Spence

iTrader: (1)

So my trunk got a little rusty when I bought it. I figured hey, I'm in new england so it's normal. Wrong.

I had to buy a new trunk lid because it was getting so bad about 6 months later, and i just recently took off the spoiler to put on the new trunk lid.

Youv are now about to see what this rust did to my trunk lid



That's right ladies and gentlemen. Completely eaten all the way through. Welcome to New England!

Also there's silver spray paint over most of the rust, but you get the picture.

To all the other northerners who owns maxies, they can feel the pain of this and I'm sure have had something like this happen. Maybe not as extreme.

As much as I love the Max, nissan completely half-assed the metal components of the car (bolts especially, underneath the car, frame, etc.)

I just thought I'd throw this thread up of this flesh eating disease to give you all a break of the "how can I fix this" and "what about this" questions.

My wheel well is getting there as well. Rocker panels are almost completely gone.

Sorry about this, but I felt the need to rant. Hope nobody threw up from seeing this picture.

_Spence'

buddywh1

I've been thinking of taking my spoiler off to have it repainted. I wonder if it's hiding the same around the mounting holes.

Is yours a dealer installed or aftermarket spoiler? Mine is, they just hacked through to mount it and I doubt they protected the exposed metal with any kind of anti-rust. Now 7 years in PA and I bet it's the same.

Spence

iTrader: (1)

I believe it was indeed dealer installed.

Though the hole actually goes all the way out to the front of the lid, which was visible for a while. I had thrown duct tape over it and ignored it for a while lol

But hopefully your's isn't as bad. I haven't seen too many others of this nature.

Worst comes to worst pick up a trunk lid off the org or craigslist for 150 bucks

rroderiques77

iTrader: (45)

Not a problem out here in the West.

eFLO

iTrader: (2)

i can feel your pain. at least it was on a replaceable body panel. i actually sold my 99 because rust had started to eat its way up the quarter panel on both the wheel well. both front doors had rust on the bottom edge and i had rust bubbles on the roof where it met the windshield. absolutely ridiculous.
the previous owner obviously did not take good care of it, the 97 i bought is pretty much rust free, its shocking really.

VQP0WER

FWIW, the only rust I had on my vehicle before the accident was on the brake rotors after not driving it for a couple days.

crystalline

iTrader: (4)

I feel your pain! My car has spent all 9 years of its life in MA its got some serious rust going on under the car that I'm always worried could turn into something horrible like this. I can see I'm going to need to address some rust in the rear wheel wells after this winter.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

South Carolina FTW!!!!!!!

GBAUER

iTrader: (2)

I thought there was a rust warranty for 10 years or something on the car? I remember something like that when I bought mine new.

Might want to look into it.

Rods03Max619

iTrader: (5)

Damn that is messed up im down in so cal so wont have that problem.sorry for the cash lost.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

That's quite a picture. You must have known it was there, even though it was somewhat unobtrusive under the spoiler. I'm guessing you're right about the spoiler being dealer-installed as opposed to a factory installation. That's a real shame, OP.

After 8+ years of Northeast winters, I don't have any visible rust on the body... anywhere. The rear wheel-well lips are getting a little bumpy if you run your fingers underneath, but there's no rot yet. All I have is the normal corrosion on the underside of the car, the rear axle, etc. I don't think it's luck, and I don't go out of my way to prep the car for winter. I just keep it washed and waxed. That's all.

As for the underside rust, the only thing I'm keeping a concerned eye on is the support under the radiator. That's a known issue on our cars.

And of course, my horns rusted out like there's no tomorrow.

BoDenKai

iTrader: (1)

I did not know that! I will check that up asap.

trooplewis

iTrader: (1)

You're lucky you're not driving an Altima; they have a history of rusting out in the passenger footwell, turning the car into a FlintstoneMobile.

GBAUER

iTrader: (2)

It's call "weight reduction". It's JDM goodness, yo!

kbohip

+1. Even the underside of my car still looks great. No rust anywhere. They use only a very slight amount of road salt here in the winter. Did I mention I hate road salt?

DjNikolaos

Yeah, I feel that pain too. New England sucks. The amount of humidity during the summer and the snow and road treatments in the winter can kill a car before its time.

Spence

iTrader: (1)

I can fly to texas for free, so I'm debating about picking up a max down there. Or possibly even a hatch.

But then I think the feeling of betrayal to the org would be too overwhelming if I bought a civic hatchie.

I'll post a picture of the wheel well soon. It's bubbling up all around on one side, and then on the passenger side it's starting to on the door frame towards the rear.

f*in new england..

scottygill

iTrader: (8)

More than the road salt itself I hate the trucks and delivery system they use to spread it. We just got our first snow here in VA and i was sitting in my car parked when a salt truck went the other direction... PING TING CLANK CHUNK... i was like WTF that sucks, but probably no dents.... What REALLY sucked was when the truck came back the other direction on my side right next to me. It sounded like i was taking gun fire to my doors. The only worse sound/sensation is getting curb rash or even worse having an accident obviously.

kbohip

THE absolute best place to get a rust free, salt air free car from is Arizona. I always try to buy my used cars from there if feasible. The place is like a time warp when it comes to older cars. The last time I was in Phoenix, I saw tons of 80's Jap cars still on the road, completely rust free. I even saw quite a few mid to late eighties Toyota trucks with no rust that still had the original paint and decals on them.

I bought my Maxima back in '06 from a private seller in Denver. Even though she had used it to commute in Denver traffic for 4 years, the underside of the car and engine bay still looked new.

mprimo13

i have a 2001 max it looks show room floor good and im from the northeast but the wheel wells are starting to rust i talked to 2 body shops they want to cut out the back end panels and put new metal in i love the max and do what i need to do but i feel like i neeed major surgery when they said that but i am SCARED i know the guy works on hot rods alot but i dont know anything about body work can this be done and look factory if done right is that a good way to fix the problem pleasew help

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

Same here in Texas. Both my 5.5 gens were sold and kept in Texas and both had no rust or corrosion issues. Just another reason not to live in the rust belt.

MintVQ35

iTrader: (1)

My right rear wheel lip is rusted a decent amount here in MA/NH, I've had 1 hackjob bondo repair and 1 legit metal patch panel welded in yet it still failed about a year after the repair. I took it back to them and the guy said the only way to fix it would be to replace the entire rear quarter...I drove away. I'd say about 75% of all 5th gen Maxima/I30/35's I see in new england have at minimum a few rust bubbles on the right rear wheel well arch but never the left?

BuRoJo

Back in the day, I had a '70 240Z and a little Datsun pickup. The steel on the undersides was only coated on the surface facing the road; just bare metal on the inside. The carpet and padding would hold moisture and rot the floorboards from the inside out. (just like Trooplewis said earlier, "Flintstonemobile" )

Hardly ever see examples around from that era anymore.

20Max03

iTrader: (1)

thats terrible use some touch up paint -_- lol

DFoot1986

Got a few holes under my 4th gen Maxima. The big hole is in floor from the rockers heading in on passenger side, about 2.5 to3 inches by 10 inches but before the box channel. Smaller one is in same area but on drivers side. I'm good at grinding, welding and patching, but is it feasible? Want to know because I am planning to get rid of the surface rust under the car, then soundcoat it lightly, then maybe paint it. I have access to rustproofing chemicals at work as I am a rustproofer. I'm going to build it up in the future, and I would hate to just let it go and have problems later on.

If anyone could PM me with a solution, I'd really appreciate it.