I was getting a new door handle installed last week at my local dealer and while going through the warranties list in their little booklets to build your new car I noticed that rust protection was one of them lasting the same amount of time as the powertrain warranty I believe.

I'll take a closer look in the morning but have yet to see any rust on the outside of the vehicle. Seen a little rust near the air dam on the bumper when installing my $2.00 lower grill today but I figure that to be normal.

 

Now on my Grandpa's 2003 Silverado, he had rust bubbles on the inside bottom lip of the door, and they said that doesn't count... It has to be full rust going to the outside.

Kinda crappy in my book..

 

The bubbles on my driver side door seam(2 small bubbles) were repaired by my dealership. No charge(warranty) and great work(Nurse Chev/Cad). Repainted the lower inside where the seam is. Could hardly tell it was done. Gave it a clean, clay and wax. Can't even tell now.

 

Unfortunately this rust is going to be an issue for HHRs in general. The way the doors are constructed will promote rust along the bottoms of the doors. If you look at any door on your car you will see that the outer skin of the door is wrapped around the bottom and up along the backside of the door. The lip of this folded sheet metal is not completely smoothed down and sealed. This will allow dirt and moisture to gather in the small gaps in the sheetmetal. Whos knows if the metal out of view is primed or painted at all. So this is where rust will start and grow. Where you live and how much moisture your car gets will play a factor in how big the problem is for you.

I was thinking of taking some clear silicone and running a thin bead along the tops of these seams along the bottoms of the doors at least and then smoothing it into the gaps to minimize the visibility of the silicone. The edges are razor sharp so a glove would be a good idea.

Remember these are production cars and not hand built exotics, so the design is what it is. If you want to keep your car for a very long time some prevention could go a long way here.


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I'm going to take off the door pads and spray the inside of the doors, 1/4 panels and the tailgate. My brother in law has done this to his '54 Bel Air and '36 Chev Pick Up. Works for him.

 

Yeah, just last week my dad and I sprayed some rust proofing (that supposedly actually works) in the inside of the doors and hatch. We took off all the little rubber plugs and sprayed it nice and good in there until it was running out of all the holes. Usually we just spray oil in there, but we wanted something a little more than that since this car is my first nice car. He's always sprayed oil in the doors of my truck, and after 20 some years of Michigan winters, they don't have any rust on them. (Sure, there's rust other places...)

So I would suggest people put oil in an old type can with a squeeze trigger (or even WD40) and spray up the drain holes or in the rubber plugs and get it good and lubed up. Just make sure to hose it out really good first to get any dirt (salt depending on time of year as well) out before.

 

Does WD40 last that long? I've never heard of using that before. I've heard that it doesn't last very long. I figure the oil is best. Has your Dad used WD40 before?

 

Curious of any of you with the rust issue, have running boards? There is absolutly no rust on mine. But I used to live in the Pacific Northwest, so I know what it's like.....

This was a couple of years ago for a funeral.

It sucks.....

 

Yeah, it sucks.
My snow thrower broke after finishing this blizzard.
I now have two 2 car and one 3 car driveways.
And a different broken snow thrower.

 

SS has the same type of effect as running boards. Great lakes winter typically the same, salt, snow, salt, snow more salt. I wash mine at least 2x a week in the winter. Indoor heated parking. Summer time at least once a week. Hopefully with an oil spray done on occasion, the rust will be deterred for some time.