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Two main corrections: Cars are NOT hot dip galvanised, which would make them distort and be too heavy, and rough surface finish. They use pre galv sheet, usually with annealing process to form zinc iron alloy (galvanneal) which spot welds much better than gal due to the iron content. This is textured and gives best coating adhesion. ALSO at least important is the development of e-coat (wet electrostatic paint plus baking) which creeps into crevices and coats everything. I was an engineer in the car industry for 20 years, plus 10 years in outdoor non rusting products.

I've seen rust you people wouldn't believe. Alfa Romeos falling apart on the shoulder of Orion road. I watched C-pillars disintegrate in the darkness at mum’s house. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to fish oil…

My pride and joy as an 18 year old was a 76 Valiant Regal.. as bits fell off it due to rust,I referred to the process as organic lightening. BYD is just exploring reducing its footprint.

John you are correct in part with regard to automotive sheet steel being galvanized, although the process starts with the sheet steel rolls supplied to the car manufacturers. The steel sheet undergoes a continuous hot dip galvanizing process in a Zinc-Magnesium-Aluminium alloy bath, producing what is termed (ZM) HDG-Coated Steel Sheet. This is all done prior to forming the vehicle panels and frames, the process of forming and assembly doesn't affect the coating as adhesion is excellent and it is sufficiently ductile to avoid cracking, also the welding processes are not affected by the coating. The picture of the vehicle going into a bath that you displayed was actually part of the painting process, which ensures thorough cleaning and application of primers. There is a good video on you tube of the 'BMW Paint Shop' paint process although no narrative of the process is provided. The alloy used for galvanising the steel provides a much finer grain size over normal Zinc galvanizing, which is necessary for a high end paint finish.

Great video. I am a kiwi. I recently helped my grandson do a body transplant on a 2010 Nissian Narvada 4x4. It was a work truck which had a hard life. Very impressed, no rust at all in the places we don't normally see. I have a 2017 Iveco Daly van motorhome, Yes I live by the beach, there is enough under body corrosion to make me think. The van came from Austrialia , and I can't really find any information on what manufacturing treatment was done on the underbody. I have decided to do a annual application of Fluid Film a lanolin base grease/oil anti rust mixture you spray all over the under body and inside internal cavities. I feel if you live in a salt rich enivorment , or drive on the beach your car corrosion protection may fail.

Detroit started galvanizing rocker panels in the sixties. Yes the fenders would rust away, but in most cases the rocker panels were pristine. In the US it was the early Japanese imports that did not have galvanized rocker panels and turned into total rust buckets. Detroit did not initially galvanize the whole body in part because it tended to affect the paint finish, a big deal on fenders but not so much on rocker panels. Another issue was that rust through usually took 3 to 5 years, so that the original owner who bought the car new usually never saw the rust. As cars became more expensive, car loan terms increased from 2 or 3 years to 5 years. Now the banks and finance companies who held the car loans became involved and pressured Detroit to make more durable cars to protect their collateral.

EV direct from March 2022 said the " The galvanising process of the chassis used by BYD is Electrophoretic Coating "

Thanks John. Good insight into this potential problem. Lets see what BYD does so far as issuing further information.

Cars when made in Australia were not hot galvanised dipped. BHP however provided a product name zincaneal which had some protection. However if you were an owner of EA to BA Ford Falcon, it was not enough to stop rust in certain weld joints when the PPG etxh primer failed to reach during the body shell dipping process before robot painting of colour.

Spent time in China, would actively avoid BYD taxis because they were always totally clapped out in comparison to a VW or Toyota of the same vintage. Absolute crap ...

Going way back, when I was a child living near Detroit, our family Fords, you could hear them rust away. The 58 fords had rust holes by 1963 that you could throw a softball through. It didn't help that they had no splash shields in the wheel wells. Same thing later on with my 1968 Mustang, within 5 years there were several golfball-sized holes in the fenders. Our neighbor was a mechanical engineer and he had his grad student come out and acetylene weld patch panels in their Chevy fenders. It was just taken as a given that cars would rust out in 4 years.

Only the finest chinesium for Australians! I’m not sure why MG cars need an annual rust inspection.

Parents purchased a Mitsubishi Montero new in 1987. I am pretty sure it was not galvanized given how fast it reverted to ferrous oxide

Great video! Also worth noting: (especially in the UK) NEVER EVER use a roadside hand car wash, these people mostly use sodium hydroxide and/or Hydroflouric acid in their wash process which is absolutely terminal for aluminium, steel and glass. They often recycle the water, so the runse water is also contaminated,

First car was an EJ Holden with a custom fitted plank of wood in the driver's footwell to cover a rusty hole you could stick your leg through. Carpet was luxuriously arranged over the top of it. Drove that car for 3 or 4 years before the powerhouse grey motor gave up the ghost.

Dad's CM Chrysler rusted around the rear window and bottom of doors like a ghost disappears after his soul is saved . I remember attending a House , as a Phone tech ,near the Osborne Sub building base . She was a Metallurgist being brought over to assist with the corrosion problem. I always battle Internet and Phone line problems to corrosion and telecom network along the LeFevre Peninsula. An area sandwiched between Ocean and Salt tidal River. Galvanising still corroded over decades

Little bit of confusion about galvanizing John. Hot dip galv. is as you say, the body, trailer whatever, dipped in molten zinc and provides a coating that is measured in 10th's of a millimeter. Electro galv which, is as per the photo with a car body going into a bath, is measured in micro-metres, about 1000 times thinner. They don't hot dip car bodies because, using your figures of weight per square metre, would double the weight of the vehicle.

Had an old Alfasud 1979, in those days the MOT wasn't as strict...... There was more filler in the wings than metal and the windscreen surrounds had so many holes it was like aircon.

As The Sweet once noted… ‘Rust does like oxygen, You get too much kiss the BYD goodbye, Not enough and your atmo car dies, Rust ate my 81 Gemini.’

I do love the look of the BYD vehicles but I haven’t seen them underneath. However I have seen the undersides of a number of LDV vans. Two of them lying down on the side of the road. The amount of orange and brown penetrating rust on the floor pans and chassis rails surprised me. These are new vans that you can poke a screwdriver through. Reminded me of the obviously raw cheap steel that had a light dusting of paint used in the cheap pit bikes and quad bikes. They just dissolved.

THANK you! Luckily NIL such thing for my Atto3. I live in the West Coast of the most humid country in the world Singapore🙏🏼🌞😄🌴 exposed to the maximum: land and sea saltish breezes everyday, next to the saltish sea!!!!! I'm a doctor, my brother runs a car mechanic shop! We were so scared seeing the two pictures surfaced recently, that I ordered him to take apart my EIGHT MONTHS old Atto3 exposed to rain, heat, salt and more!!and he did, he took things apart in those parts you mentioned and more! RESULT: NIL CORROSION nor RUST 🙏🏼😄🌴🌞🌞🎋

I deal with hot dipped galvanized cable tray on a daily basis and I can tell you it DOES rust in certain conditions, the number one condition is usually dissimilar metal corrosion caused by using fasteners or brackets made of a more noble metal such as stainless or aluminum. Generally these reactions only take place when some kind of electrolyte is present (Such as water) Galvanized steel isn't the mystical indestructible thing you make it out to be.

I was looking at BYD Atto3 but decided to wait a bit & see if problems popped up. Phew,

Previously worked for a LDV dealer. Inconsistent build & component quality, cheap for a reason

I worked in a panel shop and we found the exact same rust under any panel that was removed on a new Chinese made MG. No way would I spend my hard earned on a Chinese built vehicle.

I’ve just called Byd customer service asked them about the rust and the lady said they use every step to prevent rust. I’ve also asked if they use galvanised metal on the chassis and the frames she said yes they do. I’ve got one in order arriving in few days and I am excited but kinda worried too 🤷🏻‍♂️

Have seen new, unregistered,DFSK trucks( Chinese) at UK dealers, already having rust on edges of steel panels,on tailbords/sides.

I can't believe that this car is a bigger rust bucket than the XD Falcon panel van that I (briefly) owned during the 80's.

In the seventies I owned a 1970 Peugeot 504. It had a galvanised body and obviously not Japanese. It was also far ahead of it's time mechanically.

Galvanizing is just an electro plate. Scrape it, over heat it (spot welding during assembly), exposure to acids and salts, abrasion and it will (and commonly does) fail.

*Looks to me like "Galvanic corrosion" due to dissimilar metal of the fasteners on the BYD car, you cannot use a fastener of a very different iron content of the base metal, it happens with stainless steel bolted to anodized aluminum.*

BYD has a option box called rust . This box is pre checked.

People do not know but in Europe, we do not buy Chinese steel as the Sulfur concentration is making it prone to rust and fail...

I’ve had 2 Mahindra Pikup , Indian made export , which have had rust in a couple of places , mainly behind the front wheels

I remember hearing years ago that the best manufacturers ionize the steel in there autos and this greatly reduces the rust problem.

WOW John what a comprehensive discussion on the galvanic process... No 30-yo could have made this video! Many thanks

Hi John, Speaking of rust, have you driven over the Sydney Harbour Bridge recently? While not strictly about vehicles, would like your opinion on the numerous and large amounts of what appears to be rust on the beams.

Thanks John for corrosion in steel tutorial. I was taught the thin gold coloured treatment on components was cadmium.

I think it was CHINA OBSERVER that highlighted the soft subframe metal. Bent easily with a shifter.

Friend's car was a Datsun 120y. We called it the Flintstone's mobile because each year the rusted hole at the bottom got bigger and bigger. Yes you could see the road below the car. No idea how it managed to pass rego each year.

This was the first Auto Export video I've watched in some time, and delighted to see the comedic schtick kept to a minimum. Please keep it going like this! You've got a lot of good things to say, but it's hard to listen and appreciate the point when half the video feels like it's tangents of insults and sex jokes and various schtick.

Most Excellent video - being a semi non Car expert this video is an eye opener; thanks for an excellent informative video

Having been a citizen of the U.S. rust belt at the time, an auto body technician and also living 30 miles from the lake Erie humongous salt mines, where you dig huge cave through the salt deposits under the lake, so the stuff cost a few dollars a ton, I can state without a doubt after repairing rust on severall two and three year old Honda Civics and Accords from the 70's including my fathers, the Japanese proficiency and prolific use of spot welds negated any positive effect of galvanizing, which I never saw on any part of a car where it would have stopped anything, and was patchy at best. Conversely, I've repaired rust on several 1960's Ramblers that actually rusted out ABOVE the galvanized rocker panels. Both the Japanese and Americans started expanding their use of galvanized panels around the same time. Including providing escape points in the body to prevent air pockets in susceptable areas, like fender tops, agitation mechanisms or spinning the body over. The vehicles longevity of both countries benefitted greatly from the practice. But the Japanese auto makers certainly weren't any better at it, and didn't start the process first, though they did very well with the process.

I wonder if the Chinese lack of galvanization, at least in the more built up coastal areas, is designed to limit the age of the vehicles before they require replacement. The increase in rusting will likely limit ages to 5-10 years without additional protection by the buyer. Remember the old Fish Oil treatment we used to do here in Australia in the 80's and 90's? Yeah I can still smell that

Not a problem in New Zealand: the law covers you and BYD is on the hook for 15+ years from new for replacement or full repair depending on when the problem is caught.

Couldn't be surprised about them rusting already!

I have worked making things, took them to GB Galvanising, then picked them up again and installed them in various out door places so I am somewhat familiar with the process. I have never seen any indication that car bodies are hot dipped but I have seen videos of them going through electrolytic baths. Are you sure you have the right end of the stick.?

This gave me a replay of my VL Commodore rear window nightmares back in the late '80's.

When I was in High School my dad got me a summer job at the Ford Assembly plant. union, great money for the time! Summer they had a 2 week shut down to switch over to the new model year. New machines were installed as required. Old parts were cleaned out. Part of the cleanup was to "bury mistakes". As the "new guy" we had to work through the break. I got to scrap several racks of brand new unpainted doors, because they were rusty (hadn't been stored properly at that factory, "lost" in a corner somewhere, what ever. Safer, easier, cheaper to scrap them than to try and clean them and sell them. I also got to dump several 5 ton truck stake beds that had been cut in half. Someone was half asleep and welded clamps in the wrong place. Not easy to cut them off to put them in the right place. Model year end, chop them up, put them in the dumpster recycle the metal and no one has to explain what happened, why. No blame. Check out russian sites. One of their many build quality complaints about Chinese EV's is rust and light weight metal. Another is about bad joints letting cold air during the winter. The cars just don't do well on russia's roads outside of Moscow ...

I still have my (over 700,000km and now with historic plates!)1979 ZJ 5.8L Fairlane with very minimal rust kept under control all these years by the annual liberal use of 3-4 cans of FishOil. Yes cars of the 70’s just loved to fade into rust heaps from the moment they left the showroom . More than happy with my 2016VF SS with 250,000Km coming up :) no squeaks no rust .

1 quart any oil new or used, 1 quart of trans fluid new or used, 1 tube of grease, 1 wax toilet gasket. Heat and mix all. Use any way u want. Pap worked for Ford in Ohio by Lake Erie. Friend drove a post war ford sedan. In late 60s he asked How do u keep that car so nice when all others rust away. He showed him what it looked like and told him write this combo down. Pap told me as a teen in 1990. He used this till he died in 2019. All things u don't want rusted. Guaranteed to work better, longer and be cheaper, $5-10. Knock off heavy rust, use Ospho or muratic acid for bad places for 10 min, wash with water and baking soda, use Eastwood chassis saver, farm implement paint or rustoleum. Then cover with this. No rust for 50 years. U can add whatever u like to it. Boiled linseed oil, etc. If I need to thin I use hydraulic fluid. Stuff it tough. Your welcome. Pass it on to all ppl who love things with motors or things made of metal.

I am intrigued by the fact that some new car buyers are prepared to purchase Chinese made vehicles, yet expect their new pride and joy serve them well 🤔🤔 Riddle me this....... since when has " Made in China" equated to quality?

The whole Chinese industry, automotive and civil industries are corner cutting enterprises period. I wouldn't expect any of them to last the distance. Time will tell

Hello There, I have read the couple of corrections but I still beleive your vlog was spot-on, great topic, good research (except HDG on cars) hope you follow on with more details. Regards.

Maybe BYD got some raw materials from LDV.

Appreciated your discussion about steel and galvanization. Learn some new things. Well done!

15-20 yrs ago when Tata took over Rover MG in UK, I worked for a dealer, and when we started getting 'new' spare panels for for Tata rebranded as Rover vehicles parts were already extensively rusting.

In Sweden they come with only 5 years rust warranty guarantee. (Not 12 years) They removed this information from their webside also LOL. I think that says it all.

Here in Sweden at least and probably all over Europe it wasn't the Japanese who first galvanised their cars, it was Audi with ten years rust warranty. Sometime in the mid or late 1980s. Japanese cars on the other hand were considered no good against rust.

Bog Your Dreams

Sacrificial Anode. Doesn't come up in conversation often. I first learned the term in the late 70s, helping my dad replace the chunk of Zinc on the leg of the outboard, on his boat. Great band name.

I have a 1992 Subaru SVX without a single bit of rust. The aluminum bits under the hood have oxidized, but no rust. I have a 1977 Jeep Grand Cherokee that you can hear rusting when it's humid. One thing I don't understand is how truck buyers still put up with the lack of rust protection. My F350 was $85k USD. Nothing that cost that much should have more than minimal rust within a decade.

One or both brake lights also an issue - pooping themselves. Also talk of warping on roof or tailgate panels. Looking for more info on this.

Loved the Eleanor Rigby reference😂

"cars don't rust away anymore" hahaha they sure don't when you live in the outback or whatever Replacing rocker panels on

At the turn of the century, the company I was working for (Coleman Milne), who made limos and hearses had a problem with the MB E class, which was becoming too electronically complex to be jury rigged after conversion to make it run. COMPUTER SAYS NO syndrome. So they asked Ford, who also dumped them in the cart by stopping Scorpio production mid sentence, if they had any other suitable cars, and they came up with an Australian market Ford 4 door sedan (Fairmont? Fairlane? Can't remember) and it seemed to work, except, being cheapskates Coleman Milne had them shipped seafreight from Australia as deck cargo. Cue lots of seagull sh*t followed rapidly by lots of underside corrosion, as the Australia market cars were not undersealed, and rot holes in wings in under 12 months were not abnormal.

Now wait a second , I don’t live in the snow belt in America, no salt on our roads. I do remember when Toyotas started to be sold here in the early 70’s. Toyotas from that era absolutely were Rust buckets !

Darn it I was gonna import Chinese cars with a couple of hundred thousand ks to sell cheap in Australia, but if they’re not galvanised….

12:13 No FKN way!? He works at a surf club and parks near the beach? Unheard of...which leads me to, I believe might have been one of your older videos where a warranty claim for rust damage was rejected because the owner of said vehicle lived near the coast.

Great info as usual John!

Localised concentration cell corrosion can still occur between multi-plate panels around salt and water, electroplated or not.

Remember when I said your mate, the other car expert was telling everyone that this was a great buy?? 🤦

I remember the cool new Datsun my dad got in the early 70s. After a few years we called it the rustmobile.

I was expecting this, but not to this degree so soon, this has exceeded my expectations. Not much better than salt water on bare metal.

I think BYD stands for Build Your Disaster.

Rusty vehicles very much not a thing of the past. If you live in any salt belt of America. Car life span is not very long because they fall apart from rust. Cars only a few years old in the scrap yard. All the electronics fail way before that. And then the car basically disintegrates. Japanese, American, European alike. Same in UK. Cars only a few years old red rust and falling in holes. Even brand new unregistered vehicles with rust all over them. Exhaust pipes rusted out and falling off. Quick coat of cover all underseal. New exhaust. And her you go Sir/ Madam, enjoy your new car. I have owned three year old cars. Bought from new. Sills all rotting out. Wheel arches going. All supposedly rust proofed. Until you feed them a diet of road salt. Kills anything .

My 91 G Wagen rusted to death, my current 2016 FJ Cruiser has survived so far thanks to meticulous care but FJ and Tundra and Tacoma chassis are famous for rusting themselves to death.

I thought vehicle manufacturers I used E-Coat not not HDG?!

Talking to a mechanic with a few years of experience on this dual cab model. did I say Foton Tunland ... said stay away the subframe is a death trap for rust just seen to many...

Seeing the brand BYD reminded me of a youtube video on the Serpentza channel showing the BYD cars bursting into flames and airbags not going off in China. Interestiong video. I also watched one of your videos on EVs and when talking to my sister in NZ she said that if you have an EV charging point wired into your house the insurance premiums skyrocket.

All logic and truth, as usual, John.

On a different note John it looks like I have managed to purchase the best quality 30 kg chinesium anvil Even though they said they were out of stock so looking forward to it arriving in the middle of next month 👍👍

FIAT and VW got together in the late 70's to galvanise cars. I had a 1981 FIAT in the UK in 1989. It was treated and the difference between my car an 1980 FIAT was very visible. Japanese did not galvanise in the 1980's in New Zealand as they rusted badly. Some failing their first inspection at 18 months old.

okay you got the undercoating , clear coating , rust proofing , underguard spray , gravel guard XJ , vita-seal , repels-it , but if you wanna protect the paint you better kep it in this tent . lmao

Ye not sure you've got this right! Last time I looked car bodies are dipped in sulphate primer, the main corrosion protection for cars. I think you are right this technology became standard approx. 80s/90s

There was an issue with the Daica Duster in the UK. The initial batch was made in India. They forgot to use galvanized steel (India cars aren't galvanized). They had to be recalled. Definitely 2 standards - One for domestic and one for export.

The best way to avoid buying a rust bucket car is to not by a Chinese car.

1970s .. buying a car with a pocket magnet ... seeing the magnet not attract in 70% of the Cars panels

Interesting report John. Modern cars haven't rusted since the late 90s in my experience. Another reason not to buy a Chinese. Bit like the melamine in their baby formula. Interested to know if they still use asbestos?

We had galvanising in the 1880's; I even got my Benz Patent Motorwagen done

I watched a KZfaq video on a brand new Toyota’s 79 series with rust under the roof lining and that say that see it all the time.

I'd say the member that was shown on the right of the screen (the blue painted example) was not galvanised after it was bolted together as there is clearly blue paint that was applied before assembly. It would suggest it probably was not galvanised at all. I have a 2005 Vito van and had a stone chip approx 2mm dia and rust right through resulting in a 3mm hole which would indicate that the coating does protect the whole panel.

I would not trust Chinese manufacturing to reliably produce adequately galvanized cars. See, contractors and subcontractors and even corrupt managers are always trying to cut corners to save a bit of money.

I had a Hillman Imp that literally fell in half at about four years old due chassis corrosion. This was apparently exacerbated by battery leakage. Amazingly I was still able to drive it (sort of) even though it's middle was dragging on the ground. Hoping my BYD doesn't meet a similar fate. Incidentally the GM Saturn decomposed fast. My sister in law's Saturn (in the states) at four years had holes in the bodywork big enough you could stick your arm through. Australian built Holden Gemini's of the 1980s were much the same.

Thanks and best regards from Egypt.

BYDs for northern climate will need rust proof coatings at the factory before being sold. That should add about $1000 to vehicle cost. Do not buy unless rustproof if you live in cold northern hemisphere

In the East Island of Australia, BYD is an Ateco brand, they don't seem to be owning up to that for Australia which seems a little odd.

About BYD rust problem, you can watch this great video about comparing BYD Qin PLUS DM-i VS Toyota Corolla Hybrid by a Chinese guy with English subtitles. It mentioned about BYD rust problem in 19:36 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i6eZZpaH08vVl6c.html

Gladly no rust located on beams seen whilst awaiting a seat on the Steel Taipan at Dreamworld. Understand where you’re coming from maaate. 😂