Spent some of thisafternoon taking the GT arch trims off my new 1990 MK3 Loon, original arches underneath are like new, T-cutted the dirt off and you would'nt have known it had arch trims fitted

A mate of mine has an Escort MK4 RS Turbo, removed the body kit recently and half the metal came with it leaving a pile of rusty flakes on the ground

Arch trims will be going back on the loon BTW, just removed them to de-bump strip and generally tidy up the body.

compair it to a mk4 though, and there about the same

Well all cars rot regardless of brand...

compair it to a mk4 though, and there about the same

Ah, forgot how bad some 6N's can rot, only into MK3's

Wouldn't it be down to the way the bodykits and trims are attached to the body. I've always thought that VW's are fairly water tight, whereas Ford's are fairly well known for the bodykits holding water behind them

Don't forget vauxhall aswell, all the old astra's and novas rust away so quick, i like nova's but its hard to find one in good nick.

Polo body trim isn't held that tight to the body. TBH that's probably the problem though, if it's held really tight water will still get in and it's less likely to get back out.

Mine had gone around all of the rivet holes, but I think that's because I drilled the original rivets out ten years ago and I probably took some of the paint off while I was doing so.

But yeah in general they do last better. It depends on all sorts of things though.

Lancia Intergrale's, you could park that in rain and watch it dissolve

Another dis about car makes, well done.

Lancia Intergrale's, you could park that in rain and watch it dissolve

this makes me sad cos its true :(

I'd own one anyday - Just so long as i have enough metal and a diecent welder to keep welding up the holes

Lancia Intergrale's, you could park that in rain and watch it dissolve

this makes me sad cos its true :(

I'd own one anyday - Just so long as i have enough metal and a diecent welder to keep welding up the holes

Same, Theres a lancia delta sitting on the side of the road near me, was under a cover until last summer, no intergrale markings on it and the front ends missing, nice set of wheels on it ddo but the guy wont sell the car or the wheels :(

TBH, VW cant really say anything as far as body work rusting away goes. Roccos's are know for not having any metal left under the arch trims & 6n polo's and mk3 golfs are prime examples of cars just rusting away

Edited 27 March, 201115 yr by Cymro

There's a void of difference between cars of 25-30 years old and more modern ones too.

These days almost all cars are galvanised and don't tend to rust as quickly. While it was certainly true that a Mk1 Fiesta would rot worse than a Mk1 Polo, their modern counterparts wouldn't be too far apart.

Remember cars like the Mk2 Golf were galvanised, but the equivalent Escort wasn't. But then neither was the Polo, until the Mk4, and the Mk4 does seem to suffer from tinworm. Poor galv?

This was my mate's Mk3 Fiesta, on a G-reg, back in late 2001. We were filling over the welds (badly)

He was filling up with fuel and the filler neck dropped through the quarter panel because it was so rotten. The more they ground back the more they found the paint was holding most of the panel together.

Ten years forward and my similarly aged car isn't this bad...

Edited 27 March, 201115 yr by Alex

My dad's got a Lancia Integrale and its a lovely car, but rot is a big problem with them

I think it's fair to say that my '94 GT is rustier than my other half's Fiesta (1996), but then the Ford's done half the Polo's mileage. But, there is a nasty nit near the back wheel arch/sill and also a crusty bit at the back of the passenger door shut.

The Polo has a bit near the petrol tank flap, a hole starting to appear at the bottom left-hand corner of the hatch (only very recent, but tiny dust spots fall off when you slam the boot), a bit near the n/s front indicator, the bottom of the driver's door (where it touches the door shut) and numerous stone chips etc. But, the Polo has done 162,600 miles, the paintwork's all original still and there's a small orange-ish patch on the bottom of the n/s door that hasn't really gotten much bigger in the 12 years that I've owned it!

Must get it looked into sometime in the next year or so, I guess.

The Polo has much better paint finish than the Fiesta, though...

Rich

Spent some of thisafternoon taking the GT arch trims off my new 1990 MK3 Loon, original arches underneath are like new, T-cutted the dirt off and you would'nt have known it had arch trims fitted

A mate of mine has an Escort MK4 RS Turbo, removed the body kit recently and half the metal came with it leaving a pile of rusty flakes on the ground

Arch trims will be going back on the loon BTW, just removed them to de-bump strip and generally tidy up the body.

i'd still rather own the RS turbo

but vw's love rot as well as any other car, when i took the body kit off my scirocco every arch had rust except for one which just wasn't even there, i'm not even sure how the arch trim was being held to the wing

My dad's got a Lancia Integrale and its a lovely car, but rot is a big problem with them

Did'nt those have foam inside the rear of the roof which ended up absorbing water ?, Italian cars generally are pretty bad for rot, i remember a De Tomaso Pantera resto in a mag years ago, it was so bad the guy had to make his own screen surround.

Always loved Alfa Romeo Alfasuds, most of them have desolved away now

Did'nt really intend to Diss Fords BTW, maybe i should have titled the thread different, i like Fords, just an observation that it seems to be easier to find a solid VW than the equivalent year Ford, up to 1990 anyway .

Remember cars like the Mk2 Golf were galvanised, but the equivalent Escort wasn't. But then neither was the Polo, until the Mk4, and the Mk4 does seem to suffer from tinworm. Poor galv?

No galvanisation at all until the 6N2.

Surprising how many rusty Mercedes' there are around too, even 10 - 12 year old stuff is sometimes rusty already!

Fiestas are terrible,always have been,and some more recent Ka's are going at the base of the A-pillars as well as the legendary Ford filler cap.

The way they're built is a major reason,but its also to do with materials.

In France,there are strict laws on recycled content in plastics,which is why their plastics degrade so badly.

Metal quality is also an issue,and Volkswagen were hit as hard as most european companies in the 80s - with early MK2 polos being far more resistant to rusting as late MK2s for example. Why? Nothing to do with rust protection,simply the metal itself.

Italian cars were literally rusty before their panels were even stamped,in the 70s. Cheap rotten Russian scrap iron used meant the paint was applied on new pressings riddled with rust.

Its all about metal quality,and everyone gets what they pay for - even manufacturers.

I remember early 80s Escort MK3's still looking new when big bumpers were literally hanging from MK4 Escorts.

Your mates RS doesn't have rot because of the bodykit. Its rotten because it was made of crap steel,and no attention to it where the kit kept it damp and cold has allowed it to disease unnoticed.

Remember cars like the Mk2 Golf were galvanised, but the equivalent Escort wasn't. But then neither was the Polo, until the Mk4, and the Mk4 does seem to suffer from tinworm. Poor galv?

No galvanisation at all until the 6N2.

Surprising how many rusty Mercedes' there are around too, even 10 - 12 year old stuff is sometimes rusty already!

As Mikey said, its all to do with the quality of materials not just the labour skills. Even Mercedes got caught out buying cheaper steel, these E-class are rot boxes

They has so many warranty claims for rust after only a few years!

At least the older VW's were cavity waxed unlike the old Ford's and French motors.

Remember cars like the Mk2 Golf were galvanised, but the equivalent Escort wasn't. But then neither was the Polo, until the Mk4, and the Mk4 does seem to suffer from tinworm. Poor galv?

No galvanisation at all until the 6N2.

Really? Shit, no wonder they rot so badly then!

Galvanising isn't the be all and end all, this much I know, but it helps.

my MK2 saloon, was as bad, if not worse than the minis I've owned.

and minis are extremely bad for rust.

Remember cars like the Mk2 Golf were galvanised, but the equivalent Escort wasn't. But then neither was the Polo, until the Mk4, and the Mk4 does seem to suffer from tinworm. Poor galv?

No galvanisation at all until the 6N2.

Really? Shit, no wonder they rot so badly then!

They do seem to rust pretty bad but mine has survived well. It's not like I wash my car alot or anything, only did it the other day for the first time since about October Still no rust :-D

So the mk2 Golf was galvanised? The mk3 can't have been though as they're often rusty as fuck! Cheap steel?

To be fair, I'd say a mk3 polo can rust as fast as any Ford of the era, it's just a total lottery with VW's of that era.

If you want rustproof, get a mk2 rocco.

MK2 Sciroccos rusted terribly some years,i had one less than ten years old and rust was coming out around the door cappings even then.

That was a '90 1.8 GT and it was 12 years ago.