Rusty MGs

securespark said:
Got this article in my news feed.

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We used to make fun of rust on Italian cars... now it's China's MG and BYD that suffer - ItalPassion

For a long time, rust was a stubborn cliché attached to Italian cars. Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia were often singled out for blame.
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A bit worrying.

Italian cars famous for it. Have heard that 70s and 80s Alfa Romeos wouldn't last ten years from an Alfa afficionado.

But British cars were pretty bad in the 80s and 90s, I think.

Was fighting rust on our Rover metro and it wasn't that old.

My Dad had a couple of Mercs in the 90s and early 2000s with rust developing around the wheel arches as well.
 
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Yeah, a friend of my Mum's who lived in Wadebridge had a 1974 Datsun 120Y coupé that was rusty in 1976 when we visited on holiday.

And I remember someone had a 96 Merc W202 that was well rusty in 2004.
 
Rolfe said:
My dad had a couple of Datsuns in the 1970s that pretty much rusted away before they were five.
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When they transitioned to Nissan. Rust resistance was far better.
My Mum purchased a used X reg Nissan Sunny after years of battling with an older Mini 1275GT at every MOT.
MOT's from there on in were far less of an issue.
 
I think that's true, but I think all makes of car went through a period of being very shoddy as regards rust in the 1970s and then things got a lot better. Some makes were just worse than others, and I think Datsun was the absolute pits. Remember "Ziebarting"?
 
Rolfe said:
I think that's true, but I think all makes of car went through a period of being very shoddy as regards rust in the 1970s and then things got a lot better. Some makes were just worse than others, and I think Datsun was the absolute pits. Remember "Ziebarting"?
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British Leyland cars were far worse. But Japanese cars took a lot of unnecessary stick at the time.
Probably due to a 70's/80's racist mentality?
 
The article is a load of bull droppings by the anti-Chinese EV press.

The picture in the article illustrating a rusty sill on a MGS5 isn't of a MGS5
1778218312336.webp


The photo showing rust around the suspension is of a 27 year old unspecified MG.
1778219555482.webp
 
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The photo of the rusted bolt holes and around the captive nuts, has been caused by the panel being loose and fretting between the two surfaces has rubbed any protection off so rust is invited to set in ..

T1 Terry
 
Our MG5 Trophy new in Sept 23 is showing a lot of light rusting in metal joints ie the frame under the bonnet, lots fo metalwork joined on the underside. There doesnt appear to be much by way of underseal, it only looks like a very light dusting of paint. If I intended to keep the car I would have waxoyl'd it all and filled the box sections......... but I'm not :).
Compared to my Golfs, Touaregs and Allroads which never showed any signs of underbody rust (theyre galvanised and underbody sealed), the MG wont live very long before the bodywork fall apart.
 
Well if I ever get mine back from the garage where it has been for 10 weeks after a warranty claim of now 6 months then I'm selling it
 
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Not unnecessary.

I remember Mum stopping for an oil top up while we were on holiday and being told the front suspension turrets on her 1976 Honda Civic were dangerously corroded and needed some serious welding...

That was when I was young, certainly before I was 16, so pre-1982.
 
Dad used to have a Datsun 180B .. this was 1980/81 ish, but the car was already a few years old before he bought it. It had to be scrapped because the suspension basically collapsed due to rust.
 
I do not know about the claims regarding the MGs. I know though about the ones for the BYD. These pictures were taken from a scrapped BYD that was left for a year fully exposed to the elements in a yard after a crash. The pictures were taken and circulated around the net as anti-chinese and anti-EV propaganda.
Considering this I reckon there is a good change that the rest of the article is a load of @@.
 
How much of a genuine issue is rot on modern MG's?
Is it worth a application of Shultz underseal or similar?
 

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