Technical rust

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Technical rust

I never saw rust on my 03 plate, my 06 plate has none and my father in law's 02 plate has none either. It seems that they improved things!
 
Since Fiat got a bad name for corrosion and rot, all modern Fiat bodyshells are put through a galvanising process and hey presto....no rot! I think Fiat are missing a trick here with not advertising this fact. Hope this explains things.
 
I've seen more rusty German cars than Italian e.g 04 Plate Golfs,(bottom of rear doors, front of rear wheel arches) Merc's built whilst tied in with Chrysler, right up to 03 plates (Wings, wheel arches). Audis seem to suffer from paint chips - Audi A6, black 09 plate, but BMW's always look good.
 
Let's add some pictures of mine 2004 Doblo...

not sure if the rust on the transverse link is okay ?

I exclude more pictures of the exhaust system - the pipes are the problem - the one before the catalyst and the one before the axle back exhaust broke in the past.
The catalyst itself was replaced with a DPF one but was before were rusty and vulnerable.

Next spring there will be some work to do on the remaining pipes and the underbody.

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and most screws in the engine bay and many in the interior space are rusty, too.
Can not understand why FIAT saved here every cent.
 
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That is surface rust on components which is not a problem.

Pic.1, The bracket is good thick steel. The corrosion actually forms a protective barrier so I'd be surprised if that component fails before the car is scrapped.

Pic 2 Exhausts always rust. The problem arrises on short journeys when the moisture generated by a warming engine sits in the exhaust and then rots in from the inside out, So long as the engine is warm, the codensation evaporates and there is no problem. My Stilo is on 105K with the original exhaust. The crossbeam in the picture is made from thick steel tube to be able to take the weight and stresses endured whilst dricen. That again will outlast therest of the car.

Pic 3 - see above for Pic 2.

Pic 4 strengthening bracket for the wishbone attachment point. The paint probably came of in the first year, this will again last for a fair while. Pic 5. Seam rust - prod with a screw driver, that will be solid. Don't scratch because you will damage the protection underneath alowing moisture to attack bare steel. Clean it up by all means and treat but again that is normal on a lot of cars. If it were a structural area of the car, Fiat would have covered it in underseal and other rust inhibitors.


Pic 5. Rust on engine mount? Normal.

How old is the car? There is nothing there that would concern me. Fiat are no worse than most and better than many. If you have concerns, take it to Fiat, your car should have at least a 6 year anti perforation warrenty.
 
Mine's an '03 and has all that, and more. I had to replace the wishbones last year because the bushes were worn, and my brake pipes are being greased because I am told they may not get through the next MOT in August. I still have my original and very rusty back box, but the rest of the exhaust has ben replaced once in 95,000, and I dare say is in a bad state again.

All the surface rust you show is normal for all cars, and none of it will kill the car. The worn oily and electrical bits will have killed it long before then :(

Also, Fiats are actually better than other cars I know for rust protection. Look at Fords and Mercs if you want to see badly rusted not-so-old cars.
 
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