What kind (Where) of rust would you accept when buying 2nd hand car

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › What kind (Where) of rust would you accept when buying 2nd hand car

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#99797 27-Mar-2012 17:49

Looking at a 1998 car in Dunedin.

There are spots of surface looking rust on exhaust silencer bit.
The radiator bracket is rusted through.
There is another bit in the engine bay that is rusted through (will try to find picture to kinda point out)
The brake pistons are rusty from what you can see without pulling piston/wheel apart/away.
The wipers are rusty.

no other rust on suspension, the suspension bit in the engine bay, the engine bits itself, the insides of the car, the underside of the car including exhaust piping (no id dint use a hoist)

as I said i will try to put up representative pic ... but apart from thises bits no other rust esp none on the structural bits.

buy or dont buy?

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#600861 27-Mar-2012 17:54

I wouldn't buy any car with rust problems. But that said I wouldn't buy a car that old.I would get it tested via the AA or another testing company, as they will pick up problems. You don't want problems getting a WOF in the future as it is more hassle fixing things, than it will be worth, and you will save yourself the hassle buying paying a bit more and getting something decent.eg. You pay for what you get.

LennonNZ

2459 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#600862 27-Mar-2012 17:55

Does it have a Recent Current WOF?

sleemanj

1490 posts

Uber Geek

#600873 27-Mar-2012 18:16

Sounds like it would fail a WOF.

Avoid.

---
James Sleeman
I sell lots of stuff for electronic enthusiasts...

sleemanj

1490 posts

Uber Geek

#600881 27-Mar-2012 18:25

And in more detail.

joker97: Looking at a 1998 car in Dunedin.

1998 is pretty new to be that rusty.

joker97:There are spots of surface looking rust on exhaust silencer bit.

That's no problem, clean em off.

joker97: The radiator bracket is rusted through.

You'd need to get it cut off, and a new one welded on. But that should be easy enough done.

joker97: There is another bit in the engine bay that is rusted through (will try to find picture to kinda point out)

Depends where it is, but this could easily be "terminal", if it's near the engine mounts. Not worth the repairs. On the other hand it could just be a hole though a panel which could be cut out and patched (or bogged) up.

joker97: The brake pistons are rusty from what you can see without pulling piston/wheel apart/away.

Depends on the severity but may need the brakes rebuilding when the pads are next changed (otherwise pushing the pistons back will kill the seals anyway if they are rough with rust).

joker97: The wipers are rusty.

Clean em up and paint, shouldn't be a problem, if the rust is on the wiper arms and not in the car body.

---
James Sleeman
I sell lots of stuff for electronic enthusiasts...

Bung

6477 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#600923 27-Mar-2012 19:20

joker97: Looking at a 1998 car in Dunedin.

The brake pistons are rusty from what you can see without pulling piston/wheel apart/away.

Are you describing the external appearance of the brakes? You normally wouldn't even see pistons.

If the car hasn't had regular brake fluid changes it could be quite likely that something that old will have seized up rear brakes (drums). Also watch for any rust on the brake lines. I scrapped a 96 car that was about to need new lines to the rear.

riahon

946 posts

Ultimate Geek

#600926 27-Mar-2012 19:23

Only the rust in the engine bay would concern me. I would guess it is near the brake reservoir which happens when brake fluid is spilt and not cleaned up. If it is along the firewall and the paint around it has bubbled, stay away.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#601371 28-Mar-2012 16:08

well as it turns out the rust is around the brake fluid bit but very very mild. there is significant rust over the battery clamp thing, and the radiator as shown in pic. nowhere else (under bonnet)...

i guess i am wondering if the rust will spread like cancer from these places to the entire engine bay ...

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#601372 28-Mar-2012 16:10

it has current wof. will not buy without new wof.

don't know why pic is not showing sorry, uploaded to gz gallery and copied link.

scottjpalmer

5973 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#601395 28-Mar-2012 16:36

joker97: it has current wof. will not buy without new wof.

don't know why pic is not showing sorry, uploaded to gz gallery and copied link.

Fixed, you had a space on the end of the URL

sleemanj

1490 posts

Uber Geek

#601397 28-Mar-2012 16:37

That looks like just plain old surface rust to me. Get yer wire brush, brush it off, and spray some rust killer on it. Job done.

---
James Sleeman
I sell lots of stuff for electronic enthusiasts...

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#601413 28-Mar-2012 17:08

The rust you can see is bad enough, what you can't see would concern me greatly. I would run a mile personally.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#601424 28-Mar-2012 17:26

Guessing it's a Mitsubishi Lancer or something similar & unexciting. A fair amount of minor surface rust on outboard parts is unlikely to be a problem, anything that would be likely to cause real issues should've been picked up at a recent WOF & caused a fail.

Check under the window seals, inside the door wells, if there's rust there, then run away.

Brakes usually look rusty, it's pretty much their natural state. Most of it isn't rust but brake dust.

There's too many variables here, you really need to get someone who has at least a vague idea of what they're looking for to give it a going over.

Other than that, CRC is your friend.

@KnightNZ

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#601439 28-Mar-2012 17:42

ok thanks :)

blakamin

4431 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#601456 28-Mar-2012 18:41

looks like no big deal (I'm a spray-painter).
Battery clamps always rust...
If it passes a WoF, go hard.