My Quest was at the shop for accessory belts change and oil cooler rusted intake pipe repair, when the mechanic barely touched the oil pan with his finger and a large rust flake fell off, followed with dripping oil. I knew the entire pan was rusted, but wanted to put off repair until the next oil change. So my luck was that 1) I had an new oil pan sitting at home and 2) the old one failed in the shop, and not in the middle of nowhere. It's getting replaced tomorrow once I bring it in. They are saving oil as it's brand new and only replacing the pan.

It's a bummer those parts rusted out, but at least you planned ahead! Good call on that one. The 10-12yr point is definitely when daily drivers are suffering from rust issues where I live.

Spent last night spray painting the outside of the new oil pan with Rust Oleum's cold galvanizing. Don't really know what I was thinking, as even if it extends the lifetime of the pan from whatever 10 to 12-15 years, that will most likely be way above the lifetime of the van itself. But I had the spray can in the garage and spare time to kill, so the pan is now painted with 5 coats of cold galvanizing paint.

My '93 Maxima's suspension and engine did not rust anywhere near as bad as Quest. By the same age and mileage as Quest, Maxima had holes under the rear doors, but suspension, oil pan and all engine parts did not have any noticeable rust.