This is where your Mirage is going to rust out. (Body/chassis corrosion)

[MetroMPG]

Thanks to the accelerated corrosion conditions in rust-belt Ontario, I can bring you this early warning of where your Mirage is going to start rusting out.

These cars have really thin sheet metal and even thinner paint. Once rust gets in, it will spread fast. Take rust prevention seriously!

1) Obviously, un-touched-up stone chips ...



2) Bottoms of doors, where the seam is ...


(Above: left front door)


(Above: left rear door)


(Above: left rear door)
3) Radiator support /crossmember (lower) ...







(You can't see this unless you remove the bumper cover.)

4) Bumper bar ...



(You can't see this unless you remove the bumper cover.)

5) Floor, under the carpet...



This is the left rear floor - the bolt on the left of the pic is where the seatbelt is anchored at the bottom of the B-pillar. The rust doesn't appear too bad, but look closely and you can see the paint is starting to blister all over the place. I didn't look under the driver's carpet -- it's bound to be much worse there.

6) Rear axle detail...



Brackets with horlizontal surfaces are a bad design idea.

7) Brake drums ...



OK, brake drum rust happens to all kinds of cars, but it maybe happened faster to the Mirage.


8) Lug nuts ...



I've had lots of cars with chrome-plated lug nuts... none have done this before. It's very low-quality plating - other owners have identified this problem.

9) Radiator support /crossmember (upper) ...





Not as bad as the lower support.

More to come...


Anybody have other trouble spots to add to this?