There are plenty of reasons why you should consider getting a car scrapped instead of keeping it around. If safety has gone by the board or any major components are on their last legs, it’s probably time to move on and let the car get recycled. You should also take that step when you can see or find plenty of rust.

Everyone knows what rust is. The reddish-brown flaky stuff is a combination of iron and oxygen, and it’s created when iron or alloys containing iron are exposed to water and air. When water and carbon dioxide from the air mix, they create a weak acid that starts to dissolve the iron. Water breaks down into hydrogen and oxygen, and independent atoms meet and bond with iron atoms to form rust.

Of course, the science doesn’t matter as much as the consequences. Iron is extremely strong, but rust is extremely brittle. It’s not what you want protecting you and your passengers in the event of a collision.

Of course, a few patches of rust aren’t such a big deal. Even a stray piece of gravel can chip a car’s paint and let air and water reach the metal beneath. However, extensive rusting is a huge problem. Rust can eat right through metal, in some cases causing body panels to fall to pieces. That isn’t just a cosmetic issue – your car depends on those body panels for its structural integrity.

If there’s surface rust, there could also be rust where you can’t see. When rust reaches beneath a car’s surface and gets to its underlying components, vital parts can be irreparably damaged.

It is possible to repair damage caused by the rusting of a vehicle’s body structure, but it takes a lot of skill and effort. In most cases, a car showing considerable levels of rust should be considered a good candidate for recycling.