VW... made for kayaking?

-- Last Updated: Jan-08-09 9:42 AM EST --

Kind of, new VWs say "GALVANIZED STEEL," so is that something special or shared by other cars?

Can you keep a car BONE DRY, even when you transport the kayak upside down. Hard to do, huh?

Maybe I'll be better off with the same old junk. ;)

Other car makers have used
galvanizing to reduce rust-out in areas where lots of salt is used for snow and ice. I’m not sure what practical decision is weighing on your mind here.

VW says
"fully galvanized sheet metal," so I guess it sounds like good protection against the occasional salt-water dripping from kayaks. Of course, not a substitute for rinsing.

Are You Serious???

– Last Updated: Jan-08-09 10:13 PM EST –

Just in case you are, my 2 cents worth...

The amount of salt water that'll drip from kayaks unto a car's roof in a car's lifetime is about as dangerous to its longevity as pigeon poop.

We know something (in fact, damn near everything!) about automotive rust on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula - freeze-and-thaw winters, lots of snow/ice/melt/slush/freeze/thaw cycles, so our roads are heavily and frequently salted, with lots and lots and lots of road spray flying around. The benefits of galvanized metal come into play when vehicles are driven in those conditions - that watery spray blasts into every tiny crack and crevice in the bodywork and beneath the vehicle. When it gets colder, the undercarriage gets encased in heavily salted ice and slush. On a very quiet mild spring day, when all that crap starts to melt beneath the car, you can literally hear a hissing sound as it sizzles away the metal...

A few cupfuls of salt drip from kayaks over the season won't eat your VW - but you could always get it RustChecked twice a year, just to be on the safe side... ;->))

I love my VW’s
But they all rust. It’s the fuel economy that makes it. Fuel (Diesel) $1.68 per Litre: no sweat!

Now the Turbo Charger just went in my 2006 Jetta 32 KM before warranty ran out.

$2,500.00 for the parts work and tax. I am kind of lucky.

VW is a good car and Eick is right on about rust here.

gee, perhaps it’s road salt
they’re concerned with.

Porsche was the pioneer here

– Last Updated: Jan-09-09 10:24 AM EST –

Back in the seventies Porsche pioneered galvanizing the entire auto body. To my knowledge most auto sheet metal (or at least lower body components) are now galvanized.

Galvanizing does not absolutely prevent corrosion (as any vintage porsche owner will tell you)

I thought that’s why they make carwashes
Have anything against the soap they use in carwashes?

You’re right about old Porsches…
When we had early 911s and a 912, we’d park 'em in the garage, turn off the compressor and the lights, stand quietly and listen to them rust!

LOL
not to mention the 914!

Under spray
When we were in NY the car washes had sprayers that washed the underside of the car. Most people drove winter rats and the cars had to be inspected yearly for rust through among other things. Used cars for the west brought a premium.

Twenty year old…
…VW Vanagon I drive has no rust and I pull my kayaks on a small trailer behind it. Maybe that is why it has lasted so long!

Never had that problem
and I’m on my 4th VW in 20 years. And that from driving in the salt-soaked roads of CT in the winter, which is far more of a threat to your car than what drips off a kayak at the end of a day.



My '04 Jetta Wagon has 110K miles on it, and not a spot of rust anywhere, and she gets doused with salt all winter long and kayaks on the roof year-round.



But you’re right, TDI fuel economy keeps me able to go to the shore on the weekends for less than the cost of the beer I’ll drink afterward. Love that part.

VW’s
I have 3 in the driveway now, The 06 has 81,000. KM 50,000 miles. The 1993 TD Golf has 250,000 KM the 91 jetta has about 200,000 but is gass so I don’t look at it much.

I used to drive as a bank courier 700 KM per day 450 miles ±

I have had a few VW’s I can’t even count them.

I learned to drive in a new bug 1974. Super Beatle.

baught a used 76 rabit, then a 78 diesel, then another 79 diesel an 84 Diesel Jetta a 91 fox a 92 diesel golf, a 93 diesel Golf a gas jetta 1991 (I think) and the newer 2006 Jetta (that just came off warranty)

All have carried canoes, kayaks and for a while skis.

Great cars. I pack miles on cars.

I don’t claim
they thought of kayaks when they designed the car, just that it may be a happy coincidence.



Their performance in the States is rather awesome for the price: 170hp and up.



Two reasons to go for it.



A third is that we don’t know for how long American manufacturers will be around. :wink:

When you are throught
at the end of a long day’s paddle, you don’t want to seat in a car wash, do you?

The car I drive now
is some older junk (Lexus) and it started showing bubbles on the roof. Of course, we’ve got other reasons to replace it.

Kind of related
to the issue. The galvanized carabiners keep getting rusty on me, so I decided to go for stainless steel, or for aluminum if on a budget.



I’d be glad to buy a car that had either metal. :wink:

1??? HP
Mine has about 70 HP for the 93 and 110 for the 2006.

800 KN 500 honest Miles per tank with boats and in the city. We have a hilly city.

I am told it can do 1,000 KM per tank, I have yet to see that.

I don’t drive at 85 KM, 53 MPH on the highway and while I don’t rip up the tires, I do not hold up traffic either.

The car always has boats, sometimes 3 and all the gear to go for a paddle.

The 93 gets better mileage than the 06.