Any rust on these cars yet?
 

Hey all,

I'm a prospective buyer (just waiting to beef up my account a little more before I pull the trigger) so I'm reading as much about these cars as possible. Coming from a history of Volkswagen and Mazda products, rust has always been an issue for me. I don't ever want to repair rust panels ever again. And I always keep my cars as long as possible (10+ years)

Does the 86/BRZ have any rust issues, panels, creases or locations prone to corrosion? Do you guys rustproof your cars? How do the plastics and rubbers hold up to rustproofing? I know the paint is impossibly thin (my Mazda3's paint is pretty ridiculous, so I hold my farts in until I'm at least 10 feet away downdraft so as to not ruin the clearcoat). In the land of salty sh!t winters, pothole minefields and road debris, I'm concerned about the durability of the 86's body and chassis.

Cheers,
James

Early cars had a small issue with window pillar rust, salt water getting trapped between the seal. I think they fixed it by providing a little bit better insulation there. Easy to handle if you daub silicone grease down in there.

The underbody has a full rust coating from factory.

My control arms are rusty at 100k miles but not a problem considering that I'll probably be changing those parts by 150k miles.

The plastics and rubbers are holding well. I haven't lost any pieces or had any deteriorate in the 6-7 years I've had it sitting outside. There is some noticeable interior rattle when its cold and the glues aren't as compliant. And there are some issues with dashboards coming unstuck over the vents in the summer but its minor, I don't even care about that.

The body can be a different story. Thin panels that dent easily. Paint that requires very gentle care. Xpel film is a must to prevent rock chips. Also a windshield with "soft" glass that scratches easily.

man, sounds a lot like my car, but with 50 extra horses to the other set of wheels. I have Protex clear bra on the whole front end of my car which helped a LOT in reducing the amount of paint destruction it would go through, but I want to learn how to apply it myself so I can just do the whole car and be done with it. I honestly see a huge benefit in wrapping 100% of the car in clear bra, especially in this day and age of absurdly thin paint and panels. There's no room to buff anything out anymore, so if you damage it, that's it. You either leave it, or respray it.

I think I'm looking for a 2017+ just for the shorter diff gearing and revised engine oiling upgrade (apparently?). I'll assume they cured any imperfections the early cars had.

@Snail you know you can reply to posts by just saying @Username instead of quoting everything I wrote.

@radroach I do now

:P

On my 4th winter with the car just below you in Vermont. There is minor surface rust on the subframe supports, but that's all. Anything structural seems to be holding up perfectly, and I drive my car every day in all weather.

The caveat here is that I do get my car undercoated with fluidfilm..

One area I'd be worried about is the rear frame rails. I'll try to take a picture later.

That stuff is the shizz. I get a couple of cans before and after every winter and try to use as much as I can. The car drips for a couple of days but who cares.. Plus I like how it smells. lol

Found the edges of the front subframe had some surface rust after a few winters. Visible from the front wheel well if you look closely.

Also near the top of the rear wheel well there are little gussets. One of mine wasn't covered with the factory undercoating well and began to rust where water can collect in it.

Subframe mounts and diff case get surface rust as well.

I didn't see any problems on the bottom of the unibody when I put the underpanels on 3 years ago, so that's probably fine, though you have a bit more winter than I.

I have some bubbling under the door sill trim. 2013

Live in FL, no snow and I don't go to the beach. Some of the coating on my front control arms are off and some rust is showing.



7 year ownership and 51k miles. Sits outdoors.

Have had mine for a couple of years and no signs of rust, we don't really snow where I am and rarely ever travel to the beach. Prob just depends on where you drive it and how often. Also could be because I had mine applied with car paint protection?

Curious for some pics of this. Has your rockers every been apart(accident repair)

Its a hail damage car, its possible the sill was painted for some reason. But also possible it wasnt.

https://i.imgur.com/AMmjm06.jpg