Very badly rusted car

OK, this is slightly off-topic, but the relevance will hopefully show soon.

I saw this news article during the week. This car is rusted all over. It isn’t just one part, metals of all different kinds, be it galvanised steel, the carbony-compound used in exhaust manifolds, or painted (and hot-dip galvanized) bodywork. Even the crimps on the brake hoses (which we can be fairly certain were supplied by a completely different outfit) are rusted.

Because of this wide scale of corrosion, I really doubt this is a manufacturing defect. Something else is up.

My guess is either 1) it lives on a beach, or 2) galvanic corrosion of some kind.

What I am interested in is the opinions of you guys related to that second option. How likely would that be?

There is another article of the same model/brand that was rusted. It was brand new and was determined this was a result of the shipping transportation. Came off the ship like this.Was not rust proofed its looking like.Now to probably check where they are manufactured and what short cuts / price cutting was done ?

Yeah that also looks concerning, but it is nowhere near the scale of this vehicle. I’m not really out to bash the brand. I really like Suzuki. My wife owned a Swift for several years, though admittedly it was a built-in-Japan vehicle (VIN started with JS). The new ones are built by Maruti in India (VIN starts with MA). So one possibility may be that the cheaper cars built by Maruti is not quite up to the usual quality.

But I still feel like it falls short of explaining all this rust. There must be a very very interesting story here… and I am dying to know it!

:wink:

My speculation:

I think both (salty moist air + bimetal contact) and add potential bad design and cost cutting (or poor quality control) in production/materials…all of this mixed with a student driver and sub-standard dealer support as catalyst.

Corrosion on the hubs likely classic galvanic corrosion (assuming steel hub and aluminium wheel). Maybe the severity could make one infer that the car spent most of the time outside and/or was not washed often to remove the electrolyte (how often does the average student wash a car?). What stupid things do students often do with their cars? (hold my beer…)

But the corrosion around the door handles and window seal could also indicate poor design/manufacture. Do the door seals maybe trap water and keep metal parts in essence submerged in water? (in a coastal area salty deposit mixed with rain water 2 weeks later running into every small nook and cranny but can all the water exit again?).

Quality of parts supplied to manufacturer. They possibly ordered galvanized bolts/nuts…but is that what they received? (the bean counters need the car produced as cheap as possible, so a cheaper bolt supplier was used?)

Rusted wheel nuts. Were tyres ever replaced/brakes serviced? (did tyre place or servicing agent apply anti-seize grease etc.).

Poor dealer/servicing standard. The servicing dealer did not notice the corrosion so that corrective steps could be taken sooner?

I must admit I first had to google galvanic corrosion. Found the following two pdf docs quite interesting/useful: Types of corrosion (stray current corrosion possibly relevant for the PV guys?) . Galavinic corrosion fairly detailed overview.

I do some house welding projects. When I bring the steel home it has Zero Rust. I use what I need and then I have a place in the garage for “Left Overs” Invariably this develops some rust. Being in the highvelt we dont have the Moister factor as at the coastal areas. Yet untreated metal will find moisture to start the rust process going. If you made a car, and it was on a ship out in the open. And it rained often and the sea air split on that car, If you had not treated the steel properly , as @Village_Idiot quoted would you not open a source for rust to start under the paint, under the seals where water sits? Certainly as can be seen on the underside car of the example, how the metal started rust almost immediately as My steel does thats in a dry garage? Just a thought now, it also relates to the steel composites are made of. Typical is angle iron and square tube being the quickest to rust, but bar steel not so quick.