Slo Yelo C5

So I'm a GM guy all the way. In my 30s, I have owned 1992 Caprice (drove until 200,000+ miles when rust ate the chassis and the car couldn't pass inspection), 2003 Cavalier (owned from 5 miles to 200,000 miles when rust ate the chassis and the car couldn't pass inspection), 2000 C5 Corvette (recent addition--no rust ), and a 2009 Cobalt LT2 (owned from 10 miles to the present 80,000 miles).

So the Cobalt has been a "rough rider" recently...the auto. transmission is starting to shift roughly between gears and the revs are getting "jumpy" over hilly terrain. No big deal--I figured it needs new spark plugs and a trans. fluid flush (it's never had the trans. fluid replaced yet--long overdue).

My mechanic is very talented, and very honest. He's got it on the lift and tells me the chassis has a decent amount of rust. Rust?! The car is only 7 years old and has only been driven in salty (ie snow, ice, etc) conditions under 20 times it's entire life! So then he is inspecting under the car and confirms...GM never did any, absolutely NO rust-proofing at all! Are you serious?! This was a $23,000 loaded with nearly every option LT2 and GM didn't do ANYTHING to prevent rust/corrosion to the chassis? Nothing at all?! Bare metal just expected to defeat the elements? Obviously after losing the Caprice and Cavalier to rust, not mechanical failure, I'm very paranoid about rust.

So 120 minutes of labor to scrape the rust off and spray the entire underside of the car with some high quality rust-prevention coating, I'm now out $300+.

So can somebody explain to me why GM does NOTHING to protect the chassis of this car? Why wasn't any coating/material used at the plant to prevent it from rusting? I've always bought GM, always...but really starting to get annoyed with this kind of "preventable" issue which should have been done by GM. Seriously debating if my next daily driver will be made by the General.

Mopar Jimmy

I have to admit that that is very frustrating and bullchit and probably something any of the big 3 are guilty from time to time!

Millenium 04

Fk GM Obama motors

FAUEE

The metal is treated to prevent oxidation. But they're not going to go to the expense (especially not on an inexpensive and low margin car) of doing a full undercoating or something like that.

redvetracr

your expecting GM to build a car for $23K that lasts forever? how would they (any car maker) stay in business if cars lasted forever?

sublime1996525

GM sucks. My Cruze is a big pile of ****.

waupachino

I feel for you. I have a 00 Grand Prix GTP that everything on the outside looked great, but under the body cladding the rockers were almost completely rusted away along with part of the quarter panel. $1964.00 later, new rockers and quarter patched with a life expectancy that I may get another 3/4 years out of it.

ON 8TH

I have a 08 Pontiac G6 & a 09 Pontiac Vibe both bought new ,Sure I have some rust but I really clean the Cars in the spring. I rattle can everything when I change the oil & jack them up when I Rotate the tires. My 96 Ford F-150 XLT 4x4 I bought used,it's in better shape than most,Im slowly redoing that since the frame is solid,I live in NJ so brine & salt is the norm here.

Snowwolfe

I been reading a lot of good things about Fluid Film. Basically a thick coating that is self repairing and sold by many retailers. Comes in a normal size spray can. Plenty of people swear by it for coating the underside of a vehicle.
Could be a worthwhile investment to spray the under carriage once a year if you live in rust prone areas.

White Out

8 year old Cobalt rusts. #whoknew

FYI, automotive metal is treated to prevent rust.

RBS_Z51C5

I have an '08 Cobalt with 162,xxx miles and no issues. I do however have a coworker with an '08 roughly 70,xxx miles. He says that his auto transmission was shifting rough and rpm's were jumping around. He took it to a mechanic and found out he had some bad or corroded wires. He didn't specifically tell me which ones they were (ground, etc), but he says after they were replaced its running fine again.
You might want to look into that.

ON 8TH

Thanks,I'll check out Fluid Film .

Slo Yelo C5

Did tune-up...RPMs are still jumping around. Would you ask your co-worker exactly what was replaced and approximate cost? Sounds like it's the same issue.

Zee0hSix

When my wife's 2 year old Buick Enclave had to be towed because of a cracked water pump, that was the last straw with GM. She now drives a 100% trouble free Honda Pilot and my DD is an Acura.

Roscoe

Union Made!

RBS_Z51C5

I finally had a chance to ask the guy this morning. He told me it was a wire connected to the block, so I'm assuming it's the main ground wire(he wasn't sure). They charged him $70 to replace, but it was a $10 wire. It's been acting normal ever since they replaced it. Oh, another thing. He said his headlights would flicker as well as the rpms jumping around and harsh transmission shifts. Hope this helps

Kurac

The whole C6Z dropped valve issue and GM refusing to admit to a design flaw left a bad taste in my mouth. It made me go elsewhere for my next performance car. I may be back in the future, but right now I'm having a ball with the GT350

leadfoot4

I live in the "snow belt", where road salt is an issue. I've never had a car "rust out", because A) I coat the undercarriage with a product called "LPS 3", when the car is new; and B) whenever the temps get above freezing (32* F), I break out the hose, and rinse the underside down THOROUGHLY.

But even so, after 8-9 years on year round driving, cars in this area DO start to rust. (FWIW, we had a '93 Caprice LTZ for 7 years, driven year round. No rust issues, at the time we sold it....)

Slo Yelo C5

Thanks! Looks like I need to replace mine.

Jackie Chan

Thats what i use on my waverunner that seas saltwater