Cars are rusting again and these ten models are the most vulnerable | drive

Fortunately, the time when cars started to rust in the brochure already proverbially are far behind us, but that does not mean that all car manufacturers have their corrosion prevention in order. In fact, in recent years it appears that a number of manufacturers have made significant savings in this area.

In times of fully galvanized bodies and the highest quality controls in car production, many drivers think that rust is no longer a problem. But it seems that this image is no longer correct. A 2016 report from Sweden showed earlier how susceptible many modern cars are to corrosion.

At the time, this was mainly due to certain design features that promote rusting. The report from Sweden said that even Volvos, which are considered extremely strong, had again become more susceptible to corrosion. The results of that report are now confirmed by current data from the German test organization GTÜ, which made figures available to the authoritative German car magazine. Auto Motor & Sports.

Since manufacturers cut back on rust protection and switched to partial galvanizing, rust has become a problem again, the magazine says. Of the 6.66 million vehicles submitted to the GTÜ for vehicle inspection since January 1, 2020, 441,000 had rust problems. This mainly concerned vehicles more than ten years old, according to Auto Motor & Sports. Nearly 13 percent of the 3.46 million older cars had rust problems.

According to GTÜ data, these are the ten cars most frequently affected by corrosion: Ford Transit, Lada 4×4 (Niva), Seat Alhambra, Ford Galaxy, Suzuki Jimny and Baleno, Daihatsu Cuore, Opel Vectra, Subaru Legacy and Ford Ka.

Tesla isn’t flawless in that regard either. Previously, reports appeared on social media about Teslas that were already rusted after one winter season in snowy regions. Car Motorcycle & Sports has a Tesla Model 3 with only 300 kilometers on the clock checked by rust expert Ralf Rößler. According to him, the result is reminiscent of the Alfasud from the 1970s: cavities were filled with construction foam. “That foam will absorb water”, Rößler expects. “In six months it will be rusty, in six years it will be completely rusted.”

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According to GTÜ technical director Marco Oehler, the trend towards lightweight construction, which is needed in electric cars to compensate for the heavy batteries, also has a negative effect on the rust susceptibility of modern cars.

Aluminum and magnesium suffer from so-called ‘galvanic corrosion’ when they come into contact with other materials. “If moisture gets to certain connections, the connections can rust from the inside. It takes quite a while before this becomes visible on the outside,” warns Marco Oehler.