Why is rust on a car bad?

Question

Is rust on a car VERY bad? why?

I might buy a car that has rust on it. The car runs great and is super cheap because of the rust. Is rust so bad? Does it affect the way the car runs? or just the looks? If it's bad..why? After I buy the car..what can I do to make the rust better. I don't know how serious or what stage the rust is in. But it's in many spots on the car and even made a hole at the bottom of he driver side. Not a huge hole..but big enough to see.

I know nothing about rust on a car.

Isee the rust on the door..and some on the back of truck....and the rust is also inside the truck bed. It' a 1991 Chevy S10. small truck

CLAIFICATION: I know that rust isn't good! I guess what I mean to ask is..if I buy this car..will it fall apart on me. Will I still be able to drive it for a long time..or will it break down a week or month after I buy it!? Does it only mess up the looks of the car? thanks

Answer 1

youd need a LOT of rust to have it fall apart. ive driven some pretty zhitty and rusty cars and they aint gonna fall apart

Answer 2

Think of rust as being like a termite but instead of wood its metal. Now if its just rust on top of the metal it wouldn't hurt but if the rust has eaten through the floorboards or the structural frame of the car then it would probably be best to skip it.

Answer 3

As far as I know, it damages that body (obviously), weakens the metal where the rust is located. As far as how it effects the work of the car overall, it could make the car heavier or lighter on one side, it could effect the way the doors close if there is a lot of rust on the doors.

Honestly, it is fixable. You can sand it down, bond it with this putty stuff they sell at Autozone or Checkers and just spray primer on it after it dries.

Answer 4

Rust looks bad in it's early stage's but eventually rust turns into holes which weaken the body but that is in it's advanced stages. It's a lot easier to take care of early on when a little paint can repair it than when you have holes in the body if your thinking of fixing it that is.

Answer 5

it's hard to stop or repair.

usually the rust you can see is just the tip of the iceberg.

it's the rust that you cannot see that is worse.

you can't just throw some paint or goop on it and hope it goes away. you have to fix it and stop it from coming back.

think of it as a sweater or a dress that has been eaten by moths, you could wear it but it doesn't look good. Fixing it would be hard and take a lot of time or be expensive to pay someone to repair it. If it has a lot of damage it might fall apart. Not in one day but it won't last as long as one that's not damaged.