How soon will my daily driver rust?

[Ol' Shatterhand]

OK, so the car in the video is not a Boxster but I thought BMWs of this era were the last well made ones before whereas later cars (including the E46 3 series) had a rust problem. Gets you thinking though. I know chassis rust is so far unheard of on Boxsters and the probably the first place to look is the inside of the rear wheel arches where mud gets trapped, but even with a galvanized chassis, eventually our cars will rust, unless they're never driven on wet roads. But there whole point of Porsches is that they are usable in the real world. Mine is a daily car, driven all year round, rain or shine, and it's parked outdoors, under my neighbour's cat (if the beast ever scratches my car I'll park over it). So, should I be mandating a waxoyl regime when I take my car to my Indy for its annual service? Has anybody else here had rust issues so far? Rust on exhaust clamps are control arm bolts is par for the course, I'm not concerned about those, even though they give mechanics a headache.

[½cwt]

There are a couple of documented spots for body rust, under the two side intakes where a sound/vibration absorbing foam is bonded to the panel and they retain moisture rusting inside to out, also the trailing edge of the front wheel arches where they gravel rash from the from wheel.  Not come across anything in my reading about rust in structural areas though, and give the salt/molasses mix we use on our roads in the UK its going to be found here first if it does come up.

[map]

This might help shed some 986 specific light on the question of chassis corrosion: 

 

[edc]

I don't think any car is immune from rust unless it's made of plastic or only driven in dry summer conditions. 

[½cwt]

15 minutes ago, map said:

This might help shed some 986 specific light on the question of chassis corrosion: 

 

 

2 minutes ago, edc said:

I don't think any car is immune from rust unless it's made of plastic or only driven in dry summer conditions. 

Fair points both, but there are not stories of even the oldest 986s rusting seriously. Does it need keeping an eye on, absolutely.

Checking this over, removing any grit/mud build up and if necessary protecting any areas that are looking a bit more brown than silver, when I'm under it doing brake lines later this spring.  I'm going to be looking at solutions for the rusting away under body fixing studs that the plastic nuts fit to as well.  I'll let you know what a 2000 Boxster with 112k miles looks like underneath with the covers off.

[edc]

There are maybe a handful of regular posters here who use a 986 as an all weather all seasons daily and by default tend to be more hands on with maintenance. 

[Bike Loon]

I live as close as you get to the English channel without getting wet (literally a 2 min walk from my house). I had a year 2000 986S as a daily driver, bought it when it was about 10 years old with 74,000 miles on it, sold it 7 years later with 120,000 miles on it. Not a spot of rust on it.

[Daboy3000]

I own one of the oldest boxsters and live on the south coast, plenty of corroded nuts but that's about it. 

[eob]

I'd love another E39 but they'll all need attention like this now.
I looked it up and it was SORNed in 2016 with a fair few advisories for rust in the preceeding MOTs.

That M5 was in not bad condition for 20 yo though. I can remember when I were a lad going with my dad or grandad and they would scrap a 7 or 8 year old car.

[fizz]

2003 S with 78k on the clock.

My rear arches both sides... 

Need to get that looked at before autumn. 

[edc]

5 hours ago, Bike Loon said:

I live as close as you get to the English channel without getting wet (literally a 2 min walk from my house). I had a year 2000 986S as a daily driver, bought it when it was about 10 years old with 74,000 miles on it, sold it 7 years later with 120,000 miles on it. Not a spot of rust on it.

I don't think many of us have seen the painted surface rust apart from a few with wheel arch and vent corrosion. But is the underside which you can't see under the undertrays. Ok they are galvanised or covered in stone protection but you only have to see the condition of old brake pipes, exhausts and their fixings and some suspension bits to see what can happen if that protection is compromised. 

[Nobbie]

I think I win on this one🤣, My car is a 1999 that was used as a daily for the first 10-15 years of its life, so got plenty of road salt thrown at it. As a result all the brake pipes needed replacement and all the suspension bolts had to be cut to renew the suspension. It has also had some serious rust on part of the chassis in the centre towards the front. I hammered away the loose stuff and treated with some waxolyn, but I suspect I need to redo it again. Just waiting for space on my drive. I’ll take some photos and highlight the area for the benefit of others. I also remember some pretty nasty rust on the front metalwork supporting the front bumper that I also need to have another look at. Also got the rust spot below the air intake.

[½cwt]

@Ol' Shatterhand Short answer - Not any time soon.  Just keep an eye on the areas highlighted.

[Geopat]

On 4/16/2023 at 3:30 PM, fizz said:

2003 S with 78k on the clock.

My rear arches both sides... 

Need to get that looked at before autumn. 

I trust the uneven paint in the arch edges is sealant not rust?  

[fizz]

5 hours ago, Geopat said:

I trust the uneven paint in the arch edges is sealant not rust?  

Correct. The rust is coming at the bottom from under that.

[jonogt6]

Mine had started to go in the areas painted grey. They protrude in to the wheels arch and are open to the elements so it's hardly surprising. Tbh it wasn't that bad, so I dremelled it back to bare metal and applied some rust converter, Primer, then paint. Should keep it at bay for a good few years.

 

[½cwt]

I've been spending some time under mine with all the under trays and wheel arch liners out over the last week or two whilst doing all the hard lines and hoses in the brake system.  Here are some pics of the areas where there is clearly the start of deterioration int eh front third of the chassis.

Frunk outer floor to rad mounts - this welded seam and over lap joint are clearly starting to corrode on both sides:

 

 

Next is the main chassis where the bulkhead joins with the floor and front chassis rails.  The near side is worse than the off side, could just be more road detritus in the verges however given some other evidence this may be some lingering deterioration from some minor accident damage the car sustained several years ago:

 

  

 

 

Finally looking up into the front suspension turrets some corrosion can be seen particularly to the trailing side of the near side turret.

 

 

 

[Boxer boy]

They are pretty as good as any car can get .I had the wheels off mine yesterday 09 , to check last ( May 22 ) times wire brush + waxoil.I use the black tinned stuff as well as the trad yellow yellow stuff .

I also had the front bumper off last May to do the AC condensers .The real bumper bar and it’s mounts need additional protection .

But as the pics above everything metal inc the AC connectors and for me the whole struts , springs , and top mounts were done .Under the engine compartment the cross members and anti roll bars + mounts .

 

Also as well after a run ( ie when hot ) I dab the yellow waxoil around the cross over pipes joints and blow it down the gap with compressed air .Heat melts it makes it extra runny to flow into every crack .= Optimistically attempting to extend the silly metal water trap, rust prone joints ? 
 

Yesterday I did notice a cross member from the frunk to bumper starting to go , so it was wire brushed and waxed .

I pulled the side air vents off last summer and wire brushed up the inner ( you can’t see it ) flange = black body waxoil and reassembled.= Read something on here that it’s a water  trap / rust spot .Tnx forum .

There was a bit of arch rash ( 87 K ) when I bought it last yr .I removed the flaky paint , rust inhibitors and touch up paint .

Thats held 12/12 later .PO was a single woman , well I made the assumption based on tit size and hair length, make up , nails , legs and not a car guy - sorry  “ person “ Identified as a miss as well .

 

I have had the arch liners out and cleaned the lip and waxed that + any hidden brake pipes .

By and large Porsche are well built .

But as others have said ……salty U.K. damp roads ….it’s gonna kick out and win unless you do some prophylactic maintenance.

 

[ATM]

I bought a Japanese Import BMW E39 a few years ago. Judging by the prices people are now paying for these I got mine before they were popular. The underside looked brand new even though it was 15 years old. 

I've also watched videos of people in the USA doing maintenance jobs on P cars and they all look new still especially compared to ours which all look shot.

As an aside I have a friend who lives in Oklahoma. I've been a few times. The biggest difference I've noticed myself is that people don't do the shoes off thing there. And it's because the pavements are clean. They get dusty at worst. Our pavements have a constant layer of moss, mush, damp and all sorts of gunk on them. In Oklahoma the pavements always look new forever. 

We will always be fighting a losing battle with the weather here. Ultimately it will always win but we can try to hold it back as best we can. 

[½cwt]

Its not even weather, it is salt...

[Cybot7]

The only rust I’ve experienced on my 2003 986s was beneath the O/S rear vent. Cost about £500 to repair properly with tinning. It’s been kept in a garage since I got it last year but the previous owner lived in Morpeth where I gather it was used a lot.