I dont own a mazda but I am very curious about this.It's not the first time I see premature rust on Mazdas,particuliary on the trunk and near the lights.But this week end I saw a recent ( less than 5 years I guess ) Rx-8 with so much
rust around the tires in the back it was amazing.It was fuckin rotten.The lower part of the body in the back was also full of very apparent crusty,brown rust.I never took the time to bring my 6 yo elantra to get a rust treatmant and there is absoluetly no apparent rust whatsoever.So I was wondering WTF? Did they try to take care of this problem? Or is this just a coincidence where people were treating their car real bad?

It's covered by a warranty, but Mazda doesn't "promote" it. The Protege 5s are the worst ones I've seen for rust.

the mazda 3s have this issue too. I know one person who recently took their mazda 3 to be repaired under warranty because of the rust issue

My 2006 Merc is also affected by rust to the point where it needs 4 new doors. When they assembled the cars (It was assembled in Germany and not Mexico), they decided to cut down on cost by not filling the doors with cavity wax like they usually do. So all the doors are literally rusting from the inside out.

And since they are rusting from the inside, good luck at finding out about it unless you start ripping of pieces of metal. And if you are out of warranty (like I am), you are looking at a 14 000$ fix (to get it done at MB collision center).

seriously out of warranty on a 2006?
even cheap cars usually have 10 years for rust

i never trust factory rustproofing, especially in the montreal area with the amount of salt we use. i get my car rustproofed by a jamaican guy who uses 3 kinds of grease and takes 8 hours to do your car. never had a car die of metal cancer, always been mechanical, ive given the scrapyard some of the best looking cars in the yard. I had a 92 sunbird, a car that normally was rusty when new, last till 2002 with no rust, sold it and my friend had it till last year, no rust.

Posted by nostra-YOUPPI! i never trust factory rustproofing, especially in the montreal area with the amount of salt we use. i get my car rustproofed by a jamaican guy who uses 3 kinds of grease and takes 8 hours to do your car. never had a car die of metal cancer, always been mechanical, ive given the scrapyard some of the best looking cars in the yard. I had a 92 sunbird, a car that normally was rusty when new, last till 2002 with no rust, sold it and my friend had it till last year, no rust.

Vermont cars get subjected to alkaline clay AND salt and are terribly prone to cancer. One thing i see done over there is the old used oil bath spray on the underside of the car.

Posted by Samuraioil bath spray on the underside of the car.

So any Chevy vehicle is covered in that regard.

Posted by big dave So any Chevy vehicle is covered in that regard.

that's being mean.

My mom's truck is rotting away (cab corners, wheel arches on the box) and it's pretty damn new.

They won't do any rust warranty repairs until the hole is actually rusted entirely through, which looks bad when you see a bunch of rotted out 5 year old trucks driving around.

Volkswagen has a fantastic rust warranty (12 years, unlimited mileage). If there's even surface rust where the paint has come off, that body panel gets replaced, no charge. The only thing it doesn't cover is rust from stone chips on the hood.

Posted by Samurai Vermont cars get subjected to alkaline clay AND salt and are terribly prone to cancer. One thing i see done over there is the old used oil bath spray on the underside of the car.

this guy i deal with, drills no holes, he even removes the headliner!

Hey nostra can you give me details about that place you said? If I decide to get up my ass and treat my car I would go there.

This guy sold me the TruCoat on all my cars.

"Oh that's installed at the factory, ya know!"

The Mopar warrenty on rust is pretty decent; 36 months for sheet metal and I think 5 years for other components.

Posted by Agent Skelly The Mopar warrenty on rust is pretty decent; 36 months for sheet metal and I think 5 years for other components.

that is not decent, 3 years for body panels? thats crap

Audi is 12 years, and it doesn't even have to pierce a hole, Audi doesn't want their older cars looking like shit so they'll warranty it to keep their name looking good.

Why does it seem like every time I see a car with a headlight out, it's a VW less than a year old?

Posted by arntzville Why does it seem like every time I see a car with a headlight out, it's a VW less than a year old?

its that outstanding german build quality, ya know. Peerless engineering at its finest.

Posted by arntzville Why does it seem like every time I see a car with a headlight out, it's a VW less than a year old?

That's a feature they have to keep the hood latch from seizing up.