The Rust Report

[xcwbladez]

06 aveo rust on my window wiper arms but no where else

[Ravenne]

So far the only rust I've encountered is on the right license plate bolt, as well as on the screw for the right hand license plate light. I took the cover off it and it was full of water. Can't figure out how it got in there though

[acdc1287]

same here on my '05 with about 80,000 mi, only on the wiper blade arm

[Monzaveo]

Hey awesome question.

I'd be one to be able to answer, as,where I live, Cars rust out fast.

I have some rust where the paint chipped off my wiper arms at the pivot. I think some shady tech swapped wiper arms on me, during a dealership service (the blade was suddenly bad too) but I cant prove it. Seems like someone must have scraped the paint for it to flake off there. anyone else notice this?

I've noticed that leaves and 'helicopters' like to collect near the hood hinges...around here, that will be a source for rust, So I'm always cleaning them out.

Inside my hatch area I can see that the hatch hinges and other area's are going to need to be watched for rust.

Seems that, keeping it well washed, dried and oiled, will keep the rust at bay for years to come.

Oh...One fair sized rock chip in the hood, turned an oxidized color before I got to it with the touch up paint. I have my eye on that spot too.

Rust and mild oxidation isnt all a bad thing.

Its actually a message that oxidation, is happening, but you have time to do something about it.

The Zinc coating applied to metal as protection is actually meant to rust.

Nothing can really seal away the oxidation process from steel, so the idea behind a zinc coating (a much softer metal substance) is to give itself up first.

So that there is time to blast the metal clean and re-apply a new zinc coating, for the oxidation gremlins to munch on.

The average daily driver to rust ratio around here is 10 years.

I now see 98 cavaliers with the lower corners rusting out. along with the bottoms of the doors.

[petrified.rabbit]

10 years!? thats not bad.

i see 2 and 3 year old cars around here rusting. particularly low line models like Kia, hyundai, etc.. but even honda 1/4 wheel wells, like common on older hondas, start really early.

on the plus side you car came with corrosion warranty. use it. if something is rusting prematurely, they should have to fix it for you. free of charge. but this is voided if you had them add any undercoating or went to ziebart or anything like that.

when i worked for volvo we are replacing or repairing crusty hoods that were up to 10 years old. seems the factory went with a spray on primer, so where the inner and outer panels overlapped, there was nothing but bare metal.

[MetroAveo]

The only rust on mine is the exhaust manifold, so it's clean so far.

Here's a place where rust may likely start: down in the front side fender wells where they bolt to the rockers. There's always a pile of leaves and mud trapped in there, and I periodically take off the mud guards in the wheel wells to clean them out. The road debris seems to kick up into a small opening in the seam between the mud guard and the fender panel, and drops down to the bottom. So far that's the only real preventative rust measure I've taken.

[MetroAveo]

bump

Cleaned out these troughs again today, boy they were chock full of road debris!!
I would recommend everyone do this every month or so to avoid rust forming in the future from pent-up moisture in this area.
There are small plastic troughs that wrap under the rocker panels underneath which funnel the water out of the compartment, but they get clogged so easily and its just builds up.

Remember, even on today's cars rust CAN happen if the conditions are right
and once it gets inside of a rocker panel, there's no stopping it.
Just from experience of repairing rusty rockers on other cars...

[mikedudley17]

rust is the flesh eating disease of cars.

[Ron-E-Babe]

06 hatch, noticed the same pivot point on the wiper blade last year...maybe we need a recall?> LOL

I've also noticed a lot of corrosion in the engine compartment.

[Monzaveo]

06 hatch, noticed the same pivot point on the wiper blade last year...maybe we need a recall?> LOL

I've also noticed a lot of corrosion in the engine compartment.

Must be a western NY thing with the wiper arms, lol.

I'm definitely going to be cleaning that lower fender area shown above, thanks for that info!

The other car I collect...same exact thing...they had these 'self cleaning' rockers,

That would get filled with stuff. Most owners never knew, and many of the cars suffered lower frame damage, becoming useless in 10 years.