Afternoon, not sure if I should start a new thread or just post on this one?
I looked at 3 more NC’s this weekend. My favourite out of the 3 seemed ok. No visible rust in the wheel arches / sills although I couldn’t get under the arch liners.
No signs of rust in the boot etc. but from my hap hazzard photo’s underneath this image came up. Have I found another bad one or could it be cleaned up / part’s replaced and waxoiled?
2013 plate but with 79k miles (a bit high for my liking but it looked like a nice car and drove well)
I asked all these questions, I’m sure people are fine with answering them. If the actual underbody chassis is in good condition that’s the most important thing. Bottom corners of wheel arches seem to be achiles heels that kill the car quickest, up behind rear bumper, arches, arch lips and sills. If all that is solid and rust free that’s good news. You have to expect to find some rust on the subframes and arms because the coatings aren’t very good, seemingly especially on these. Even very good 10 year old cars will have signs of rusting around seams and welds on subframes, provided there aren’t any holes and the metal doesn’t seem visibly thinning or perforated it isn’t that bad. Don’t worry about the 2 subframe support bars as they can be replaced with new for around 60 pounds and are a real rust magnet anyway. My sub 5 year old mustang was starting to get it on the subframes and arms and that never really got driven in the wet.
Obviously cleaner cars are around as well as much worse. If somebody knows what they have it will cost you, but sometimes people don’t know how good their cars are underneath (the hidden gems) simply because either they’ve never been bothered or never looked - to many people it’s the surface level stuff that sells the car . I was more than prepared to accept a solid chassis car with superficial tidy up rust on bolt ons, but got lucky to find one that needed neither with any urgency.
Oh, and if the car is regularly parked on grass check carefully as that’s never good. Grass holds water, water evaporates in the warm and hits the underbody where it will sit.
I’ve just washed mine off today, sad I know but needs must. This is what I’ve found under the the car below, I’ve missed a little dust when cleaning. It was undersealed 2019, I’ve just spot treated a couple of areas (minor) none nothing in the picture, how I found it.
Most will have corrosion of sorts unless they’ve been treated previously. I would say that above on the latest car viewed ain’t to bad. If purchasing I’d get it treated asap to prevent it getting worse. As Dean says do check the lower wheel arch to sill and under at that point.
I lived in dry high altitude central Africa for a long time and cars never rusted there.
Except our neighbour’s Holden rotted out underneath from new in only five years. It turned out his parking space at the new place of work was above the main access cover for the building’s waste water drains, and it was not a good fit, always blessed with lush green moss even in the heart of the dry season.
Rust can be found under the rear bumper . The only way to see this is to remove the bumper . Then unbolt the crashbar they never painted this part from the factory . Tinworm will be there just how bad. Mine was not to bad on a 06 plate . Rust killer then a primer and a few top coats . A pain but it need’s to be done.
This is a reasonable amount of rust at least for an 06, t under the rear bumper mounts. I have seen these actually perforated with rust but an easy job to see once the bumper is off
Salt and driving in winter is the biggest factor. Also avoid cars that have spent most of their lives near to the coast. If you are looking for a keeper, best to look for one that has been stored correctly over the winter months throughout its life. It will narrow down your options for sure but at least you won’t waste your time looking at cars that look ok until you look underneath. I suspect there are many owners who have never even looked under their cars once (not just MX5’s) during their ownership.
. I was more than prepared to accept a solid chassis car with superficial tidy up rust on bolt ons, but got lucky to find one that needed neither with any urgency.
