I ahve an 02 Maxima 43k miles on it. i bought it a few months ago. I have notivced a few areas where there is noticable rust already starting to come through the pain. mianly under the drivers door, its bubbling the paint, and the paint has a rusty clored tint to it. also the drivers rear wheelwell, the thin lip on the front side has the rusty color too it. what can i do before this gets worse? keep in mind, the wheelwell rust is in a noticable spot. also, anyone else experiencing this?>

 

Sand down and paint over it, this is not good. I would have the car inspected by someone. Infact, you should still have the "rust" warrenty from Nissan. Go raise hell at the dealership.

 

what do you mean by ^^that?? the entire front bumper assembly has no metallic parts to it therefore it wouldn't rust....do you mean the front of the hood where it meets the bumper on each end?

 

Front side of rear wheelwell = metal
Rear side of rear wheelwell = bumper

 

yea, its the front part of the rear wheelwell. will i have a rust warrenty even though i bought it used? it was from a dealership still.

 

Ask the dealership

 

but this rust warrenty is something real? i dont wanna go in there and look like an *** when i ask about a rust warrenty

 

There's a seven year corrosion warranty. However, it's limited. It does not cover things like rusting due to paint chips, scratches etc. Basically if the rust is starting on the surface you are out of luck. If, however, the rust is coming up from underneath then you may have a valid claim. IMHO experience though, the dealership will try and screw you over and claim that the rusting you are seeing is not covered by the warranty. If you are sure that it should be, be firm and calm about it. Make the technician go over the car with you explaining exactly why it isn't covered by the warranty.

 

As far as I know, all manufacturer warranty only covers rust through. Either wait until the body sheet metal "rust through" before the warranty expire, or spray salty water on the damaged paint accelerates "rust through"? But dishonesty is always not a good practice.

 

Go to the Dealership and kick their a$$es That is not right, now i will have to inspect to make sure i'm experiencing that same problem...

 

oh oh..I know the answer the dealership will give...
1) It is caused by rocks flying from the tires and hitting the wheel well.
2) Caused by brake dust..
Either way you are screwed...they wont cover it..I have the same issue and they wont do crap.

 

every car i've owned always had a small rust spot here and there and the max is no different. my 02 had a few spots and my 03 has a few on the edge of the hood....i just live with it....

 

That is so typical dealership!!!!!!!!!!

 

He says it comming from underneith the paint. That means the paint has not been chipped yet.How many of you guys have ever tried to use the corrosion warrenty? Every dealer is not the same. And if the dealer says no, you can always call 1800Nissan1 and they will help you out.

 

not in Canada man...Nissan's std answer is that the dealer is our eyes and ears and if they dont see a problem, we cant do anything about it.

 

I don't see why you wouldn't put in the effort to go to the dealer (or perhaps every dealer in the nearby area) and try get this fixed under the corrosion warranty. The worst answer is "no". It doesn't cost you anything (other than fuel and time), but if one dealer agrees to do the work under warranty, you've just saved yourself some $$. Doesn't make any sense to give up without even asking a dealer or escalating it up to Nissan corp.

 

That is definetly an option, but I ( or others I hope) dont have time to run after dealers for this issue. Dealers should not act as incompetent as they normally do. I mean, we did PAY for the car and not steal it.

 

Its rust through warranty...must have a hole in the metal to apply.

 

ill take a pic of the rust in question. hold on

 

here u go. first is the rear wheel well. 2nd is under the drivers door. about how much am i looking at to get this fixed if its not covered, which i doubt it will be

http://www.ihostphotos.com/show.php?id=83745
http://www.ihostphotos.com/show.php?id=83746

 

Damn! The second one looks bad... I'd get that fixed ASAP - with or without warranty coverage.

 

When I had surface rust, I took it to the dealer (Canadian) and they said two reasons for no coverage: it was surface rust (on my roof) from stone chips and warranty is only 3 years 60,000 km... I was at 4 yrs and 66,000 km... I ended up paying to get it done...

 

about how much am i looking at? 300-400?

 

If you get someone good to do it, yes, it will be around that price +/- $100 and car-rental (if you do not have a second car)...

 

Wow, if that is not covered under warrenty that is crazy. Should cost a couple of hundred to fix.

 

my father had a 96 altima a while ago, and it had a rust spot where the rear tire well met the bottom sheetmetal. he had it repaired, but rust spot came back fast. they have to cut out a large chunk of metal that's rusted, and replace it. just sanding and repaininting does not do anything. anyway, even having this done, the rust came back. i think you would have to replace the whole bottom piece to get it done right, not just cut this rusted metal out and weld new metal on. since this is really close to the road, paint probably chipped off, and it started rusting the metal. good luck at the dealer.

 

Well if it is surface rust it can be done. If you prime it with Zinc primer and then do the paint job, it won't come back (or at least it has not yet a year later :-)....

 

i had the same problem in the wheel well last year (before winter, with all the snow and salt on the road)... i sanded it down, covered up the surrounding area with newspaper, then sprayed black rubberized paint on it and it has been ok so far.

 

Are you all rusting out because of the climate (wintery) that you live in? Maybe its due to all the road salts used on the roadways of New England and Canada.

 

You have a clogged window drain. Look at the bottom of the door and you will see drain(s) which actually drain water which is collected during rains/car washes. Now take a old metal hanger and cut it (make a small hook at the end) and shove it into the drain thereby unplug the drain which could be filled with leaves.

Preventive maintenace is a must while unclogging window drains (should be done every 6 months).

 

I went to the dealer 5 months before my "rust warrenty" expired. I had rust on the pillars or both rear windows (they said it wasn't covered because it wasn't the sheet metal) and on the lip of my trunk which had been bleeding rust on my bumper so now my bumper is "rusted". They stated the rust hasn't perforated so it's not covered. Horsessh@t...now the paint is bubbling at my rear trunk lock just waiting to burst a rust baby.