https://youtu.be/0jEtIqRdRaM?si=NAHv-HdsAQzq28eb

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

This reminds me of the good old days when I would shop for an older car, probably made in the late-Sixtie's - early-Seventie's, and would open the trunk, look down, and see the ground. Ford Mustang's and mid-size Mopars were especially prone to this feature...

I recently read that there are many Ford trucks with substantial rust problems due to the fact that Ford doesn't use any anti-corrosion coating on the under carriage. I imagine this is the case for many cars, trucks and SUVs.

That is how the Ziebart anti-corrosion company began and apparently are still going. Then you have Delorean.....

I figure most of the cars, trucks and SUVs the big three manufactured were never made with longevity in mind. They want you to trade in your ride every three to five years and buy a new set of payments.


https://www.ziebart.com/auto-care-services/undercoating/undercoating-services

I love these and can waste an hour or two watching, it amazes me how poorly some vehicles are rust wise yet are still driven .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

source?

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Several members of my family had their new cars go through the Ziebart treatment for awhile. Ziebart is at its best when you conscientiously go back annually for their recommended touch ups. If you do not, and the coating cracks or abrades, the openings wind up trapping moisture between the coatings and the vehicle metal, which has obvious undesirable effects. We once had a 2003 Jeep Liberty in our family, delivered new in October 2002. Never had any rust treatments. We finally gave it up in 2020 after we noticed that the rockers were getting a bit bubbly. For years, I would make a point of rinsing the underside of the Jeep at least twice a year, and periodically made sure that all body panel drains were not blocked, which I think was helpful in slowing down rust development.

I've heard of guys who buy 15 or so year old pick ups and drive them to the rust belt and sell them for a tidy profit. Not sure if that would be viable. If it was, it seems there would be used car dealers on the East Coast scouring the sunshine zone for bargains and loading the vehicles onto trains.

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

The cost of even relatively minor rust repairs can justify the price premium commanded by a low or no-rust pickup. I do know of one guy in the midwest who has a website selling such trucks. I think the name is rust free classics, or something like that...

Yes, this is and has been a thing for many decades .

Many low mileage fleet trucks come up for auction and can be had affordably .

Spend a few $ on a re spray and clean the beejeebers out of it, it'll sell easily in the mid west .

I have several guys begging me to sell them my 2001 Ford Ranger base model pickup for $7K ~ they'll mail me the $ and come take it when the funds clear .

Nuh, uh ~ there's (for the moment) plenty of these out here, only a few as clean and low mileage as mine, I hope it'll be my very last truck before I die .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

in Nebraska they salt the roads when they need it. This eats up the fenders on truck beds.

About thirty years ago I was in a wrecking yard in Dallas and a guy was there with a custom built trailer sort of thing that held pick up truck beds. He would buy them fifteen at a time.

I got to talking to him and it turns out he was from Iowa. He would spend a day and a half driving down, a half a day loading up beds that the owner had set aside for him, and the next day a half driven back.

Then he would sell the bed from his farm to others. He even had a deal with some shops to mount them on you still good truck with the rusted out bed.

He said sales were good enough that he had quit his day job.

"... customer said she was going to just purchase a frame repair kit online ..."

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

.....Se meant some sheet metal and a pop rivet gun .

My middle sister lives in Richmond, Virginia, a very nice place IMO .

She's a horse enthusiast and bought a nice Chevrolet 3/4 ton Diesel to tow her two axle trailer .

Eventually the mechanic when doing routine hot LOF told her it needed new brake lines because of rust . (!? seriously ?!) ~ she called me and I did some research, it turns out GM pinched pennies and used cheapo steel brake pipes, a whole truck kit was under $200 plus of course, vexatious labor .

The two had low miles, ran perfectly and nary a dent, she doesn't smoke so near perfect interior .

She junked it .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Wow. Sounds like the kind of rig you wish you could've found before it went to the boneyard.

I took my first BMW 325i, an '87 E30 from 214k at purchase to about 450k before an electronic gremlin finally defeated me. Admittedly, the previous owner was a stickler for preventative maintenance, had a thick sheath of maintenance records from a top garage.

Nonetheless, I did have to do a couple of big repairs that would've been expensive were I'm not doing the work myself. During the oh ohs The boneyards had plenty of E30s to pick over. Some of them looked pretty nice. I was always curious what problem had brought them to the boneyard. I can only imagine that some of them might have been savable.

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Yep ;

All I had to do was go entirely across the U.S.A. and get it, fix the brakes then drive it home to Los Angeles .

Oops .

The sad truth about luxury cars is : after ten years they're essentially worthless unless like an old W123 Diesel they'll keep running .

If you saw the amount of rust free undented nice vehicles in the So. Cal. junkyard your head would spin .

I've been here 55 years and I still can't get over it .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

A word on rust treatments and floor pan rust out as was mentioned above.....

I have gone through a lot of early 70 Mercedes. Everything from a 220d to a 6.3. I began to notice a pattern.........

Those with rusted floor pans were always undercoated. Now I remember shopping for a Mercedes in the early 70s and undercoating was a dealer add on. It was pitched as a way to make the car quitter. And it did.

But years later it could crack, catch water, and rust out the floors. But then, who would expect a car to last fifty years? And still be a daily*driver.

I have not seen this on a early 70s Mercedes in a long time. I guess they all just rusted out.

By the way..... Porsche's also suffered from this same problem. I think in 1980 Porsche went to hardcore rust proofing due to a bad reputation in this area.