General Rusty Mk1 Sporting and scrappage scheme rant!

[tomfoster]

Does anyone else have bad problems with floorpan rust on their Sporting? I had to have a bit of welding done last MOT (and replaced rusty brake pipes just before that) and I was talking to a mechanic friend the other day, and he reckoned it will need some more to get through its next MOT in February. The weird thing is that the car looks in very good condition, but as soon as you look at the suspension or the underneath, there's rust everywhere!

He was trying to encourage me to get rid of it under the scrappage scheme. Well, I've spent the last couple of days going round garages looking at small cars (Hyundai i10/i20, Fiat Panda, Renault Clio, Mitsubishi Colt, Renault Twingo, etc) and have come to conclude I'd rather keep the Punto! Even with £2000 knocked off, most of them still seem a rip-off for the snail-like engines and crappy build quality involved. I think I'd need to spend £8,000+ to get anything decent, and when you consider it's just my runaround car it really doesn't seem worth it.

I just fancied a rant really - any words of sympathy/encouragement from fellow rust bucket owners would be appreciated ;-)

 

[beau]

its coming to the point now where the fiat rust protection on the floor pan is no longer effective.

you need to have any welding done, then completly wire brush the whole floor pan, then put some rust primer on it, some paint and then thick layer of underseal, should stop it several years.

luckiily mine didnt need any welding so i just stripped it back and under sealed it, all good now.

 

[DaveMcT]

Last year I splashed some chain saw oil on some freshly cut steel that was left outside. Three months later it had not even started to rust. I wiped off the oil and left it out for another 6 months. The wiped area was still bright and not rusty yet the non oiled bits were getting very messed up.

I now mix chain saw oil 50/50 with white spirit and spray it anywhere on the car that the under-seal looks dodgy or can be a dirt or water trap. It soaks in well and seems to do a better job than waxoyl.

Where you can get to clean and apply paint to the metal its always the best option. But where you can't this oil coating seems to work amazingly well. Where its hidden, you can always put the oil (or waxoyl) over the top

 

[geezbeez]

Im not a fan of the scrappage scheme. Seems lots of government money all spent on Korean cars which arent the most eficient and have been transported 1/2 way round the world. No good for economy, no good for environment? Some where I heard Kia is now the worlds 5th largest car producer, dont know it that strue or not.
Anyway Puntos were cheap popular cars , lots of people bought them and as a result theres a little over suply second hand. I mean you can still get a real good Punto for under £1500. Your Puntos worth nothing , accepting £2000 for it is a good deal yet Puntos are still reasonably modern and nice to drive too. These small Kias and Hyundi's are out selling everything at the moment all scrappage scheme motivated. Cars are no more advanced than a 10 year old Punto and to be fair Punto wasnt the most tech advanced small car 10 years ago. Id say within a couple of years when people are thoroughly sick of thier new 1.1 Kia / Hyundi these cars will be available for next to nothing because there will be so many and no one will want them.
I have no reason to plug Fiat but the sencible thing is to get your name down for a 500 cabrio, dealer will say no cant get them and try and fob you off withg something else dont listen demand 500 cabrio. These are very hard to get hold of , its a matter of putting name on waiting list, paying a deposit, ensuring you get the £2000 scrappage agreed and running the Punto for the next few months. If you get cheapest 500 cabrio, even if you dont want it you get something which you could sell on for the list price so much is the demand , instant pocket £2000 for your punto. Even sell the 500 if dont like and buy a better punto than one you had for the £2000, should get you a 53 plate or even newer.

 

[lee89]

My punto's both had rusty bits going on. My 02 Active had rusty bits but cleaned them up and undersealed and caught them just in time, My 00 Sporting was a different story sills had already been welded and when it went for its mot there was a hole in the floor which was huge, i mean huge i could put my first throught the hole and the back edge of the n/s sill in the wheel arch was just the same, shocking car. Ill be very carefull when i buy my next Mk2 Punto.

 

[MikeSalt]

Only rust trouble I've had is above the windscreen (where I presume stones hit it), the brake pipes and the floor. The bit above the windscreen I've rust-treated and filled, the brake pipes were fixed for free under the product safety recall and Garderol treated and the floor was my fault since I was using the trolley jack in the wrong place.

In fact, the people you should blame for all your rust is the Met Office. Their misleading snow information leads to roads being gritted and salted unnecessarily, having the same effect on your car as driving into the sea. If they actually got it right, there would be enough grit left for the days it is genuinely icy, and on these days you are likely to avoid using the car anyway so the salt damage is avoided.