Rust Repair Greenville NC

I think we're all in agreement that new-car construction techniques have given rust the old heave-ho. Used to be a new car would show signs of red rust in as little as 12 months, whereas nowadays, new cars carry 100,000-mile rust-through warranties.

By Mark Clark
11/1/1996

How can the car manufacturers do this? Haven't they ever been in the Midwest during the winter? Out here, we salt the salt to make sure we melt the ice. Or how about the cars on the sea coasts, where morning dew brings a daily salt bath.

The OEMs can offer these 100,000-mile rust-through warranties, in part, because they've doubled or tripled the amount of seam sealer (which is designed to keep moisture out of areas it doesn't belong) and used epoxy (or other) bare-metal primers on all bare metal, along with some form of galvanizing.

So why the OEM concern with rust? Because corrosion was universally identified as a high consumer priority when car manufacturers polled potential new-car buyers. Everybody they asked said having the car body still intact five years later was important.

What's important to you, however, is that you take the proper steps to restore corrosion protection when performing repairs. The vehicle owners' contracts with their insurance carriers call for restoring the car to its preaccident condition - and this certainly includes the 100,000-mile rust-through warranty. If you fix one of these cars and rust eats through the repair, your shop will be held responsible, peri...