Lifetime Guarantee ( Ford)

My dad bought a Rover Maestro sometime in the early 90’s, and it came with a lifetime guarantee against rust. On claiming, ‘No Sir, that’s not rust, it’s seam bleed, and that’s not covered’. Their ultimate fate served them right as far as my dad was concerned.

David

Edited By David Cambridge on 28/03/2017 19:31:00

Edited By David Cambridge on 28/03/2017 19:31:43

......Hi All,

was lucky enough to buy a VW, T4, 1999, 350,000miles.......horrible color but was cavity sealed from new in Holland.......there's no rust holes anywhere just a few scabby stone chips......

do they still cavity seal today.....guess nobody keeps a car long enough !!!!!!!!!!

Clogs

My 'other' car is a 1931 Austin Seven. Its out of warranty but has only a small amount of rust on a couple of wings but they are so thick it would take some time to rust through but of course, I won't let it get that far.

Brian

I was helping a chap learn to tig weld, he had cut up a car roof into bits to have something to learn on (he does car repairs, spraying and the like). I was absolutely amazed at the thickness of the material, it was literally like paper, especially compared to old stuff like morris minors and the fords, jags etc of the 60's/70's.

I had a new Citroen GS back in 1988. It was a great car except for rust! At the end of the first year it had holes on the doors where the window frames met them. A few years later they started galvanising them and cured the problem.

I think most manufactures converted to zinc coated steel around the early 90s, British Steel did much research in our plant to establish parameters for spot welding, one thing the coated steel needed was automatic tip dressing on the weld guns as spot welding zinc coatings causes a buildup on the tips that affects the welding. Coated materials causes other problems as it is difficult to rework the panels without compromising the protection. Again much testing was done to assess the effect on the protection of activities like discing. Most cars these days get scrapped for mechanical problems rather than rust. I scrapped my Nissan at 177,000 miles because it needed a new cam chain, water pump, alternator and wiper motor, it was 12 years old and apart from new discs and pads was totally reliable and passed every MOT first time.

Mike

On my first car (marina) the scuttle beneath the rear window was rusted right through at the pillars on both sides, so it dropped by four inches. The lead singer in our band worked in a body shop so he welded it up (badly) one evening, I piled on an unfeasible amount of isopon and he then had it back to spray over the joins...

Neil

My first car was an old Hillman Minx (B reg 1964 I think) with very thick steel bodywork. Tried bashing out a dent and could not move it.

I've just replaced my 11 year old car, the gearbox was dying, the engine was starting to use oil, the CV joints were getting some play and the gaiters on them were starting to perish. Three of the alloy wheels were starting to weep air at the rims (one needed filling up more than weekly as it dropped from 35psi to 10psi in that time). It needed new pads at the back and the rear disks were looking a bit scored. The plastic covers over the lights were getting fogged by micro abrasions.

The bodywork was perfect.

Martin C.

I don't understand why exhausts don't rust out like they used to. I've nearly worn out my latest Fiesta and it's still on the original exhaust

Martin

In an effort to save fuel modern engines run leaner. This results in both higher exhaust temperature and less moisture in the exhaust gasses resulting in a rapid exhaust tube heating.. Without a carburetor, which never gave exactly the best fuel air mixture but was close to the best ratio over most of the engine range only, modern engines with sensors in the exhaust gasses make exhausts last longer. I think a lot of damage was done by mechanical chokes and short journeys where the exhaust was left with internal moisture in a cool steel tube.

Martin C.

First car was a 1968 Oldsmobile 442. 2 medium size teenagers sat on the hood and did not collapse it. Try that nowadays.

My Ford car is 86 years old and still has the original body panel and chassis and I use during the show season every year, I think it will see me out.

Another thing that slows rusting in exhaust pipes is the use of stainless steel.

Ian S C