Do Transits rust more than other vans or is this Myth?

[redeemer]

They may not rust as badly if they were washed a bit more often

Ohh the maltese wash there transits
Thats a dream.

[madmark]

[tinkadill]

i didn't know you were supposed to wash them, i'm sure its not im my manual

seriously mine is starting to go around the arches now and i know its because it is constantly caked in mud and the mud holds the moisture against the metal, so my own fault i suppose.


I think white just shows the rust more! and anyway whats wrong with a bit of rust it is a British motoring traditon just look at aold minis and alegros etc. they were fine examples of the way a car shoudl age

[sidspop]

Also the older the van, the better the steel used. Modern vans seem to be made out of recycled baked bean cans, and newr ones built of thinner steel, presumably to keep weight down.
Here is picture of my 1959 400e door bottom, showing the rust after 49 years, and acid dipping.


and under roof section


There's newer vans about, less than 8 years old, with more rust

[tinkadill]

I see what your saying about older vehicles but cant agree, i remeber the days when cars were proper rotters and literally fell to bits, modern cars have less of that for sure, you get 15 year old cars in for MOT with not a spot of rust, however some just seem bad uns, for example even Nissan went through a 'good patch' and their cars stopped rotting for a few years, now they are as bad as ever.

Look at it htis way of all the makrk1 transits made how many are left and how many rotted to death? se my point, the ones that are left are the esceptions the really goos examples that survived it all, hence the old vehilces being better theory.

I thikn things will get worse as all modern legislaiton about emissions etc is aimed at driing cars off the road sooner and so whats the point of building them to last? and there is more profit in cheap building.

[FredTransit]

I see what your saying about older vehicles but cant agree, i remeber the days when cars were proper rotters and literally fell to bits, modern cars have less of that for sure, you get 15 year old cars in for MOT with not a spot of rust, however some just seem bad uns, for example even Nissan went through a 'good patch' and their cars stopped rotting for a few years, now they are as bad as ever.

Look at it htis way of all the makrk1 transits made how many are left and how many rotted to death? se my point, the ones that are left are the esceptions the really goos examples that survived it all, hence the old vehilces being better theory.

I thikn things will get worse as all modern legislaiton about emissions etc is aimed at driing cars off the road sooner and so whats the point of building them to last? and there is more profit in cheap building.

I am conviced the 80s saw off a lot of perfectly good Mk1s, people had the money and were willing to spend it, so got rid of the older models even if they had plenty of life in em. We have had a Mk2 from brand new (my one regret is we didn't waxoyl the chassis) and yet have seen other vans with a lot more and a lot less rust, there doesn't seem to be a pattern to it. I am talking about vans that have been in the same part of the country (more salt on the road in the winter up north). We even got our from new Mk2s sister when she was 7, they are a few regs apart, and came from the same dealership. When we got the 'used' one it was in such bad condition it was the only van I have ever checked the chassis number on the van against the V5!!

One thing I am sure of is the new vans are not made to last.

[tinkadill]

i agree new vans are not made to last but i dont think they ever were, sorry but people hav eallways seen them as disposable, a few old ones have survived yes, but so will afew new ones.

The idea of more dispoisable income in the 80's is fair but people have more disposable income now than ever before! so its not a new idea.

I think many foreign vehilces seem to last longer for a variety of reasons, like overcoming bad reputations fom the past, now that has been done they are back to their old ways.

You mention road salt, and i can agree theere i used to live nad work in south devon and cornwall, and you see many more classic vehicles on the road where the weather is milder and less salt on the road, or i it because people are richer and have more then one vehicle? or houses are bigger and have more garage sapce? or these cars have come from a life in other parts of the country where people dont keep them so long?

see there are loads of variables! if you are prepared to spend enough money or have enough free time and skill you can keep anyhting going, unfortunately I have none of thos ehtings and just get a newer van when mine gets a bit sad looking, like most people i think?

[1958 harry]

My Dads MK 6 (2002) has some grot on one of the front arches, but I reckon its down to a stone chip or the like nd now the rust has set in as its on the front of the arch, the inner lip is still rust free - at the same age the MK5 P reg Smiley we had was a LOT worse - the MK6's are definately much better than the earlier ones.

Although I think Fords generally are TERRIBLE for rust - my Fiances Ka(k) is rotting away and its only a 53 plate! Likewise I know of a lot of friends Fords that are showing rust, whereas an equivalent Vauxhall/VW etc isn't

[tinkadill]

i think a lot of its down to miles you know, al the road dust stone chips ect slowly erroding the vulnerable places, and vans tend to to a lot of miles, at the end of the day people buy transits to do a lot of miles in! I have seen them with 400k on the original 2.5 diesel. Now if you could coax that sort of milage out of another vehicle it would be just as tatty!

[FredTransit]

The other factor now is the price of scrap. Some perfectly good MOT'd vans are being weighed in, cos people can't be bothered to sell them or think they will get more as scrap.

[dtulj]

I have drove transits for 30 years and every one has rusted and rotted the chassi , my current van is a2001 swb 100ps with 78k on the clock, it has rust on the bodywork although the arches and the front of the van are in great cond, the chassi around the spare wheel is rotten and can be crumbled with your hand like crushing a eggshell, overall a good van you pay a lot more for a similar van, the life span of transits i have owned are approx 8 ,10 years then they are scrapped.A mechanic who looks after a fleet of transits told me that from new preventive maintanence is a must do

[pikeybob]

Might be sumthing in that metallic paint theory. I had 2 metalic transits and neither rusted to bad at all

[keep um going]

My opionion the reason the transits suffer so much from rust is the nooks and crannies fill with mud which sits there for years and rots them out. I laugh i see people washing cars and vans and they look lovely and shiny. You never see any one cleaning the mud out of the arches or washing the underneath and this is where the problem starts. I guess out of sight out of mind.

[d&d plumbing]

I have a 54 plate transit 85/260..... Both sills rotting already side panels and room seams all showing rust scabs 90k miles........ its a little too young to be as bad as this

But it will get chopped in against another Transit Hopefully a Sportvan (If I can afford the tyres!!! )