Corrosion Warranty Work again :( (Updated with Pics)

[chris17house]

Well spring has arrived and now that my car isn't covered in salt and snow i can see the damage. (Keep in mind that my car was garage kept all winter).

Last spring/summer I had Mazda repaint the door jams and rear wheel wells that were rusting.

Now the same spots are rusting, in addition to the clearcoat peeling from the door moldings and door handles. There is also bubbling on the rear quarter panel, and bubbling underneath of the trunk brake light!

Unbelieveable, my car isnt even 4 years old yet with 65k and the thing is falling apart. Last time i took it in to the dealer, it came out with a big scratch and I had to write a letter and sit down and speak with the company president before it was fixed.

Can't wait to do it all over again. Isn't there a paint corrosion lemon law?

[chris17house]

Found this from Ford that probably defines the problem with my car.

Ford has issued a Technical Service Bulletin that shows a major paint defect in many large 2000-05 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars, trucks and SUVs that used aluminum body parts (hoods and fenders) to reduce vehicle weight. Affected models are the 2000-04 Crown Victoria, Taurus, Expedition, F-150, Ranger; Mercury Grand Marquis, Sable; Lincoln LS, Town Car Navigator and the 2000-05 Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer.

According to the TSB, “Some vehicles may exhibit a bubbling or blistering under the paint on aluminum body parts. This is due to iron contamination of the aluminum panel. . . . Ford’s Scientific Research Laboratory has performed a number of tests on vehicle body parts returned for corrosion related concerns. Testing has revealed that the aluminum corrosion was caused by iron particles working their way into the aluminum body part, prior to it being painted.”

CAS Executive Director Clarence Ditlow said:
“This is a very expensive defect to remedy. The TSB requires “extreme care to be taken” including special tools and segregated work areas to remove the corrosion by blasting, repriming and repainting. This repair is so difficult that CAS recommends the best fix is to replace the corroded part with a primed steel part and paint it. Ford cannot guarantee this repair will eliminate all the iron corrosion or prevent other areas from bubbling or blistering in the future.”

[nifty6]

Well spring has arrived and now that my car isn't covered in salt and snow i can see the damage. (Keep in mind that my car was garage kept all winter).

Last spring/summer I had Mazda repaint the door jams and rear wheel wells that were rusting.

Now the same spots are rusting, in addition to the clearcoat peeling from the door moldings and door handles. There is also bubbling on the rear quarter panel, and bubbling underneath of the trunk brake light!

Unbelieveable, my car isnt even 4 years old yet with 65k and the thing is falling apart. Last time i took it in to the dealer, it came out with a big scratch and I had to write a letter and sit down and speak with the company president before it was fixed.

Can't wait to do it all over again. Isn't there a paint corrosion lemon law?

any pics???

[chris17house]

I won't have a camera until tommorow. I will put some up then.

[bustednutz]

Found this from Ford that probably defines the problem with my car.

Ford has issued a Technical Service Bulletin that shows a major paint defect in many large 2000-05 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars, trucks and SUVs that used aluminum body parts (hoods and fenders) to reduce vehicle weight. Affected models are the 2000-04 Crown Victoria, Taurus, Expedition, F-150, Ranger; Mercury Grand Marquis, Sable; Lincoln LS, Town Car Navigator and the 2000-05 Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer.

According to the TSB, “Some vehicles may exhibit a bubbling or blistering under the paint on aluminum body parts. This is due to iron contamination of the aluminum panel. . . . Ford’s Scientific Research Laboratory has performed a number of tests on vehicle body parts returned for corrosion related concerns. Testing has revealed that the aluminum corrosion was caused by iron particles working their way into the aluminum body part, prior to it being painted.”

CAS Executive Director Clarence Ditlow said:
“This is a very expensive defect to remedy. The TSB requires “extreme care to be taken” including special tools and segregated work areas to remove the corrosion by blasting, repriming and repainting. This repair is so difficult that CAS recommends the best fix is to replace the corroded part with a primed steel part and paint it. Ford cannot guarantee this repair will eliminate all the iron corrosion or prevent other areas from bubbling or blistering in the future.”

We don't have aluminum body parts on the 3.  At least none that I know of.

[chris17house]

As promised here are pics:

Here is the rust, and it runs around the entire rear wheel well, the rust comes off with some effort, but the paint also flakes off because it is brittle now:




Bubbling on driver side rear quarter panel:


Bubbling on trunk brake light, it is a big bubble near the bottom middle of the light:


Clearcoat peeling on passenger side door molding:


Clearcoat peeling on passenger side door handle:

[cebo0650]

I have rust in exactly the same spots on my 2004 hatch. How long is the rust warranty? I'll be talking to my dealership soon.

[chris17house]

Corrosion warranty is 5 years/ unlimited mileage.

I wish they would just repaint and quadrupal clearcoat my poor car so i dont have to worry about it. I did a car fax on it a while back and its not even 3.5 years old yet. My old 91 lexus that i had up until last year did better than this.

[Fiji Mazda3]

Hmm, I noticed some rust on one of my fender wells a few weeks ago. Glad I'm not the only one with this problem.

[cwb27]

Is this 5 year corrosion warranty good in Canada as well?  My rear quarters are bubbling, will be bad this time next year.

[chris17house]

I would assume so. But im not positive. Im not sure why Canada would have a lesser warranty. Just take your car to the dealer and have them do the work.

Tell them that it is under warranty:

Then they will take pictures of the rust/bubbling, and send it to Mazda to get permission to do the work.

[capermazda]

I'd like to find this out too. I have rust in the same spots as the OP, to the extent that the paint has flaked off (rear driver's side quarter and 3rd brake light). If anyone else from Canada has dealt with their dealer about this, can they share their experience?

[chris17house]

This is straight off of Mazda Canada's website:

"Body sheet metal perforation for 5 years and unlimited mileage"

But they state that "perforation" is rust-through, not just surface rust apparently. Which boggles my mind, but i would assume that you could take it in and file a complaint.

When i went in the first time, the service guy took digital pictures of the problem areas, and then emailed them to Mazda to have them evaluate the problem.

About a week later I called in and they said that "Mazda ok'ed the repairs". So i brought my car in and they fixed it. I highly recommend that before you take your car in and leave it with them, you go over the car head to toe with the service guy noting all scratches, nicks, dents ect, so when it comes back out and has a scratch that wasnt on there before you took it to them, you are able to call them out on it.

[capermazda]

I do plan on takeing it in and talking to the sales manager about it. I talked to one of the serivce guys and he really didnt know anything about how to get it resolved.

Heres a few pics of what im dealing with. The car's filthy from the mud/rain/snow mix and the paint has flaked off more on the rear quarter since that pic was taken.

[chris17house]

Yea, its ridiculous I know. Who would have thought our cars would fall apart that fast. Even if we didnt wax, wash, claybar, ect, they should still hold up. But we all put a lot of money and care into our rides, so that is crazy.

[cwb27]

Well, I went to the dealer today and told them about corrosion in my wheel wells/quarter panels...

I was promptly told that because my car is out of factory warranty the corrosion warranty will only cover perforation of body panels due to rust...   Anyone else with this experience?

[cebo0650]

I talked to my dealer yesterday. I have rust on both the lips of the wheel wells and where the panel meets the bumper. The spot where the panel meets the bumper has bubbles in the paint from the rust underneath (perforation). I was told that the rust on the lip of the wheel well is just surface rust where the pain has flaked off, so it would normally not be covered. However, since the bubbles are considered perforation they will have to fix that. To fix that they will repaint the panels also fixing the surface rust in the process.

[RLS1400]

That's not a good sign, I sure hope that is just an issue with the early models.  Dont want to see that in a few years on mine.

Rust warranties are interesting, I work in the bus industry and perforation warranties are typically just areas where it has rotted through. Some dealers though can pull some magic and get you warrantied anyway to make you a happy customer. I'd go through your regional Mazda rep and blast them about it, tell them you are posting the photos online, etc... that might help!

[Macleod52]

Are the only people having this problem '04 owners?

[Black Warrior]

Question to people from Canada who has had the "experience" with rust on quarter panels on 04s:
-Was your dealer agreed on the repairs without any problems for you or it was necessary to go through Mazda Canada to resolve the issue?
-If the rust was fixed, have they painted the whole quarter panel or has it been just a partial repair?
-What about clear coat, have they fixed that or not?

[capermazda]

Are the only people having this problem '04 owners?

nope mine is a '05.

i'll be going to the dealer early this week. i'll be sure to post the results.

[Macleod52]

That's very disturbing. Makes me kind of want to get rid of the Mazda. I had my Grand Am for 8 years and it didn't have a spec of rust on the body. I wonder if it's just a bad batch?

[capermazda]

from what i can see, i think the problem is the way the panels fit (too close and rub) and that the metal isnt seam welded so that water can get between the folds.

i had a 92 honda accord before the 3 and that body held up amazing against rust. only a few spots here and there, but was great for a 12 year old car (at the time). I automatically assumed that i woundnt have to worry about this level of rust well into year 7 or 8

[destructor5000]

I live in canada and last year while i was still under waranty, i hade my side sill being repainted ( i dont have the side skirts) under the mazda waranty because the paint was peiling and there was rust all the way under the car.

My dealer told me that it cost mazda about 800$ to do the job at FIX AUTO. But guess what, this year it is even worst, it looks like they did a very very cheap job last year and now my paint is all pealed again. Looks like they have not even cleaned and buffed my old paint before putting new paint on.

Now this year i have rust spot all over my car and im aint going to the dealer for sure even if it is under warranty. They really cheap the job (in my case).


By destructor5000


By destructor5000

and i have this rusty sport on all whell/bumper junction :

By destructor5000

Im having nightmares at night, my car is being eated by rust while im in it !!!

[Maz06]

After i removed my door molding last night i notice my clear coat might of bubbled.
LINK: http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/pr00f568/wanted0082.jpg

[alwayzamd]

Holy moly... this really bothers me and it is completely unacceptable.  Rust in 3 years?  I will have to sell my car earlier than planned -- nobody will want to buy a rust bucket, no matter how good it drives.  I am very disapointed in Mazda write now. 

[chris17house]

Yeah this is just plain ridiculous. Really sorry to see that your car has gotten that bad.

[freeAgent]

Wow, that's pretty scary.

[capermazda]

that is beyond! id only expect rust like that on a 10 year old car. you should get in touch with your regional mazda rep and send pictures of that.

[destructor5000]

Update.

Today i went to see another dealer. All the rust spot are covered under the 5 year warranty.    The only problem is that i cant have it done before august !!!!!!

He says that this is a major problem for all mazda 3 from 2004 to 2006. Since im from quebec canada, the winter here is really hard for the cheap tiny layer of mazda paint. So almost all the mazda 3 are comming back for this problem... This result that their body shop is loaded for the next 3 months or so...

So 2 options : getting it done else where for about 1500$ or having rust all around my car for all the summer     or Maby i can try to have Mazda money to have it done elsewhere !!??

For those who where asking if the warranty is the same in Canada : YES. And it doesnt have to be perforated.