Most drivers think of rust as a cosmetic problem — ugly sills, a scruffy underbody, a lower trade-in price. Swedish research says it is more serious than that. In 2018, the Swedish insurer Folksam and the homeowners’ association Villaägarna did something nobody had done before: they took ordinary 15-year-old used cars with typical Nordic rust […]
“It’s a new car — it won’t rust for years.” Unfortunately, that is not always true, even for the newest cars on the road. A few years ago, owners of one of the world’s best-selling new electric cars began reporting corrosion within months of delivery — enough of them that owner groups formed to compare […]
Modern cars are fitted with plastic covers under the engine bay and along the floor. They improve aerodynamics, cut noise and keep the underbody looking tidy. They also hide one of the most common places for serious rust to develop. The problem is simple: water, road salt and dirt find their way behind the covers […]
Most new cars come with an anti-corrosion or anti-perforation warranty of 6 to 12 years. It sounds like complete protection. Read the small print, and it is much narrower than most owners think. Typical factory corrosion warranties: Cover perforation only. Most pay out only when rust has eaten a hole through the panel from the […]
The most expensive rust is the rust you cannot see. By the time corrosion shows on the outside of a sill or an arch, it has usually been working away inside the metal for years — and what started as a €100 prevention job has become a €1,000+ repair. Where does hidden rust live? Inside […]
Rustproofing has moved a long way from the sticky black tar of the 1980s. A modern protection system works in layers, each with a different job. Layer 1: penetration. Thin, creeping fluids — like Mercasol 1 — are injected into cavities, seams and folds. They wick into the joints where corrosion starts, displace moisture that […]
Not all corrosion happens where you can spray it. One of the most damaging kinds happens inside the brake system — and it starts with old brake fluid. Standard brake fluid is hygroscopic: it slowly absorbs moisture from the air, through hoses, seals and the reservoir cap. After a couple of years, that absorbed water […]
