. A proper coating of something high quality, BH, Dinitrol etc should last a few years before it needs redoing completely so I'd be looking to get it done once properly and then have it cleaned annually and any areas that need recoating addressed. It's not always easy to find places who do this kind of work properly though and it's a truly horrible job to do on axle stands. I found a local land rover specialist to do my 996 and they were excellent. Process took about a week (also a serious consideration on a daily driver). Most places I spoke to, only needed the car a day which means that they either won't be prepping and cleaning it or if they do, they won't be drying it afterwards and will probably do more harm than good.
Process took a week. Crikey. Can you say what that cost?There are obviously other approaches to this but it's pointless doing anything that doesn't first of all properly prep the surface otherwise you're simply trapping muck against the surface or masking over areas that will continue to rust but you can no longer see them.
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