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Discussion starter · #81 ·
Just my opinion, I would not drop that kind of cash replacing those parts. I would sell the car, you will get top dollar because used cars are in high demand. I would use the proceeds to buy a new car. I suspect that will be the best financial decision. Best of luck to you.
OK, let's push the limits of today's hot market and say I can get $22K for it (I never said that's a realistic number). Add the $10K that I'm not spending to fix the car and I've got $32K towards a new car.
So what new car would you buy for $32K that's better or equal to what I have?
 
OK, let's push the limits of today's hot market and say I can get $22K for it (I never said that's a realistic number). Add the $10K that I'm not spending to fix the car and I've got $32K towards a new car.
So what new car would you buy for $32K that's better or equal to what I have?
2022 Honda Accord 2.0T Sport is in that range.
 
Let me ask one question... Did you ever wash the dang salt off? I mean, defects are one thing, but not doing ANY maintenance is another, (and no I'm not saying you didn't) but expecting stuff to last without ever washing it is ridic.
Judging by the very low mileage for 2015, it probably sat a lot covered in salt. Still quite excessive on the rust, but yeah unless you have a Toyota, people should wash the frame before it becomes nothing but flavour. Especially when it sits a lot, because the heat and constant usage of the car allow the rust to fall off, even the rain often helps wash the salt off even though it adds some of its own. Anyways you'd have better luck suing the city for the salt than filing a safety concern with the NTHSA. :ROFLMAO:

  • 10 winters. (9 years, starting in February)
  • 185k miles.
  • 8 years living in top 20 snowiest city in country (4 years straight 2nd place behind Syracuse, NY)
  • 8 years with extreme amounts of road brine.
  • Never once washed it during winter.
  • Never applied any kind of rust inhibitor/protection.
  • The car is currently filthy, sorry.
  • Here are images of both the front and back axels (a couple of the worst areas on the car) - to me, this certainly fits "isn't that bad"
View attachment 245753
View attachment 245754
My 2017 GT looks a lot like that, maybe a little better, but to be fair it sat in a yard for a year or so before it went into auction. It was a wrecked car and absolutely covered in salt when I got it.
 
Good call, though body style is a bid bland compared to the 6.
I wouldn't recommend getting the Turbo's they have oil dilution problems and overall aren't as reliable. Would definitely recommend giving Mazda another shot, also why spend a full 32k when you can buy something cheaper, not my money but just something to consider. Toyota or Mazda are my biggest go-to's, an AC is part of my heart and soul and I haven't driven a Honda with a good AC that lasted longer than 4 years until it started degrading. (2 were my parents' and 1 was my friend's). Also with taxes like they are today, I wouldn't expect more than 14-15k after tax. Although if you get more definitely let us know haha. The best time to sell would be right now too!
 
I wouldn't recommend getting the Turbo's they have oil dilution problems and overall aren't as reliable. Would definitely recommend giving Mazda another shot, also why spend a full 32k when you can buy something cheaper, not my money but just something to consider. Toyota or Mazda are my biggest go-to's, an AC is part of my heart and soul and I haven't driven a Honda with a good AC that lasted longer than 4 years until it started degrading. (2 were my parents' and 1 was my friend's). Also with taxes like they are today, I wouldn't expect more than 14-15k after tax. Although if you get more definitely let us know haha. The best time to sell would be right now too!
You're thinking the Honda 1.5L, the 2.0T doesn't have the fuel dilution problem.
 
Hello,
Just here to show you a european 3rd gen 2015 Mazda 6 wagon. (Hungary, Budapest) ..just checked rust from underneath and realized that not only the suspension and exhaust parts are rusty, but the rear chassis beam has already started to be brownish... (pic4 & pic5)
car has 81000 miles

pic1 mycar
pic2 left rear
pic3 right rear
pic4 left close
pic5 right close
 
You mean that car passed the yearly safety inspection ( MOT as we call it in England) ? It would have failed many years ago over here, you would have started with an advisory, then get it done before the next test, then fail. Don't drive the car.
When I bought my car new I had waxoyl treatment.
You could knowing the state of your roads, weather etc had it done then once a year ( summer peferably) using old engine oil paint the subframe. When we get snow ( which is once every 5 years) I put the lawn sprinkler underneath on the hose pipe and pull it from one end to the other of the car, which doesn't take any effort.
I cannot say I have much sympathy or you if you haven't inspected the car underneath since you have owned it, knowing the local conditions.

Our cash strapped council will grit the roads with salt every time they hear there is going to be a frost. It may have been dry for a week , so I am not sure what they are expecting to freeze.
On the odd ocassion we have snow, just enough to whiten the ground, it has usually disappeared by lunchtimes and within 30 minutes on the main roads, but you still have people calling in to work to say they are snowed in, despite them driving a huge 4x4 or SUV. It amazes me the mentality and lack of driving skills the younger people have. I have driven in 4"-6" of snow in a 1980's Mini and thought nothing of it. Not a soul on the road, freezing temperatures crossing the ridge of hills that run down Northern England, never got stuck once. Great fun it was. Fortunately it didn't snow any more* and was a clear night.

I don't think you have a chance of claiming anything.

In Japan I understand they ship the domestic cars to Australia/NZ after a couple of years so the rusting is never experienced, plus they don't treat the underbody either like European manufacturers.
 
@Benedict , the subframe and fabricated suspension components on the 3rd generation Mazda6, though probably better than the 2nd gen, are notably poorly e-coated and phosphated; they rust prematurely, even in a benign environment. In a salty environment they're much worse. Aside from the poor prep-work/coating-work the materials seem to really have a propensity to corrode. You know that this is the case when layers/chunks of material spall-off the components due to corrosion. I'm not saying that with the third gen this happens like it most decidedly does with the 2nd gen... but the materials are not great. So, I'm saying that it takes heroic deeds to keep these cpts rust free; not something even a very diligent owner would do.
 
Despite Mazdas poor material and coating, if you live in an area that is prone to snow and heavy salting, then if you are buying the car 2nd hand , you want it up on the ramps to inspect before parting with any money.
If you are buying new you have the car waxoyld and inspect it yearly. There is no reason those parts shown could not be painted with Waxoyl or a bitumen based paint as used to stick down felt roofs.

How come the garage has not picked this up at service, they have a duty of care to inform you that steering, suspension and body areas to which they are attached are becoming unsafe, in fact dangerous to the driver and other road users.
Why was this not picked up during the yearly safety inspections.
Why was it not picked up by the owner much earlier. It is no good complaining to the NHTSA blaming Mazda, when the car owner is responsible for driving a safe and roadworthy car, which this isn't and cannot have been for a number of years.
It is a bit like that stupid women suing Mc'dees because the coffee was hot. Did she order cold coffee? No hot coffee, so you expect it to be hot. You cannot leglislate for stupidity and I am surprised the judge didn't throw the case out. We have all burnt our lips and throat at some point particularly on a hot potato, but it has never been life threatening, unlike driving a dangerous rust bucket like this owner is driving.
Obviously laws are not strict enough in North America, nor is there much common sense encouraged and nurtured.
 
I can't speak for America... but in Canada (or at least in British Columbia, our westernmost province) i) we used to have annual vehicle inspections... but that ceased quite a number of years ago (to the detriment of road safety for all of us); and ii) the quality of drivers that pass drivers' tests (and get licensed) really has to be questioned. REALLY BAD. I wish Canada were more like the UK in these two items.

Oh, and by the way, I acquired some Bilt Hamber undersealer and cavity sealer (from the UK) for my Mazda6 🙂...
 
I can't speak for America... but in Canada (or at least in British Columbia, our westernmost province) i) we used to have annual vehicle inspections... but that ceased quite a number of years ago (to the detriment of road safety for all of us); and ii) the quality of drivers that pass drivers' tests (and get licensed) really has to be questioned. REALLY BAD. I wish Canada were more like the UK in these two items.

Oh, and by the way, I acquired some Bilt Hamber undersealer and cavity sealer (from the UK) for my Mazda6 🙂...
Cdn, well I rest my case.
When the weather gets a bit warmer give your car a good seeing to with that underseal, after a good wash off either on a set of drive up ramps, but make sure the ground slopes away from you otherwise you will be soaked, failing that use a garden sprinkler moved every so often from one end of the car to the other.
When your painting, see if you can buy a 'dogs leg ' brush, sometimes known as a 'striker', with a 600mm long handle (which is a bit of broomstick), this way it keeps your hands and arms well away from the paint brush. Depending how thick this underseal is , you may want to put the tin in boiling water or hot oil, which will allow you to take the temperature higher, to reduce the viscosity , making it easier to paint on. A scorcher of a day is good also.
 
This stuff is pretty good on open steel and other corrosion-hit metals. Its intended use is a wire lube on boats and other similar environments (industrial, etc); it is not considered hazmat if modest amounts of it gets into the environment thus its use in said applications. It can be sprayed with a garden-style sprayer or similar (for in-close use an olive-oil sprayer works too!)

Its not a permanent answer but if reapplied every year or so it will make quite a difference and since its a moderately-viscous liquid it will "creep" pretty well too. The big issue with salt in particular is when it gets trapped on the metal surface and can't be rinsed away by water spray and such from the road as you drive.

 
I can't speak for America... but in Canada (or at least in British Columbia, our westernmost province) i) we used to have annual vehicle inspections... but that ceased quite a number of years ago (to the detriment of road safety for all of us); and ii) the quality of drivers that pass drivers' tests (and get licensed) really has to be questioned. REALLY BAD. I wish Canada were more like the UK in these two items.

Oh, and by the way, I acquired some Bilt Hamber undersealer and cavity sealer (from the UK) for my Mazda6 🙂...
When I lived in Florida there were no vehicle inspections, they tried to start them again by going the voluntary route, before making it statutory but that never took off.
One of the excuses was people spent all day waiting in a queue as they all left it until the absolute last day of the month it was due instead of going at the begining of the month.
We can go up to 3 weeks befor the date it is due and still preserve that date, usually the date that the car was first registered.
The first 3 years of a new car doesn't require an MOT as its called ( the acronym dating back to when they first started testing Ministry of Transport. The departments name has evolved many times since like they do).
Tests started in 1960 on 10 year old cars, then changed to 3 years and every year there after. If the police stop you for some motoring offence they will first check who the owner is, is it insured, has it got an MOT and is it taxed ( yearly like insurance) they can do all this before getting out the car with their on board computer. There are also Number Plate Recognition Speed cameras in various places which can check if a car is legally on the road tax, MOT & Insurance, if one is missing you get a fine through the post. Number plates front and rear are in 4 inch black letters 1/2" thick on a whit plate at the front and yellow at the rear easily seen by cameras and others. For 99% of the drivers everything is ok, its catching the crooks, stolen un-roadworthy vehicles etc which is an advantage to all law abiding drivers.
Driving instruction and testing I would say has detiorated over the years, though still has not sunk to the level of Florida. We took our driving test which lasted 1 hour, driving through the city as a normal motorist meeting all the usual hazards,plus certain manouvres we had to perform were on narrow, heavily cambered streets, hills etc. If you roll forward or backward on a 3 point turn or a hill start then its an automatic fail of the test as you have not got the car under control.
 
Yeah, the hill roll-back. Seems to me parking brake use on a hill is pretty common, then, to ensure zero rollback. I can do it without, of course, but if I were being tested in the UK, I suspect I'd use the parking brake - during the test.

Hah!, in Canada, so few people know how to drive a manual!
 
Yeah, the hill roll-back. Seems to me parking brake use on a hill is pretty common, then, to ensure zero rollback. I can do it without, of course, but if I were being tested in the UK, I suspect I'd use the parking brake - during the test.

Hah!, in Canada, so few people know how to drive a manual!
CD, on a decent hill you cannot stop the car rolling without a handbrake unless you want to burn your clutch out. Sometimes you may have to come to a full stop on a hill, engage handbrake, change to neutral feet off pedals and allow the engine to stop on the Stop /Start. As people tend to be almost touching your bumper when they are driving and come to a stop, any roll back you will hit them.
You are supposed to leave such a gap between you and the car in front when you stop that you can drive around them if they fail to start. This was told to me by a driving instructor many years after I had passed my test and was driving a company car and we had to do a driving check every few years.

On our tests they ask you to turn the car around using forward and reverse gears, not a 'three point turn ' you can take as many turns as you want as long as its done correctly and safely.
The M6 has a large turning circle with a lot of overhang both fwd and aft and some of the roads in Britain are quite narrow, especially country roads that end up as a cul-de-sac and you have to turn round in narrow confines, sometime on an incline, so what is taught in lessons is a skill you carry forward and use, not something that enables you to pass a test.

It boils down to having full control of the car at all times in all conditions - that is called Competence. Obviously the lessons give you the basics which you build on with experience.
 
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