French cars- Lack of rust

[xrmike]

Such a random topic, but I'm sure someone on here could see me right.
I was looking for a small cheap van recently, I concluded that a french van would be perfect

A: They don't seem to rust
B: The french love their small vans so have good experience building them
C: They are quite reliable and good on fuel.

I ended up with a 2001 1.9D Berlingo with 112K Miles. No Rust in site anywhere underneath or on the sills, which makes me ponder as to why? Its over 10 years old, a 2001 escort van would be needing the welder treatment by now!
Are french cars prepped better then other cars? Or is the paint of a better quality?
Looking at many old 106/306/saxos around lately they don't seem to rust as bad as say a vauxhall/ford of the same ERA?

Mike

[86mike]

Had a similar experience with an 85 Renault 5, we scratched the wing right down to the metal and it never rusted even though it went unrepaired for something like 10 years.

[DarrenW]

I had to scrap my 1998 Kangoo a few months ago as it was too rotten underneath to be worth the effort of getting it through another MOT... I took the interior panels out of the back when I got it to put some insulation in, and there was no paint down in the sills at all, just a light dusting of primer... Same along the top flange where the back doors close over, in the doors, and anywhere else I looked that was out of normal sight!

[xrmike]

See some renaults seem to be more rusty then others, but the Peugeots/Citroens seem to be sound. There is plenty of scratches on my van that are to bare metal (I will touch them up), I cant comment on how long they have been there for, but no sign of corrosion has appeared yet!

[grez6232]

Post 1990 Citroens, and Peugeots for that matter, don't seem to rust at all. I don't think I've seen a frilly BX, ZX, XM etc etc. I had a 99 306 for a while that was clean as a whistle. Then I had a 2000 Focus estate that a bubbling tailgate and rear arches.

[Dom]

My '87 AX was completely rust-free apart from a couple of pea-sized specs from a scrape.
Even a badly resprayed wing showed no signs of going bad.
Heck, the spare wheel had spend 25 years strapped under the car and was still useable.

[Brian Damaged]

Oct 13, 2012 21:40:09 GMT grez6232 said:

Post 1990 Citroens, and Peugeots for that matter, don't seem to rust at all. I don't think I've seen a frilly BX, ZX, XM etc etc. I had a 99 306 for a while that was clean as a whistle. Then I had a 2000 Focus estate that a bubbling tailgate and rear arches.

BX's (and Xantias, come to that) seem to go around the strut tops and inner wings. BX's can suffer from bad tinworm around the A-pillars/doorhinges as well.

I almost bought a really tidy N-plated ZX dizzler wagon early this year, until we managed to put a trolley-jack straight through the floor when taking the aftermarket alloys off.

Peugeot 205's were galvanised from the factory from the waist downwards which is why so many survive in great shape. 309's were a bit less resistant to the dreaded Ferrous Oxide.....as for 306's I have seen a couple which have rotted spectacularly around the rear inner wings.

On the whole though they do seem to fare much better than most. My old Xant was in much better bodily shape than the Merc E-Class I've got now, even if it's spectcacularly good for a 90's W124.

[prab]

I've got a 1990 renault 25, the only rust on the entire car was on the rear arches which has been repaired, underneath it was solid and the chaps at the test centre told me they had never seen a car this old without any rot underneath, needless to say its staying that way as i spent £120 on a full proffessional underseal!

[loudandproud205]

Oh they rust, 106s rot on the jacking point, inside the boot where the floor meets the arch and up up that side.

205s are the same my boot floor has a series of pin holes across the floor where the chassis rail goes across.

[jmsheahan]

My '01 306 is looking a bit crusty around the rear inners and boot floor and also scabs of rust in the corners of the drivers door. My folks 306 is starting to go on one of the sills at the rear. Nothing major though.

[Indie]

Even though no-one seems to like them (and as a result they are dead cheap) for a while my stopgap 'modern' was a Renault Laguna Estate.
Two of the OE springs snapped but the bodywork was as clean as a whistle ..... and in my very unscientific straw poll of Renault Lagunas I drive past I've not seen a particularly rusty one...... shabby, dented and multi-coloured yes but not (seemingly) very rusty.

[fred]

My BX 1.6 AND 1.9 Gti and Xantia never suffered the tin worm at all
sure the xantia had zinc plating mind but I'll leave that to more knowledgeable members

[fred]

Galvanized that is - zinc plated!!

[ChasR]

Oct 14, 2012 13:57:34 GMT Brian Damaged said:

Oct 13, 2012 21:40:09 GMT grez6232 said:

Post 1990 Citroens, and Peugeots for that matter, don't seem to rust at all. I don't think I've seen a frilly BX, ZX, XM etc etc. I had a 99 306 for a while that was clean as a whistle. Then I had a 2000 Focus estate that a bubbling tailgate and rear arches.

I almost bought a really tidy N-plated ZX dizzler wagon early this year, until we managed to put a trolley-jack straight through the floor when taking the aftermarket alloys off.

Peugeot 205's were galvanised from the factory from the waist downwards which is why so many survive in great shape. 309's were a bit less resistant to the dreaded Ferrous Oxide.....as for 306's I have seen a couple which have rotted spectacularly around the rear inner wings.

On the whole though they do seem to fare much better than most. My old Xant was in much better bodily shape than the Merc E-Class I've got now, even if it's spectcacularly good for a 90's W124.

205s aren't too bad but I reckon it's the water leaks that kill them (but let's be honest, it's probably what kills most cars in the end).

As for the 306s, I am willing to bet that the cars which rotted out in the said areas did not have wheelarch liners in the rear arches (easily done if someone put a set of Ford offset wheels on (too much offset for a 306) or the rear beam and or mounts were shot .

I do miss my old French cars. I really also so recommissioning the 205 again (there was not much wrong with it either!).

[dugong]

My old 306 was 'ard. No rot on that.

My 305 though........

Oh dear.

[broomaround]

306 which is nearly 20 years old and hardly a patch of rust on it, very impressive indeed!

[PhilA]

It's gotta be mostly down to surface prep.

Higher quality steel helps- but at the end of the day, mild steel rusts. Fiat, Jaguar, Rolls-Royce, Austin... all rots through if given the chance.

My 87 Renault has no rot on it where the original body prep still exists.

I had rubbed the side down last year after knocking a dent out, and there was signs of decent galvanization, a good first-coverage dip of some sort that is black, then undercoat, topcoat and clearcoat. The undersides had fairly decent underseal too which is just beginnnig to flake off. Rubbery rather than tarry stuff.

This area makes stuff rust quickly, so it has to be good coatings.

--Phil

[Bioshock]

The Killer for Renault 5's, is a sunroof. Water gets in and runs down to the front screen, rear quarters, tailgate and rots them from the inside out. by the time you see a few rust bubbles, it's too late.....

[prab]

I've had non sunroof 5s, and the bottom of the rear windows goes, around fuel filler goes, sills go, under the windscreen goes...

[Dom]

It does also help that AXs have plastic bootlids and BXs have plastic bonnets and boots.

We had a fibreglass-bodied Espace when I was young.