If you're looking for “how to protect your car from rust,” consider these 10 simple tips:
- Invest in a specific coating
- Wash your car regularly
- Be alerted to salt
- Consider anti-rust sprays
- Clear the drain plugs
- Prevent moisture from getting inside the vehicle
- Protect your car from scratches
- Inspect the weak spots
- Coat the rusted areas
- Be prepared for different seasons
Rust is one of the worst enemies that impacts every vehicle. So whether you're driving a very old car or just bought the new one, keeping your vehicle away from rust is essential.
Rust can impact the metal frame and result in severe damages that significantly reduce your vehicle's value. And that's why it becomes very hard to sell your vehicle in the future because most people will go away immediately after seeing the rust.
The good news is that some simple tips and tricks help you keep away rust from your vehicle. This way, you can enjoy your car for a longer time while maintaining its value. Thus, if you're looking for how to protect your car from rust, read on for the 10 important tips you should implement!
How to protect your car from rust? 10 simple tips
The biggest cause for vehicle rust is when moisture gets to sensitive components that are not protective. Therefore, all our tips have to do with eliminating and reducing moisture as much as possible from getting to your vehicle’s components.
Let's see if we also look at our automotive experts’ recommendations on how to protect your car from rust:
1. Invest in a specific coating
If you want to keep away any rust from getting to your vehicle’s exterior, you might want to invest in a specific type of coatings like this ceramic coating or probably simple wax. These coatings are designed in a way that repels water. In other words, water will never get towards the sensitive metal components unless there is some damage or crack.
The nice thing about ceramic coating is that you don't have to worry about recording your car after three years, which is better than relying on the wax you will need to update every couple of months. However, ceramic coating is not cheap, which means it will be a very big investment. Therefore, you must be convinced about putting this money towards your car, assuming that it has a good value and is worth the investment.
2. Wash your car regularly
It might sound strange that washing your car regularly helps prevent rust from damaging your vehicle. Unfortunately, however, that's the case. When you leave your car dirty for a very long time, dirt can cause scratches and damages, which means that the protective component on top of the metal will go away. Thus, any simple drop of water will cause rust to start, and once it starts, it acts like cancer and impacts the entire vehicle's metal frame.
Therefore, if you were not washing your car regularly, you should do so, and you should consider washing it at proper locations. In other words, if you were driving a valuable car that the public car wash facilities might impact, you might want to hand wash it to keep it clean and prevent any scratches from damaging the exterior.
Some experts recommend washing your vehicle at least once every two weeks. Other experts recommend waxing it within the same time frame. However, it all depends on your vehicle's value, and if you see that waxing your car every two weeks is worth it, you should do so.
3. Be alerted to salt
According to recent statistics, people driving in colder environments where salt is applied to the roads are expected to deal with more rust than others. When salt gets to your vehicle’s interior and exterior, it easily impacts the protective cover and leads to water getting inside the vehicle's medical component and damaging it.
Therefore, if you regularly drive on roads with salt, you should wash the car more frequently during the colder months. The more salt your car experiences, the easier it is to get rusted. Even if you think that this will cost you some money, it will not be as much as the amount of money you'll have to pay taking care of the rust once it's impacting your car.
4. Consider anti-rust sprays
The previously mentioned tips focus on situations where you don't have rust in your vehicle. However, you might get to a point where rust already starts, and that's where you should pay clear attention and invest in some repairs like the cheap antitrust sprays.
Note that these anti-rust sprays are effective for minor risks. Still, once you confirm that the rest is getting bigger, you might want to reach out to your mechanic and figure out other alternatives for removing this rust before it gets more complicated.
5. Clear the drain plugs
Many inexperienced drivers might not pay good attention to the drain plugs. As a result, these drain plugs are expected to rust over time. Therefore, you must perform a regular inspection of these plugs and confirm that they're not rusted. In addition, rust does not differentiate between the drain plug and the other parts of your vehicle, and once it hits one part, it can easily be transferred to the other parts. Therefore, investing in replacing the drain plug is never comparable to dealing with significant rust once it impacts your vehicle's metal frame.
6. Prevent moisture from getting inside the vehicle
Finally, Mary underestimated the impacts of moisture getting inside the vehicles. It is very easy for this moisture to expand and reach the vehicle's exterior and the metal frames when this happens. This leads to significant risks that will cost you thousands of dollars on repair when this happens.
Therefore, try illuminating moisture from soaking up inside your vehicle's interior. For example, try to prevent snow from getting and accumulating inside the vehicle as you go in and out of the car. Also, check the seals around the vehicle's doors and windows to confirm that moisture cannot leak inside the car at any time.
7. Protect your car from scratches
Your vehicle is typically designed in a way that does not allow rust to build up. In other words, water cannot get to the metal components that are susceptible to rust than others. However, your vehicle can get scratched or damaged over time when the protective layer is lost.
Therefore, one of the best things that you can do to your vehicle is to prevent scratches and damage from happening in the first place. For example, you might want to implement the following tips:
- Avoid bird dripping by parking in shaded areas because bird dripping can impact the protective layer of your vehicle's exterior
- Prevent placing heavy elements that could scratch the vehicles paint on the vehicle’s exterior
- Park away from other vehicles and never choose a tight parking lot
- Do not park close to gutters or other areas where water can puddle
- Try to prevent driving in potholes or other roads under construction
8. Inspect the weak spots
Not every component in your car reacts the same trusts. In other words, there are some weak components around your vehicle that you should keep an eye on them. These components are more susceptible to us because they're exposed to moisture than others.
For example, you might want to pay clear attention to the following components:
- Under the vehicle's body
- Close to the connections
- Around antenna
- Next to the sunroof
- Around every scratch or crack
- Within the wheel wells
You should inspect these components now and then, and once you notice any signs of rust, you'll have to take immediate action before this rust becomes much bigger. Rust does not show immediately, and it might start with a big bubble under the vehicle's paint. If that's the key is, you should immediately consult your mechanic and check with him what you can do to eliminate or get rid of this rust.
9. Coat the rusted areas
Once you confirm that some minor rusts are developing around your vehicle's exterior, you should invest in a simple kit limiting the rust from expanding. For example, some experts recommended coating the area with a WD40 or other products designated for this use.
10. Be prepared for different seasons
The other thing you can do is be prepared for decisions that are expected to cause your vehicle to rust. For example, as winter is heading, consider parking your vehicle inside a covered garage or eliminating parking in very low areas where puddles can form.
You might also want to invest in products that you can apply to your vehicle that repels water and prevent moisture from building up or reaching the weak components.
How much does it cost to fix car rust?
Unfortunately, there is no specific number for how much it will cost you to fix the car rest because it depends heavily on the severity of the rust. For example, some minor rusts might not cost you more than $50 to get fixed; however, major rests on the vehicle’s frames might cost you thousands of dollars.
Therefore, deciding whether to fix the rusts depends heavily on the total repair costs. That's why automotive experts recommend evaluating your situation and determining whether it's worth fixing the rust on your vehicle or not. If you realize that rust repair will cost you close 75% or more from your vehicle's value, it's never worth the investment, and you should sell your vehicle instead.
Keep in mind that when you do the calculations, you should not only focus on the repairs costs for fixing the rust but also calculate the total repair costs. For instance, if you know that your engine has some problems or if the transmission has issues, you should add up the total repair costs and calculate a total number, and then compare it to your vehicle's value.
Unfortunately, if rust is major and it eats up significant components of your vehicle, finding a private buyer might be very challenging, and that's why most people dealing with significant rest end up junking their cars or selling them to cash for cash cars programs like cash cars buyer.
Does WD40 prevent rust on cars?
Much older experts recommended applying the WD40 on areas that are rusted. However, customers mustn't take it as advice to protect their vehicle from rust. In other words, spraying WD40 is not a way to prevent rust from accumulating on your vehicle. Is just one way to get rid of the existing rust if it's minor only. Some experts indicated that 80% of the W4D will evaporate in a couple of minutes right after you apply it.
How to protect your car from rust? Final thoughts
As we highlighted in this article, rust is one of the worst enemies that could impact your vehicle's interior and exterior. Unfortunately, your vehicle's value will drop significantly if it has a lot of rust. Therefore, learning to protect your car from rust is a must.
This article provided you with 10 simple tips that you can't implement to maintain your vehicle and eliminate rust. If your car starts developing some rust, you should take care of it immediately by using simple products like anti resprays or other kits available in the market. However, if rust impacts significant components like your vehicle's metal frame, it might be time to sell your car and use its money to invest in a better vehicle that doesn't have these problems.
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