Corrosion coverage, what exactly is warrantied?

[scott78945]

I own a 2005 Runner and noticed the other day that my drivers side back door is starting to rust at the door handle. Appears its where they cut out for the door handle itself. I am getting the streaking down the door. This was the only way that I noticed it. I don't see any rusting anywhere else on my vehicle as I keep it nice and clean. We do get lots of salt here in Central NY and do have harsh winters but this seems like it shouldn't be happening. Anyone know what exactly is covered on the corrosion portion of the warranty? I believe its 5 years or so but unsure? Anyone else have this problem?

 

[<<<<]

The only time they'll cover it under warranty is when you have "metal perforation" (rust all the way trough).

 

[getsomeVA]

I have noticed my liftgate right above the wiper is starting to bubble with corrosion, I wanted to get mine checked, but I have heard the same thing with the metal perforation thing. Sucks. 33K truck, and they wont cover rust.

 

[georgia_4Runner]

My 08 with 20,000 miles is showing rust on the rivets attaching the fuel door to the body. Dealer is supposed to have it fixed, but it's worrisome with such low miles.

 

[scott78945]

I am at almost 40K miles and just noticed it. I wanted to keep this for awhile but at this point if I don't get rid of it within the next couple of years it'll be rusted right through. The door handle coming off wouldn't be good...

 

[riverider]

If you people have been driving this past winter after the roads were salted, I do hope you did a real good job of washing under your 4Runners.

No matter how cold it was I always would drag out a hose and try to get the salt washed off what ever I had driven.

If one is to lazy to do this simple task, then you find rust in places.

 

[EH007]

Wow, I'm surprised to hear anyone mention rust on a 4th gen. I live in the snow belt (NY), so my 4Runner sees plenty of road salt throughout the winter. Sure, I do my best to keep it clean, but it spends a lot of time covered in salt during the winters and I don't have any rust issues at all, except for surface rust on the undercarriage.

To the guys with rust on the liftgage or doorhandles.... did you ever have any body work done to your 4Runner? I know sometimes poorly done body work can rust quite easily.

 

[scott78945]

Wow, I'm surprised to hear anyone mention rust on a 4th gen. I live in the snow belt (NY), so my 4Runner sees plenty of road salt throughout the winter. Sure, I do my best to keep it clean, but it spends a lot of time covered in salt during the winters and I don't have any rust issues at all, except for surface rust on the undercarriage.

To the guys with rust on the liftgage or doorhandles.... did you ever have any body work done to your 4Runner? I know sometimes poorly done body work can rust quite easily.

No work done on mine at all. The rust is coming from around the handle gasket itself. Almost where it was cut out at the factory its starting to rust out. I may have to take it to the dealer and see what can be done to fix this. Other than this, its in great condition. I certainly don't want to try and open the door one day and have it fall off. I can't think that will be good for resale...

 

[getsomeVA]

I have not had body work done either. My truck spent last years winter in Virginia Beach so no salt there. It did spend this past winter here in Chicago, but rust will not pop up that quick. I wash and wax my 4runner every week, in fact, I'm a fanatic about it. Thats how I noticed the rust in the first place, as I was spray waxing it one day and noticed on the liftgate there was a bubble, then I checked the rest of the truck and noticed there was little rust specs around some of the doors. I know about rail dust as well, and rail dust will come off with some heavy buffing, but this is not coming off. I think its safe to assume its rust and it is really bothering me.

 

[G.I.G.]

The first theme I noticed in this thread is that many of the posters siting rust issues on their 4R's live in the rust belt. Unfortunately, no car is impervious to rust, regardless of manufacturer. Like riverider said, it is important to wash your car regularly, even if it is cold and it's going to get dirty again right away. It's not for cosmetic reasons, but keeping the car free of salt and magnesium chloride is very important in preventing rust. My Dad lives in VT and I told him the same thing. But he told me "It's an Audi, they have great anti-corrosion and rust prohibitors". Well, guess who's Audi started to rust with less than 100k miles??? Unfortunately no one can change the laws of chemistry and fighting the never ending battle against rust is part of living in the rust belt. It is also one of the reason I have never bought a used car that has even been titled is a rust belt state. I know that telling you guys to wash your car more often isn't a real pearl of wisdom, but unfortunately I think it is the best way to combat rust.

 

[scott78945]

I do wash my truck regularly but not weekly as the other poster. In your dad's case, he has almost 100K miles. You are talking to 2 people with 40K or less on their vehicles. I am going to see if the dealer can at least stop it from spreading and see what that will cost. I understand that vehicles will rust but I just expected it to be at 5yrs +.

 

[G.I.G.]

I do wash my truck regularly but not weekly as the other poster. In your dad's case, he has almost 100K miles. You are talking to 2 people with 40K or less on their vehicles. I am going to see if the dealer can at least stop it from spreading and see what that will cost. I understand that vehicles will rust but I just expected it to be at 5yrs +.

You're right. The age and amount of miles you and others have on your 4R's seems way to soon to be having rust issues, regardless of where you live or how much you wash your car. I would definitely take it up with your dealer to see what they can do. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[EH007]

I think age has much more to do with it than the amount of miles on a vehicle. It's exposure to salt that seems to be the real cause of the problem here.

Another thing to consider is this-- if you park your vehicle in a heated garage while it is covered by salt, you'll accelerate corrosion/rust more than if the vehicle stayed out in the cold.

Heated garages are nice to have in the winter, but they are not the best thing for your vehicle's body & undercarriage.

 

[riverider]

I just went out and looked the outside and the under carriage of my1982 Full sized Ford Bronco. been sitting outside past 15 years. Used every winter. Just found a small amount of rust on a roof seem. Under carriage is just the normal outer coating of rust where it's unpainted.

Looked at my 1998 Nissan Maxima I it's also been out side about 10 years of it's life, driven each winter also. I find no rust any where.

I just always wash them all over and under with water after driving in salted roads. Seems to work for me.:

 

[riverider]

Back in 98 Nissan changed the type of sheet metal they had been using for many years. They went with a cheaper coated material. It was a cost cutting idea by their new CEO from the Company that bought Nissan. It was a BIG mistake as quickly Nissan had a bunch of rusting Auto and truck bodies.

My thoughts is just maybe Toyota has taken this same poor path, and has changed their sheet metal requirements to try and save a few bucks.

 

[EH007]

Back in 98 Nissan changed the type of sheet metal they had been using for many years. They went with a cheaper coated material. It was a cost cutting idea by their new CEO from the Company that bought Nissan. It was a BIG mistake as quickly Nissan had a bunch of rusting Auto and truck bodies.

My thoughts is just maybe Toyota has taken this same poor path, and has changed their sheet metal requirements to try and save a few bucks.

From what I've heard, Toyota did just the opposite. Have you ever noticed that just about every old Toyota pick-up had severe rust on the bed? They were notorious for rusting right through the metal. Notice that the newer pick-ups (Tacomas) don't have the same rust issues. I remember reading an article where they were talking about how Toyota changed their sheet metal process to stop those kinds of rust problems. So I doubt that they took a step back again.

 

[riverider]

From what I've heard, Toyota did just the opposite. Have you ever noticed that just about every old Toyota pick-up had severe rust on the bed? They were notorious for rusting right through the metal. Notice that the newer pick-ups (Tacomas) don't have the same rust issues. I remember reading an article where they were talking about how Toyota changed their sheet metal process to stop those kinds of rust problems. So I doubt that they took a step back again.

I sure hope your correct in this.