Rusty Cars Probably Not As Safe As New Ones, Says Surprising Study

This study was meant to show just how much less safe an old, rusty car is than a brand new one, but all it ended up stating is the highly obvious...

If you’ve ever been driving around in a car you know is hellishly rusty underneath and wondered exactly how safe you’d be in a crash, you’re about to find out.

Well, actually, you’re not, because while a few old, rust-eroded cars have been crashed at the UK’s Thatcham Research Centre on behalf of two safety-minded Swedish companies, the results are pretty inconclusive.

Rusty Cars Probably Not As Safe As New Ones, Says Surprising Study

The initial idea from insurance company Folksam and a homeowner’s organisation called Villaägarnas Riksförbund was to show how much less safe a rusty old car is than when it was new. Indeed, the headline Villaägarnas Riksförbund used in its press release states that, in a crash, you’re 20 per cent more likely to die if your car is badly rusted. However, it’s not that simple.

Two MkV Volkswagen Golfs and two MkI Mazda6s, all from the mid-to-late-2000s and definitely at least 10 years old, were crash-tested for frontal and side-impact safety. The results were compared with the cars’ scores when these models were new. Surprisingly, the Golf barely lost any ground on its as-new performance, scoring 32 points instead of 33. The rustier Mazda dropped from 26 points when new to 18.

Rust: not always a death sentence, but probably not great, either
Rust: not always a death sentence, but probably not great, either

The Mazda’s figure is where that ‘20 per cent’ claim comes from. As noted first by Jalopnik, though, the study does say that it’s by no means certain that any other rusty Mazda6 would behave in exactly this way. Also, much of the rust was ultimately judged not to have impacted the car’s front- and side-impact safety at all.

On the other hand, the way the Mazda has ‘de-bonded’ in the places where its rust is particularly heavy, where chassis parts and the floor have separated, indicates that driving a car with rusty guts might not be all that sensible anyway, the bottom line being that you simply don’t know how well it will handle an impact.

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Comments

Anonymous

Phil:

04/17/2018 - 09:46 |
314 | 2
Jeremy S.

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

that is what I was thinking way before I went to the comments

04/17/2018 - 11:00 |
26 | 2
CannedRex24

Craigslist be like

Rust free car, slight dents here and there, very safe, 4k minimum

04/17/2018 - 09:53 |
56 | 0
TurboToddler (Straight-five)

In reply to by CannedRex24

“No low ballers, I know what I have”

04/17/2018 - 09:56 |
52 | 0
Anonymous

I think it’s mostly because the older car has less safety stuff, and not because of the rust.

04/17/2018 - 10:06 |
8 | 0
Matt Kimberley

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

They compared the cars against those same models when they were new back in the 2000s, not against new cars today.

04/17/2018 - 10:15 |
18 | 0
Anonymous

“Rusty Cars Probably Not As Safe As New Ones, Says Surprising Study”
In other news grass is green and sky is blue.

04/17/2018 - 10:08 |
164 | 0
Ali Mahfooz

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Also water is wet. Who would’ve guessed it?

04/17/2018 - 10:12 |
54 | 12
Wogmidget

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Ah, beat me to it

04/17/2018 - 11:05 |
6 | 2
Anonymous

Suprisingly safe actually.

04/17/2018 - 10:58 |
6 | 0
Wogmidget

In other news: fire is hot

04/17/2018 - 11:05 |
2 | 0
ᴶᵘˢᵗᴬᴿᵃⁿᵈᵒá

Thanks Captain Obvious

04/17/2018 - 12:03 |
6 | 0
Mr.PurpleV12

My mercedes cough cough*

It dosent look like that anymore btw.

04/17/2018 - 12:15 |
20 | 0
=ash=

Alex Kersten once said: Rust can also be very tasty.

04/17/2018 - 12:51 |
20 | 0
Anonymous

A good study would be : How do cars which had a rust removal procedure done keep up with cars that weren’t rusted at all ?

04/17/2018 - 12:55 |
16 | 0