Saxo Rust - Now with pic.

28th February 2011, 01:40

I've seen quite a few threads cropping up recently about rust on saxos, and have been sent pics of a car on a 51 plate I was looking at that had quite a large hole by the fuse box.

This is worrying me a little as I hate rust, I'm assuming the main areas to check are the boot floor and sides, inner arches at the back, and engine bay under and at the sides of the ECU and fuse box?

If I find one that has zero rust, as long as I keep the arches clean and such will it stay this way, or even if it has none or very little am I expecting to see holes in a year or two?

Cheers

Pic and new question at bottom of page

28th February 2011, 01:50

as long as you keep it clean and get rid of muck in the archers should be fine.

you can get tins of aerosol wax oil that comes with a long straw so you can spray it every where this stops water on the surface of the metal preventing rust. unfortunately you cant stop rust its just a fact of life but you can prevent it. Every bolt I take out of my chassis and every screw I dip in wax oil to stop the rust every little helps. I also use cavity wax in my doors and sill's behind the wings and as fas as i can in the chassis legs.

28th February 2011, 02:00

Ah good, thats what I hoped.

As for the wax oil, you got a link at all of a good product? And how is the best to use it as i've heard of sealing moisture in? Clean out the arches, let them dry, and then whent he weather is warm and dry spray it on?

28th February 2011, 02:05

Hammerite Waxoyl Rustproofing Aerosol Clear 400ml

Hammerite Waxoyl Rustproofing Clear 2.5L

28th February 2011, 02:07

http://www.google.co.uk/products/cat...d=0CE8Q8wIwAA#
for the aerosol and
http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/...tm_medium=ncpc
for brush on

as for it locking in moisture wash all the shit off the car and if you can leave it in a garage (borrow one if needs be) for a night then spray + brush away. for rust spots that are there already sand them off treat with k-rust and paint over with paint then wax oil

28th February 2011, 02:11

Cheers for the links, is that stuff better than underbody seal with waxoyl?

As for a garage, don't think I can borrow one unfortunately, should be alright if I do it in the middle of summer though, have a long driveway so can do it on there?

28th February 2011, 02:17

Its all Hammerite stuff, so its all rust prevention, but it will only work up to a certain extent. Treat it as much as you want but keeping it away from rain is the best way to prevent rust.

28th February 2011, 02:17

yeah will be fine mate just watch the drive if you car about it as wax oil wont come off and underbody sealer with wax oil is good stuff but there are way better products out there as such as u-pol gravitex and schultz.

28th February 2011, 19:14

Ah fair enough, its certainly something I'm gonna do when I finally get a saxo, want to protect it from the rust.

Theres no way this stuff can accelerate rust or anything if applied wrongly?

As for the schultz stuff, yea i've heard good things about that, also Bilt Hamber products?

1st March 2011, 16:26

I've been sent a couple of pics of the rear axle by the owner of a car i'm looking at, although noticed a bit of rust on the underside, is this bad or does this look pretty clean, its a 52 plate btw:

1st March 2011, 21:30

Just realised, looks like there is no spare tyre with the car lol.

1st March 2011, 21:34

I'd remove all the rust with a wire brush on angle grinder then use one of the products above

1st March 2011, 21:37

To check the rear arches, look from inside the boot at the sides. Pull the carpet up and ou will clearly see if the arches have rusted a hole or the tar stuck on the side has begun to crack.

2nd March 2011, 00:03

The seller says the car has no arch rust but is the underside a bit rusty?

As for carpets, are they not stuck to the sides of the boot? A seller would be pretty annoyed if I ripped it off to check, no?

2nd March 2011, 00:12

take a jack with you. jack the rear right up. then jaba screwdriver at the arches to see if they are rotten. it probably won't go through because of the underseal. but it will flex and make a dull thud

2nd March 2011, 00:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamskiTNR

take a jack with you. jack the rear right up. then jaba screwdriver at the arches to see if they are rotten. it probably won't go through because of the underseal. but it will flex and make a dull thud

It will do that if its rotten then?

If not then i'm guessing there will be no movement?

Cheers

2nd March 2011, 00:23

bazinga

2nd March 2011, 00:25

Am I taking this too far trying to find a really well looked after saxo? lol

2nd March 2011, 00:35

Yeah - you will struggle to find a french car with no rust at all. Have a look at previous MOT's (online if you get the right info off the seller) and make sure there are no advisories for rust.

2nd March 2011, 00:37

Seriously? I didn't think french cars were known for rust?

One reason for getting a saxo was the fact they aren't specifically known for rusting, and I have viewed one which looked rust free to me...that was at a car dealer.

2nd March 2011, 00:42

Well if you find a well looked after newish model you may be OK. Lets face it, the newest one you can get is now 8 years old, and in that time, rain and salt will start to effect weak metal which is only a mm thick. If people treated their cars every year with all that ^^ then buyers these days wouldn't be in this position... but i suppose it never crossed their mind at the time.

2nd March 2011, 00:45

Lets hope so, as most people ive asked have said there is no rust on theirs :/

Im getting rid of my car as its getting old now, and needs about 600 spending on it to sort it, and with it being jap its starting to get a little rusty(bubbling on the arches, surface underneath but found one or two pea sized holes in the boot after digging out all the seam sealer), I don't want to sheel out for a saxo though and find it has the same?

2nd March 2011, 00:54

Its difficult to see on mine because I haven't taken pictures after the beam is off.. but if you look at this ---> Failed MOT - excessive corrosion - then this is how strict some MOT places can be

2nd March 2011, 01:03

To me that doesn't look bad at all, except maybe in this pic at the far right:

Think you got a dodgy tester tbh? Although that is a mk1 and im looking for a mk2 51 plate or newer, so should be even cleaner, nah?

2nd March 2011, 09:21

you'd struggle to find one with no rust at all. every car rusts, but some cars are definately worse (fords in the arches are a usual!)

2nd March 2011, 10:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by AL3X_

I've been sent a couple of pics of the rear axle by the owner of a car i'm looking at, although noticed a bit of rust on the underside, is this bad or does this look pretty clean, its a 52 plate btw:

thats not bad my 51 plate vtr is like that but yesterday sanded it all down and arches a good clean and hammerited them

2nd March 2011, 13:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinkostu

you'd struggle to find one with no rust at all. every car rusts, but some cars are definately worse (fords in the arches are a usual!)

True I suppose, basically what I want is one thats gonna last a good number of years at least without it becoming a serious issue?

7th March 2011, 23:48

Was sent a pic of this, looks like a bad little spot to the left of the pic, bottom of the strut turret:

8th March 2011, 00:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by AL3X_

Am I taking this too far trying to find a really well looked after saxo? lol

Yes you are .. your taking this way to far, its a saxo and its 9 years old ffs.
Why don't you pay a visit to citroen and offer your body in return for a brand new one.

8th March 2011, 00:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gibbo-Vtr

Yes you are .. your taking this way to far, its a saxo and its 9 years old ffs.
Why don't you pay a visit to citroen and offer your body in return for a brand new one.

Yeh it might be 9 years old but my P reg car seems to be less rusty than most of the ones i've looked at so far....and these are all between y plate and 03 plates.

8th March 2011, 00:19

its a saxo if your that picky about rust don't get one as they all have it and from the pics your posting it has sweet f**k all in terms of rust.

8th March 2011, 00:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by AL3X_

To me that doesn't look bad at all, except maybe in this pic at the far right:

Think you got a dodgy tester tbh? Although that is a mk1 and im looking for a mk2 51 plate or newer, so should be even cleaner, nah?

wheres the rear bumpstop

could be the reason for the rust

8th March 2011, 00:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by AL3X_

Yeh it might be 9 years old but my P reg car seems to be less rusty than most of the ones i've looked at so far....and these are all between y plate and 03 plates.

Well that's the chance you take when buying one.
There not all going to perfect, people need to understand this.

8th March 2011, 00:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedford126

its a saxo if your that picky about rust don't get one as they all have it and from the pics your posting it has sweet f**k all in terms of rust.

Really? Thats all I wanted to know, if it was bad or not, I thought french cars weren't renowned for rust like Fords and Jap cars?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gibbo-Vtr

Well that's the chance you take when buying one.
There not all going to perfect, people need to understand this.

Yeah true, thats why i'm looking for one which isn't rusty...or only has surface rust, i'm posting these pics to try and find out if these are bad or clean for a saxo, as I don't own one and know about what is and isn't serious on them.

8th March 2011, 00:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by AL3X_

Really? Thats all I wanted to know, if it was bad or not, I thought french cars weren't renowned for rust like Fords and Jap cars?

Yeah true, thats why i'm looking for one which isn't rusty...or only has surface rust, i'm posting these pics to try and find out if these are bad or clean for a saxo, as I don't own one and know about what is and isn't serious on them.

Well no its not serious,
Let me ask you this ..
What's the car milage and price etc ..

8th March 2011, 00:55

The one in the pic above?

60k, £1500

8th March 2011, 01:02

Is it a saxp members or private.

8th March 2011, 01:10

Mate all older cars come with rust, just need to sort it once you've bought one. Don't be so worried about it. I'd advise you to never go near orginal minis though as they are awful for rust haha

8th March 2011, 01:15

saw it on ph originally, then realised it was on here, there is another one i'm keen on buying though which appears to have barely any rust.

Simon, yeah i spose so...how do you mean sort it, treat and paint? What im worried about is buying one then in a year it have spread and need shit loads of welding for the mot...i might be overreacting a bit tho.

8th March 2011, 01:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon0014

Mate all older cars come with rust, just need to sort it once you've bought one. Don't be so worried about it. I'd advise you to never go near orginal minis though as they are awful for rust haha

+1 .. people need to understand this.
All older cars will come with some kind of rust,
And for 1500 on a 52 plate with 60k on clock you'd have to be an idiot not to take it,
You won't find many saxos with that kind of milage.
And would not worry about the rust it doesn't even look that bad.

8th March 2011, 01:21

saw it on ph originally, then realised it was on here, there is another one i'm keen on buying though which appears to have barely any rust.

Simon, yeah i spose so...how do you mean sort it, treat and paint? What im worried about is buying one then in a year it have spread and need shit loads of welding for the mot...i might be overreacting a bit tho.

8th March 2011, 01:28

Yeah you dont need to worry so much mate. What i meant was wire brush, sand etc to get rid of any surface rust. Then treat with appropriate options that were listed previously. Hammerite would be sufficient but for more piece of mind spend a bit more on the other suggestions perhaps.

8th March 2011, 01:28

Oh yeah 1500 is a good price for that age and mileage mate would defo snap it up!

8th March 2011, 19:40

Okay mate cheers

And yeah it does look nice, its just a bit far away to go and not like it thats why I asked the opinions here.

8th March 2011, 19:45

onli one way to treat rust proply. remove it, sander, wire brush, grinder, blasting or to extreme have the shell acid dipped but tbh thts abit to for, them pics looks fine, theres a big differance between surface rust and completely rotted though

8th March 2011, 20:10

Yeh true mate, its just you always get different opinions on it, some people say sanding/wire brushing, grinding back to bare metal and treating it works, others say this only slows it down, others say the only way is to cut it out....thats why I hate rust as it just seems a pain in the arse. Yeh I thought they were just surface(well the last pic I posted of the front suspension turret looks liek that little spot has gone quite deep?) but what I dont want is it to rapidly turn from surface rust to rotten.

8th March 2011, 22:38

I`d agree at that price & mileage its a good deal plus i`ve seen a lot worse saxo`s(meaning rust)just think yourself lucky you didn`t own an Austin Metro.

Steve.

9th March 2011, 02:09

they are old cars at the end of the day, if you don't want rust,up your aim/budget! They are budget cars when they were new so rust proofing was minimal to cut costs and to be honest we are seeing discovery td5's of a similar age coming through now showing signs of serious corrosion and they are worth a sight more then 1500 quid (allegedly)

10th March 2011, 02:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandyslover70

they are old cars at the end of the day, if you don't want rust,up your aim/budget! They are budget cars when they were new so rust proofing was minimal to cut costs and to be honest we are seeing discovery td5's of a similar age coming through now showing signs of serious corrosion and they are worth a sight more then 1500 quid (allegedly)

Yeah true, I suppose if in a few years it needed a small patch welding int he engine bay that wouldn't be much of a problem, cheaper than getting rear arches cut and welded in.

29th April 2011, 10:14

Did Citroen improve the rust protection during the production run? Just wondering if there is a date of manufacture from which things should be better.

29th April 2011, 10:20

no,they all rot. i've broken 1997 models with NO rust and 2003's that shouldn't even be near the road

29th April 2011, 12:28

Only thr older french cars are the self preserving leak so much oil they dont rust... My vts is 52 plate and there no signs of rust anywhere.. Keep everything cleaned and lubricated... Only do this because my old car had to have £300 of welding for the mot

I think hammerite do something that burns away rust

29th April 2011, 17:56

u wanna put some rust killer on that then some stone chip and then some paint after a wire brushing.

tbf jap cars are not renowed for rust, the french cars a shittly little flimsy pieces of thin steel that wasn't the highest quality when new. all goes on where the car were built. cars built in spain (like the ford KA) will rot like nothing else on the road in britan cause of out weather climate, we had a 1999 KA come in for a m.o.t and it were rotten as a pear where as my 1988 mk2 fiesta (built in germany) is pratically rust free only ever has 2 bits of welding and just gone through m.o.t without adviseries.

its catch 22 with rust for cars you want to avoid rust get a peugeot suppose to be galvinised from factory aparently.

29th April 2011, 18:20

i said that someone told me they were galvanised on here once had the piss taken out of me for it, oh yea their gold plated and all that shit. then some people say pugs rot the same. 306s dont seem to tho from what i seen on my cousins n reg td not 1 bit of rust with 160k on clock.

29th April 2011, 18:31

Its a weird thing with saxo`s because my old citroen zx never had any rust on it what so ever & it was an older car (K reg) saxo R reg.My saxo has been welded in the usual places.My old Renault 9 never had rust on it either.

Steve.

30th April 2011, 01:23

Yeah I had an old Pug 405 gtx1.9 d turbo and there a great car they were galvanised so never rusted rear axile went at 220000 miles same sh1T AS THE SAXOS plus some other sh!T SO TIME TO GO 300 POUNDS TO GET TROUGH MOT OR BUY A SAXO for 500 quid with a years mot and use it for a wile but i loved the comfort of the 405 great car but the saxo is good to in its own way mate and is quite nippy too about town and thats what i do about town driving so it cheeper to run so win win for me fast food delivery driver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!