I'm the guy who can't part with his 8 after test driving dozens of new cars: QUESTION
 

I don't post much these days, but I have a dead nuts reliable '05 6MT that does year round duty, and quite well (with good snow shoes and as long as you have ESC and traction control, 8s do remarkably well in even the snowy northern states).

The only things I've done in terms of maintenance is oil/filter changes every 3k miles, two coolant flush and fills, air filter replacement, new spark plugs, and a rear differential refill according to schedule. Mazda replaced a battery for free for me in year 2 of ownership and also replaced a starter motor although it wasn't technically required (under a TSB; the battery was the cause of the no start in extreme cold).

I now have 54,000 miles on the odometer (I had a Jeep for nearly two years and parked my 8 for the winters during that time, hence the low mileage).

I have test driven at least 20 different vehicles with the idea of replacing the 8, and I literally haven't found a potential replacement that is as well balanced as my 8 in terms of handling/ride quality, fit/finish, seat comfort, steering feel and response, and overall dynamics.

I don't intend to sound like a blind fan boy, but that's just the way it is. One of the things I've noticed on some of the new cars I've tested is that they seem worse than the last generation in terms of overall driving dynamics and interior fit/finish (this was definitely the case with the Acura TL, as a case in study).

In fact, I nearly purchased a Cadillac CTS yesterday, as Caddy is blowing the cars out with very aggressive lease deals, but, and I kid you not, my 8 handles better, and even has better ride composure, with less 'jostling' over rough patches of road, than the mid level CTS AWD (don't get me wrong, the CTS is far from uncomfortable, but it's just not as balanced, though they've improved the 3.6 DI motor in it significantly, and it's got lots of low end torque and is nicely finished).

The closest I came to replacing the 8 prior to this was with a Pontiac G8 GT back in 2008 or so, and I still love that car, too.

Here are just a few of the cars I've test driven over the course of the last couple of years: 350Z, G37, Infinity M35, 2011 Ford Mustang V6, Caddy CTS, Lexus IS, Buick Regal 2.0T, Acura TL, new Jeep GC (nice vehicle, but I'm not ready to go back to the SUV route), and about 8 others.

So here's my simple question:

Now that I've pretty much decided to keep my car for at least another 3 or 4 years, the one thing that I want to prevent, given that I'm now driving her year round, is rust of any sort (I have none now, nowhere - not wheel wells, door edges - nowhere), since they use tons of road salt in the winter here in the great north midwest. What can I do to achieve this?

I am not about to do the Ziebart thing, as it actually makes the vehicle more susceptible to rust, and I'm actually leery of any of the aftermarket rustproofing systems, to be honest.

Aside from keeping the undercarriage, wheel wells and the body in general as clean as possible during the winter months, is there anything else any members can share that would significantly stave off the development of rust on what will be a 9 to 11 year old 8 by the time I'm ready for a different vehicle?

Thanks.

The short answer is no to your question. I lived in Upstate New York for 4 years and the only defense against rust caused by road salt is to not get it on your car. I was a religious nut washing my car (paying close attention to the under carriage) nearly everyday in the freezing cold, and in the end it still developed rust. Granted I do believe it would have been much worse had I not washed it as much as I did. Your best bet is to go buy yourself a "winter rat" and save the 8 for days when you are sure the road salt has been washed away from the road surface. I bought a Corolla after my first winter and that is what I drove at the first sign of snow until the spring finally emerged. Yea it sucked, but I did save my car a painful death.

Did you test drive a cts-v? I recently got out of a G8 and back into an rx8 but I see the day looming where I will need to upsize and was leaning toward trying a used cts-v as they seem more accessible price wise than their competition. Thoughts?

prevent rust off your car? get a winter beater so you dont drive the thing. there is no other way around it.

I've been toying with the idea of a spray-on bedliner type material for the bottom of a car. Doing it "right" would probably be labor intensive (remove all of the plastic bits/suspension components/exhaust, mask off rest of the body/suspension attachment points, wash the whole damned thing REALLY well, etc).

Another avenue is to just accept that it's going to happen and deal with it. Do regular inspections and treat all surface rust before it become a problem.

Maybe try out the Subaru BRZ or Scion FRS when they are available?

Is Evo one of the 8 others? Anyway, if i have a choice, i will get an evo and trade my Mazda 6i with it. For now, my wife don't want us to get new cars because we have to save money for our kids college education, and my son is about to graduate high school this coming June 2012.

Chad D and the Canadian crew swear by http://www.oilgard.com/ . It's not legal to apply in the USA, but .... <sssh>

135i

Drive a C5 or C6 Corvette. Think of the RX-8 turned up to 11 in all categories, including gas mileage and reliability.

The 8's mileage is probably best in class at speeds > 80 mph.

The last 3 posts completely miss the OP's question. However, this is likely because the title isn't clear and they only read the beginning of the post. :)


The question is about rust proofing, not other cars.



OP:
My 2005 with 93,500 and 4 RI winters under it's belt is still remarkably free from rust. I don't know what was applied at purchase, but I believe that the guy was loaded (since he apparently could afford to buy a loaded GT, drive it for 1 year, than trade it in for a new Mercedes and accept so little on the trade in that I Was able to buy the 1 year old loaded GT for $19k), and it was in Ohio, so some sort of rust coating was understandable anyway. Aside from the exhaust, which can't be rustproofed outside of going stainless steel, I literally only have a bit of rust around some suspension joints and at the jacking points on the frame rails. Basically places where there can be some rubbing against another metal.

No other rust.

So, it's certainly possible, but you have to make sure the protection is in place before it starts to rust at all. Once it starts, there is no real stopping it outside of part replacements or very expensive derusting work.

There is one other solution, but its much more expensive.

Keep your car, and do everything already mentioned to keep it as free from rust as possible. But when the time comes (several years down the road, of course), and rust does start to attack the car, buy another car from a non-rust location (arizona, california, texas, etc), and swap your drive train into it.

Finding a rust free body with a dead engine and transmission for under $5k should be really, really easy in another year or two. Add a couple more years to that, and under $3k should be easy. Just keep your drivetrain in good shape, and all should be good.

That should get you several more years of rust free driving up in the snow belt where you live.

BC.

go to a body shop and rino line your under carrage i did this i and it has been worth every cent my car is driven every where (iam in the navy always around salt water ) my car has 136000 miles on it but the other thing you can do is keep it clean wash it once a week and this will greatly reduce rust forming on account that the salt will never get the chance to eat through
the paint

Unless you can afford to spray something underneath, the best thing is not to drive the car at all.

I have not sprayed my car, but I have an old beater 4x4 truck that I use during the winter :)

10 yr rust warranty?

RIW - Thanks. You're right. My thread title was pretty confusing. I was asking about rust, but threw in the fact that I am concerned about rust now only because I plan on keeping my 8 for quite some time now that I haven't been able to find a car that I wish to replace it with.

Are-Ex-Eight - The 10 year rust warranty, as with all manufacturers AFAIK, only covers complete perforation, as in rust that eats clean through the body, and does not cover surface rust.

As far as the rust proofing in the form of spraying undercarriage materials that are resins or applying annual petroleum products as inhibitors, I've not heard many credible claims that they work (they might or might now, but I've not heard that they do from credible sources - to the extent that anyone here thinks Consumer Reports is credible to any degree, they claim that aftermarket rustproofing and spray applications in the form of resins can actually accelerate rust issues for a variety of reasons).

I see 350z on your list but not 370z. Try the 370Z...it is much better then the 350 in every way possible.