"rust found on an audi shock"

[kid-jensen]

Yes, it had to be me that found it, but it's there all the same..

One of the reasons we buy Audis is their almost obsessive attention to rust proofing....(galvanized panels etc)... The underneath doesn't seem to be as well protected though, as there's loads of surface rust on several chassis sections on mine...not serious, just a little reminder of what's to come.

Generally a good spray-round with Waxoil (50:50 diluted with old engine oil works best for me) will keep the rot underneath at bay, but you can't do the same with the shiny bits.

On the Allroad, the aluminium door-bottom trims are prone to corrosion, so I took them off to spray them.

Behind them, the door skin looks like it will be almost permanently wet.... There's no sealing for the top 10mm or so which just fills with mud and water...not good.

Mine was rusty all along the bottom of the doors and I would think this applies to every A6 of similar age//mileage.

Mine's not exceptionally leggy (90K miles) but the rust is pretty extensive.

Luckilly, it hasn't got to the point where it's visible with the Trim fitted, but it won't be long....I would imagine another winter would see the rust bubbles creaping out from behind the trim. It's then extremely expensive to fix it..

I'd suggest every A6 owner takes their door-bottom trims off and has look, followed by a good clean-out. It takes literally one minute each....2 phillips screws, a few Torx headed self-tappers, tug the trim towards the back of the car and they're off..

Any rubbing down or grinding-out of the rust can be localised to the area behind the trim, so no one need ever know.....leave it any longer and there's a chance it will seriously impact the resale value of the car....

[Niall76]

My front wings are rusting pretty badly around the wheel arches. Not impressed as one of the main reasons I bought the car was the reputation for galvanising...... Don't think I'll be buying one again...... Well maybe an RS6 if I ever save up the cash......

[kid-jensen]

The thing with front wings.....is that they may not be original.

If the car's had a front-end shunt, the wings are very likely to be pattern parts which won't have the galanised coating.

Generall, as stated, Audi are very carefully rustproofed where it matters, I think my Door trim problem was a rare oversight.

That being said, if I designed a car that didn't have ANY visible rust in 100Kmiles/8 years, I'd call that "design objective achieved".


Try that on a Fiat !

[lonky]

well mine rusts along the roof gutters, known fault, Audi have resprayed it twice under warrenty, but it has come back again.

you can't kill tin worm, only slow it down !

[shabazmo]

My 2002 has no rust whatsoever underneath the car. Muse be an allroad problem or accident damage. As I have a pit at home I can see clearly the condition of the underside.

[wacky77]

I've got both front arches suffering, roof across top of screen and that common wierd bubbling along the roof gutter.
Front arches MAYBE stone chips or pattern wings
Top of screen MAYBE a cack handed replacement screen fitter
But that bubbling along the gutter is plainly under the paint, I think audi's galvanising is getting thinner the newer the car is.
Almost every 80 and early A4 I see out and about is rust free yet I've seen a few later models with bubbling front arch lips and the bubling roof seems a common issue......maybe audi is going through an early '90's merc style cost cutting program??
Heres a question, thinking about getting a D2 V8 A8, are they completely Aluminium or are they an ally shell with steel doors/bonnet/bootlid?
I've seen some older ones advertised with 'rust bubble on bootlid/door' etc so whats the crack?

Cheers-Steve

[Grant]

mine has gone on the rear arches.

Took it to Audi and they got their little paint depth magic tool on it and turns out its been painted before so no free reapir for me