Disappointed with Accord after one Salt Exposure

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Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Doog
NEWS FLASH: JAPANESE CARS RUST OUT.


All cars rust out. All cars corrode. Cars in non salt areas that still see morning dew still show surface corrosion... I get that.

My issue is that a few spots that could have been better prepped with paint or other protection, in my view, should have been. Instead there's a lot of rust, benign surface rust or otherwise, that is quite obvious.

The white powder literally pouring out of the lug nuts really gets me though... Ned to find a protectant that doesn't affect the friction characteristics...



Taking a closer look at your pictures, I would agree...
 
Hubs and studs may have rusted because water enters via the plastic cap in the wheel center and seeps past the hub/wheel interface into stud areas. I generally seal those caps with silicone RTV and clean/grease the hub surface as you did. Although most wheels sit tight and seal against the hub, on one car I owned (a Nissan SUV) the wheels had radial grooves cast into the mating surface to allow moisture to exit, a mod you can do yourself with a file. I have noted that keeping the internal hub area airtight still resulted in minor corrosion due to condensation of that trapped air.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Salt doesn't work below 15ish degrees fahrenheit.

Honda makes a good car, but there's nothing magical about them. They're very average in the grand scheme of things.


If I liked cold weather but hated rust, Anchorage here I come!
smile.gif
 
Many folks in the USA don't realize that in many other countries like Germany, Sweden, Denmark, ect they don't use sodium chloride
to de-ice the roads. So often times less attention is paid to protecting the car from corrosion caused by it.
 
Between my parents cars and me and the wife, we have two 2014's and one 2015. I guarantee there's surface rust everywhere. I live outside of philly so our winters are the same. It would actually be fun to compare the makes and amounts of surface rust...

Nothing unusual looking to me on the accord. Nice car btw.
 
Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel
Many folks in the USA don't realize that in many other countries like Germany, Sweden, Denmark, ect they don't use sodium chloride
to de-ice the roads. So often times less attention is paid to protecting the car from corrosion caused by it.


True, but my 22 year old Volvo was as clean underneath as an American/ Japanese car half its age. I attribute it to "good materials and careful engineering." It had a local dealer badge from its being brand new in 1991.

If one has ever installed a rebuilt brake caliper and had it flash rust in three months they'd wonder why the OE didn't look that bad after years, and the answer is of course some sort of invisible rustproofing. OP is probably miffed his knuckle lacks this. FWIW I've had junkyard knuckles shedding sheets of rust that were still GTG.
 
The rims look good on your car OP.

I agree with the rust being a shame since you've had just the opposite luck in the past.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Thoughts?


If a little surface rust on the underside of a vehicle gets you that upset, don't drive it from October to May. I don't see anything there that would cause any concern whatsoever. Especially being a Honda-they're not exactly noted for being a brand that resists rust well.

It also looks like whatever DIY product you used to spray it with didn't work so well-isn't the reason you spray it is to prevent the rust in the first place?
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I don't think you're being picky, I'd be [censored].


Same here. The exposure was just too short for this kind of corrosion to occur.


And he did some measures to prevent rust!
 
I agree with OP. That doesn't look good for 1 exposure.

I have a Japanese 2010 Honda Fit, and I am blown away by the quality of steel used.

I think Honda is trying to save $$$ by using lower quality steel with less nickel content.

Mazda pulled the same thing... Now when I go down the highway you see Mazdas with rust stains pouring out of every nook and light.

Good to know, I will pay extra attention if I buy a used Honda a few years from now. I didn't think they were a car maker that would pull this after seeing Mazda getting a bad reputation for doing the exact same thing.
 
All that rust looks extremely typical to me, and likely happened long before now. I'd be real surprised if it wasn't there before it left the lot. That ring of corrosion around the strut at the top of the knuckle, and the corrosion on the knuckle where the tie rod fastens -- those are machined areas of the knuckle with no corrosion protection. Just the humidity itself will rust those areas in no time. Notice the rest of the knuckle hasn't corroded -- it's protected.

Here's a 2015 Dodge Challenger with control arm rust:

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Dodge/Challenger/2015/suspension/control_arm_rust.shtml

It's simply a normal process of new part aging. Dodge won't fix it because there's nothing wrong with it. That stuff will develop a light coating of surface rust and that'll probably be it -- it'll last for another 200,000 miles. Just as your Accord probably will.

They don't apply heavy corrosion protection to those areas because it doesn't matter. This is a 4-door family sedan, not a piece of art. They've applied corrosion protection materials where they will make a difference, and haven't applied them where they won't. It looks alarming now because everything else is new. After a few years' worth of dust and dirt and grime and weathering on all the parts, everything will look uniform.

The 2007 Town & Country van we used to own used bare steel lower control arms and knuckles. The ENTIRE pieces were rusty orange after the first few months. It didn't look good, but that's how it was. Very similar to that Challenger above -- it didn't take any salt to start the process -- just normal environmental weathering.

Sure, you can hold this car to a "higher standard", but it's not productive, and it won't change anything. I like Hondas, and may continue buying them, but it's not because they don't rust or because I think they're more reliable than the next car. They're mass-produced pieces of human engineering, and are subject to the same environmental factors that any other car is. I think it's worth getting upset over a rusted-through body panel or something like that. But I don't think that getting upset over surface corrosion on an untreated machined part of a knuckle will do anything productive for you...
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: horse123
Just in case you didn't know, rotors will literally rust in 15 minutes if it's just raining outside in the summer. No salt or anything.


No kidding. Note that I didn't say anything about rotors themselves, Lug bolts, hub flange, etc. are spots where there was a surprising amount of corrosion for ONE SINGLE salt exposure, based upon the SEVEN cars Ive owned AT THE SAME TIME for roughly the last 12 years. Far from single point experience. Especially since other makers considered sub-part to Honda (e.g. Chevy and Saab) had the forethought to put grease in those spots from the factory, notionally for this very reason...


Originally Posted By: c502cid
My gawd, it's a car...and a 4 door appliance at that. If the minuscule amount of corrosion bothers you just get a hermetically sealed bubble for it so no air can ever get to it. Guys like you crack me up......


Guys like you crack me up. One would think that holding a maker to a higher standard, and expecting to see less corrosion so early in the game was was somehow a bad thing. Yet makers like Honda and Toyota made their fame being better and longer lasting and better quality than domestic makers whose cars would have you peering through the floorboards in a few seasons.

One would hope that a vehicle with less than six months of service, 10k miles, and one single salt exposure would look the same or better than my Saab did at ten years and 80k...



Honda and Toyota never lived off ANY reputation for related to resisting corrosion. Their reputation is relatively little fuss over a normal overship period of 150k-200k miles even 25 years ago. Rust happens and either gets addressed or ignored and people move on. THat was my experience with their products. At 12-15 years I move on....

My 2007 Acura that was parked ocean front outside for the first 4 years of life(first owner) is quite rusty underneath. Yet its trouble free at 141k mile except for a speed sensor. Not complaining....

My brother owned a Saab(2001 95 Aero) and it had amazing rust resistance. ALthough rear wheels at 16 years started to poke rust. That being said that 2001 95 Aero was a money pit at best.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: horse123
Just in case you didn't know, rotors will literally rust in 15 minutes if it's just raining outside in the summer. No salt or anything.


No kidding. Note that I didn't say anything about rotors themselves, Lug bolts, hub flange, etc. are spots where there was a surprising amount of corrosion for ONE SINGLE salt exposure, based upon the SEVEN cars Ive owned AT THE SAME TIME for roughly the last 12 years. Far from single point experience. Especially since other makers considered sub-part to Honda (e.g. Chevy and Saab) had the forethought to put grease in those spots from the factory, notionally for this very reason...


Originally Posted By: c502cid
My gawd, it's a car...and a 4 door appliance at that. If the minuscule amount of corrosion bothers you just get a hermetically sealed bubble for it so no air can ever get to it. Guys like you crack me up......


Guys like you crack me up. One would think that holding a maker to a higher standard, and expecting to see less corrosion so early in the game was was somehow a bad thing. Yet makers like Honda and Toyota made their fame being better and longer lasting and better quality than domestic makers whose cars would have you peering through the floorboards in a few seasons.

One would hope that a vehicle with less than six months of service, 10k miles, and one single salt exposure would look the same or better than my Saab did at ten years and 80k...



Rust resistance is not the Japanese mfg's claim to fame. Domestics are better by a long shot for better materials used in manufacture. Japanese have good quality control. FWIW your car doesn't look bad to me. I wouldn't worry about it. All aluminum will get those white powdery spots and the heavy cast parts get surface rust. Nothing to worry about. FWIW my pickup truck doesn't get driven at all in the snow or salt. I just can't see spending 26K (tax incl) on a vehicle and having it rust, but even mine has those powdery looking spots on the cast aluminum brackets, alternator, etc.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel
Many folks in the USA don't realize that in many other countries like Germany, Sweden, Denmark, ect they don't use sodium chloride
to de-ice the roads. So often times less attention is paid to protecting the car from corrosion caused by it.


True, but my 22 year old Volvo was as clean underneath as an American/ Japanese car half its age. I attribute it to "good materials and careful engineering." It had a local dealer badge from its being brand new in 1991.

If one has ever installed a rebuilt brake caliper and had it flash rust in three months they'd wonder why the OE didn't look that bad after years, and the answer is of course some sort of invisible rustproofing. OP is probably miffed his knuckle lacks this. FWIW I've had junkyard knuckles shedding sheets of rust that were still GTG.


Absolutely correct.
 
Originally Posted By: philipp10
sorry I just don't see surface rust on a brake rotor as an issue. Geez get a life.
]

Reading comprehension might help - Ive said NOTHING about the rotor friction surface.
 
if you think that is bad... I was shocked by the rust on a 1 winter chevy equinox.
 
Aluminum will oxidize like that with a summer rainstorm, same goes for the steel.

It is honestly beneficial because once that thin layer forms it seals the rest off from the elements.

Find something else to be OCD about lol.
 
This is completely fine, seriously. This is nothing. Just power wash your underbody after every snow storm & do a good cleaning underneath with a citrus degreaser in the spring. Your car is fine & will be fine for years of winters to come...
 
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