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 and crash-tested them to the same standard the cars had passed when new.
The results were sobering. On one corroded family saloon, the rocker panels crumpled in both frontal and side impacts, and its safety score fell from 26 points out of 37 when new to just 18 — from a four-star to a three-star car. A popular family hatchback dropped from five stars to four. The researchers estimated that in a badly corroded car, the risk of dying in a crash can be up to 20% higher.
The message for Irish drivers is simple. Our climate — wet, coastal, salted roads every winter — is exactly the environment that produced those Swedish test cars. Corrosion protection is not about looks; it preserves the structure that protects you in an accident.
The good news: cavity wax and underbody coating applied while a car is still sound will keep the structure intact for years. Browse the Mercasol protection range or ask us what your vehicle needs.
Source: Folksam / Villaägarna used-car crash test programme, April 2018.