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We live in a Miami area very near the ocean and it is very humid in summer with salty winds right off the nearby ocean. All my garden tools get rusty unless I spray it with a vegetable based rust prevent spray. Any thoughts about rust proofing the Spark or is it not needed with the newer cars. My Chevy SS is a few years old and I spray the vulnerable areas and underside with a locally available, vegetable oil based rust proofing spray. The SS has no rust. Thoughts?

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  • 1 year later...

OK..here's the deal...My daughter & her husband + two preteens live in Edison NY and both drive to work at a law firm in Manhattan..about 40mi each way. Her husband often needs to work late and has a company car but she does not..thus the two cars. They have underground parking there..his paid for by firm hers not. She wants a tiny car to commute and still blab on the phone hands free..voice activated that the Spark can do with a Samsung Rugby I will get her. I want to give her our Spark with ±70,000 miles on it and rust free. She currently drives a BMW that is very expensive to insure for a daily commute to Manhattan and expensive to maintain..not only that but the car is her 'baby' as she worked hard and long to buy it. She is also a 'neat' freak and will not drive a rusty car..here's my Question: My spark is Florida driven and rust free in perfect shape and reliable, but any of you who live in the 'Rust Belt' who have a 2013 Spark can tell me how well it hold up to rust?..Brakes exhaust etc.. If you guys come up with positve feed back..we will give her our '13 and buy a Spark 2016 or 2015..matters not as they are equally small and cheap...Whatcha think about how long she can drive the salty roads and park in a heated garage at home and work .....the warm garages that promote rust even more?...I really would appreciate feed back on this because, well..you get my drift...Nuff said about that.

Edited by Retired old Gearhead
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No rust on mine and roads are salted starting in Oct . I don't wash the car during this time either . Still looks new too.

Thanx for that info. 3 winters on salty roads without a wash is a pretty darn good test for rust and this is exactly the feedback I was looking for. I think we will give the car to her and replace it with a low mileage 2015 CVT..or a 2016 1LT since the low end models come with plastic hub caps and a horrible soft nylon upholstery that I am familiar with in a cheap home office chair where that particular type fabric would get runs and not hold together at the seams. I think the all aluminum 1.4L engine is a good design and was well tested..all the engines in that new series are based on the same block and differ only in stroke since the bore is the same on all the new Ecotec small engines. Still I am impressed by our '13 Spark's reliability and ability to have the drivetrain perform like new after +70Kmi...so probably a 2015 unit for us. Cheap and proven...OK..Nuff said on that....

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  • 7 months later...
On 4/21/2014 at 10:00 PM, greggb said:

Rust Proofing is a TOTAL waste of money on newer model cars. So is paint sealant/protectant that dealers often offer.

This.  Keep mud and dirt washed off  rocker panels under fenders etc.  Spraying with petroleum.vegetable oil might cause more harm than good.

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  • 7 months later...

I lived in Chicago for many decades, and they salt like crazy in winter. None of my cars developed body rust except the Ford Pinto after 5 years old. Best defense against body rust is apply a light coat of wax after car wash. But with all that salt on roads, the underbody will rust after a few years driving, but it is not visible unless one looks under the car. Never had a structural problem with the underbody rust, such as holes in the floor of the car. Florida does not salt the roads, so the rust should not be a serious issue, in spite of the vicinity to ocean, if the car is washed occasionally.

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  • 1 month later...

Mainly rust is causing issue underbody. So in my opinion, underbody anti rust is a good idea. Mine spark is 7 yrs old and I haven't seen rusting even during my recent visit at service center. It was used till past 6 months in Mumbai, which is purely on coastal line and very humid for 6+ months in a year.

Care to be taken is after riding on muddy road, better to get it cleaned. My bike had severe rust at few places as I haven't used for some weeks due to rain, after being driving under muddy waters.

Only issue of rusting I have is at window's lining/beading. But this seems to be issue with Gen 1 spark in India.

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22 hours ago, ChevyBeat said:

Mainly rust is causing issue underbody. So in my opinion, underbody anti rust is a good idea. Mine spark is 7 yrs old and I haven't seen rusting even during my recent visit at service center. It was used till past 6 months in Mumbai, which is purely on coastal line and very humid for 6+ months in a year.

Care to be taken is after riding on muddy road, better to get it cleaned. My bike had severe rust at few places as I haven't used for some weeks due to rain, after being driving under muddy waters.

Only issue of rusting I have is at window's lining/beading. But this seems to be issue with Gen 1 spark in India.

Your post along with oldGearhead's post is good indication that any decent car does not rust due to living near ocean. I am 7 miles from ocean as the crow flies, and I see no rusty cars in my sub-division with about 300 cars in the parking lot. 

 

What will cause rust is salted roads. During my life in Chicago area for 37 years, I washed my cars thoroughly focusing on under the car and under the fenders. In spite of that almost all my cars developed some underbody rust after 5 years. I spent money on undercoating one car, but that did not stop minor rust. Chicago salts the heck out of the roads. And it helps a lot as I missed work due to icy roads only on 1 or 2 occasions in 37 years. So underbody rust is a given! But none of my cars showed exterior body rust except the Pinto after 5 years old. In my honest opinion, minor underbody rust is harmless. No one can see it and I never had a floor board rust through, and I keep my new cars 7+ years. In today's cars, spending money on underbody rust proofing is not worthwhile.

 

Spend the money on tinting the windows if you live in hot climate. Much more beneficial.

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 I notice some light rust on my front suspension, front brake components, and exhaust hangers after only 1 winter. True, nobody looks under there but eventually it will make bolts hard to loosen in the future if you don't give it some attention now. Will probably hit the problem areas with a coating of Fluid Film every fall. Wheel wells look to be nicely protected by plastic shrouding so that is good for preventing body rust from starting. Yes, Ohio also likes to salt roads in the winter but like you said on some days that is the only way to get to your job or run errands when everything is covered in thick ice.

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  • 4 years later...
On 4/21/2014 at 11:11 AM, Retired old Gearhead said:

We live in a Miami area very near the ocean and it is very humid in summer with salty winds right off the nearby ocean. All my garden tools get rusty unless I spray it with a vegetable based rust prevent spray. Any thoughts about rust proofing the Spark or is it not needed with the newer cars. My Chevy SS is a few years old and I spray the vulnerable areas and underside with a locally available, vegetable oil based rust proofing spray. The SS has no rust. Thoughts?

Theres no exposed metal parts only screws and bolts underneath the bumper, so no need to put anything under the car 

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  • 9 months later...

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