Should this MOT advisory rule out buying a used car?

[kissenger]

My OH is looking for a used car in the £4-6k range for while she's on maternity leave and we've found a really nice Hyundai ix35 for a great price. However, I've just checked the MOT history and it says this, as an advisory from the last two MOTs:

some rust/corrosion starting on both rear springs rear subframe and arms

I know next to nothing about cars but any mention of rust makes me think I should run a mile. So my question is, how serious is this issue and should we rule out buying this car because of it?

It is a 9 year old car, so I don't know of this kind of thing is to be expected. Other than that, seems to be in great condition.

 

[Kaeo]

Not necessarily, sounds like just stating surface rust. If you aren't able to inspect it yourself, get one of those AA inspection jobbies.

 

[Razor-BladE]

I'm not super savvy about cars, but unless you can inspect how bad it is, I'd avoid.

The springs and rear arms I'm not sure how much it will be to sort it out without replacing if that's possible? But maybe about £300-350 including labour to replace.
I'd be wary of the subframe rust, especially if it's been like that for 2 years.

 

[JRS]

Spring rust is basically irrelevant - springs are practically a consumable item anyway on a lot of cars, especially with roads getting progressively more rubbish in various places around the country. Rear arms...well, they're exposed to the elements, road grime etc, so they're going to pick up rust. They're usually quite substantial pieces so surface rust isn't going to weaken them appreciably. Subframe rust is the only thing that would raise concern - as @Kaeo said it might be worth getting an AA inspection or similar for that.

 

[ShiWarrior]

my car is 10 years old and no rust as of yet

is there another one similarly priced ? if so i would check the MOT history online (i use total car check on my phone as its shows a lot for a free app)

i personally would avoid it, its on the sub-frame which isn't replaceable but the other parts are

 

[Calm]

Its not unusual to see a little rust on the springs and subframe. Advisory's are rarely anything to worry about.

Saying that, I did see a similarly aged i30 (same manufacturer) recently and the rust on the subframe was a lot worse than i would usually expect to see.

 

[kissenger]

A little bit more detail:

The rust/corrosion advisory was not on the previous MOT, but it was on the two before. But the catch is that its most recent MOT was performed by the dealer (or a sister company), just this past week. Which makes me think that either (1) the dealer treated the rust/corrosion pre-MOT or (2) they saw it but said nothing so that they could flog the car.

That said, this dealer has universally excellent feedback, on Autotrader, on Google, everywhere. And given that MOT records are freely publicly available I'm doubtful that they would jeopardise their reputation for the sake of a one relatively cheap used car. Also worth noting that the car does come with a 12 month warranty.

We put a £100 deposit down and we're supposed to be going back next week, so I will ask him about the rust (not that I know what I'm even looking for).

 

[wesimmo]

Check elsewhere for rust and research, if you can, to see if there are any known weaknesses for that.

Otherwise though rust on springs and arms isn't normally a massive issue.

My MX5 for example is known for rusting on the chassis rails, I'd had advisories on the arms for years and not a thing about the chassis rails.

The rails failed and I'm using the arms on a kit car after a bit of shot blasting and coating and they're perfect.

 

[BUDFORCE]

I'm not super savvy about cars.

Correct.

 

[Razor-BladE]

Correct.

Yes.

 

[Matthew.M]

I wouldn't be put off personally. Surface rust in those locations is very common, it's probably been flagged for years as it hasn't changed much and they likely missed it last year, I doubt they would touch it.

The springs might need replacing at some point as the protective coating must be damaged but they won't be very expensive and can go with age anyway.

 

[Participant]

Hyundais probably come with rust from the factory. Don't worry about it.

 

[Nasher]

Normally just surface rust won't be an advisory afaik.

 

[Lopéz]

If you are put off by light surface corrosion on underside parts such as subframe/springs etc then you are probably best off never buying a car older than a few months in the UK!