Used Car Help - Rust Query

dg121

Hey all,

I'm currently looking for a new replacement used car after having mine sent to car heaven by a lovely young chap who decided to hit the side of it.

I've found one that otherwise ticks all the boxes but noticed some rusting on/around the sills. I spoke to the garage about it and they seem to think it's just surface and there are no advisories on the current MOT, and have never been advisories on any MOT regarding it.

In the opinions of those here, is this a concern? Reason to walk away? Acceptable if treated?
My car structural knowledge is limited so really appreciated thoughts on this from anyone who is more clued up on these things.

Further details if it helps: 66 plate (early 2017), Kia Rio, spent a lot of it's like around Edinburgh (probably why there's some rusting)

caprikid1

If I was buying it and wanting the car for some years then I would absolutely be rubbing that back treating it and repainting it. should be fine for some years if treated. I would be tempted to look at some similar cars of the same age to see if that is typical.

There is a bit of expansion of the edge of the metal that would expand if not treated properly and sealed, it looks like there should be some seal sealant that is missing that would have helped reduce it.

Obviously being brought up in the 70's we would have viewed that as good at 12 months old for most cars.

sheenas

I would guess the the door seals have for some reason rubbed the from the door insides. Exposing the metal. I would walk away and find another car without issues. Rust is difficult to treat. 

Mildly_Miffed

It's a near-10yo budget car that's spent its early years in a fairly hostile climate. A decade or two back, that'd be a really good 'un.

Most structural rot starts inside box sections and seams, and can't be seen until it starts to poke holes. The sort of thing you're seeing there just looks grotty and is unlikely to be terminal.

Spending a few hundred quid on getting it professionally wax injected and under-sprayed probably won't extend its life much, because it'll almost certainly die the death of a thousand papercuts rather than terminal rot.

sheslookinhot

Most cars over 3-4 years old would look like that. Nothing to worry about on a 10 year old car. Obviously a coating of a rust inhibitor along the seam wouldn’t do any harm.

chrisw

I don't like the look of it. We have a 16 year old Nissan and 13 year old Fiat Punto, not known for being rust proof, and neither have rusted like that. 

If you can get it treated cheaply then fine, but I've always found rust to be difficult to get rid of compared to mechanical issues.

caprikid1

sheenas said:

I would guess the the door seals have for some reason rubbed the from the door insides. Exposing the metal. I would walk away and find another car without issues. Rust is difficult to treat. 

This looks to be where the floor pan joins the sill. Prone to water ingress splitting the seam on many old cars. Treated well it could be ok but I would want to look at some other cars. Obviously a lot of dealers would have ran a some sealant of covering on it.

Goudy

The rust is in the seam.
Water and salt has got into the joint between panels.

At best you might slow it down by treating the edges you can see, but it'll eventually pop out further up/down one or both of the joined panels.

How long that will be is anyone's guess, but by the look of the 3rd image (to the right of the drainage bung) rust is breaking out close to the curved part of the sill already and the seam is being pushed open by rust from within in other places, which is why the panel edges look wavy.

It's what I'd call a "seaside car".
It's lived in the salt air for most of it's life which will cause the car to rust in all those difficult to protect places like panel joints and where water gets trapped, like in the wheel arch folds.

dg121

Thanks for all the thoughts and opinions on this. I've decided to give this one a miss based on the above as should be able to pick up a similar second hand car without such obvious rusting going on

adrich

I’d definitely give it a closer look. A bit of rust on the sills can be totally normal for a 2017 car, especially one that’s lived its life around Edinburgh, but it really depends on whether it’s actually just surface rust or if it’s starting to creep deeper.

If the MOT history shows no advisories and the garage is confident it’s only surface-level, it might be fine as long as you treat it sooner rather than later. Still, I’d try to get a second opinion from an independent mechanic if you can. A quick inspection could save you a headache later.

I went through something similar when I was car shopping and ended up reading a bunch of Big Motoring World reviews just to get a sense of how dealers handle stuff like this. General takeaway: trust but verify. If they’re confident, they shouldn’t mind you getting someone else to look at it.

If the price is good and the rust really is minor, I wouldn’t walk away automatically. Just make sure you know what you’re buying.