Lately, in this area, we’ve been getting just a little bit (maybe an inch or so) of snow practically every third day of the week. This means the MnDot feels obligated to cover the roads with seemingly equal amounts of salt every time we get (or they think we’re going to get) this snow. I think the longest my car has remained clean this winter was about one day, and that was because I drove directly home from the neighborhood car wash and left it in the garage that day. I hate subjecting my dream vehicle to this constant barrage of corrosive elements, but before I bought it, I decided it was to be my daily driver and I’d just have to do my best to take care of it, as I did with my previous cars.

So, my question is this: what measures has Mazda taken to see that such conditions don’t reduce the body to a rusty-brown, Swiss-cheese holed and pockmarked hulk with fenders flapping in the breeze four years down the road? In this forum, in the RX8 book, or in any other test reports or info I’ve seen on the car, I’ve seen no mention of the use of galvanized metal for vulnerable body and floorpan parts. And I haven’t seen anything mentioned about the R word, or sealants, or body panels being designed to prevent salty water from collecting and settling in pockets or where panels join.

Does anyone else here know of a source where this question is addressed?

 

The warranty guarantees 60-month/unlimited mileage against rust-through.

 

All of the sheet metal is zinc-dipped (except the aluminum) before it is primed and painted.
If you keep it rinsed and make sure there is no water standing somewhere in a crevice where a drain is clogged, you should never see rust on the panels.

 

You think new cars these days would handle salt and what not better. I know what you mean, Indianapolis covers the road with salt when it snows. How the salt breaks up the road is just as bad with trucks kicking up rock. You need to find a beater for the snow days!

 

Thanks for the responses. MazdaManiac, where did you get the info on the galvanizing?