taipan":12rl623t said:
Rust surely depends on how something has been cared for. Regular washing/dry storing (which most vees will have had) will mean potential to rust would be the last thing on.my mind when purchasong a vee.
Also there's so little of the bodywork that is actually susceptible to rust its almost not worth worrying about.
Sadly, you couldn't be more wrong. I have a good deal of experience of classic cars through to interesting modern cars, and rust is one of my biggest regrets in life LOL!
Some kind of rust is caused by poor maintenance or neglect; the sort that sees your average 12 year old family with bubbly arches. But, many cars have problems with key areas because of design flaws. For example let's take it back to the 1960s when the Austin/Morris/MG 11/1300 saloons used to rust from the bulkhead down to the sills - this was caused by a flaw that allowed water - by capiliary action - to go down the bonnet hinges into the scuttle panel, then down the double skin layer of the bulkhead.
Long-winded way of saying some rust is inherent in the design of a car, not caused by anything an owner can or can't do. And, sometimes the rust you need to watch for is the rust that's covered by body panels, and can't be treated, touched up, or even sometimes painted properly when built.
But, it's reassuring to hear so few reports of rust on these cars - LOL @ the rusty suspension; some brand new cars sitting in a showroom have rusty suspension and brake components from sitting in a distribution compound!
To a certain extent perhaps this could be traced to the standard base Clio; how much of the base chassis/bodyshell is used and are there any problems with those, in general?
Paul