After 3 great years of having the 8, I inspected my car carefully as usual in the summer and the bottom part started to rust and the fender too...But not like everywhere like maybe 6 or 7 spots.

I still have warranty, will they repaint those areas or what will they do?

Any experience to share with?

Thanks.

 

Rust after 3yrs....seems a little early.

Good luck with the repairs....
NVMYRX

 

Mine too. Tons of surface rust on the rear wheel wells lip. **** poor stuff.

 

Yea they would, I took it to avante and they were willing to repaint the area with rust in the wheel wells

 

The people complaining about rust... did you rust proof your cars?
I drive my 8 all year round and not a speck of rust.
I do however give her the Krown treatment every year... she's worth it.

 

yes he does have rust proof...from the dealer too...he bought package.

 

after only three years you shouldn't need the extra rust package. That's pathetic. I looked at my wheel wells this wekend. The is rust on the lip of the drivers side rear wheel well. Here is another issue to add to my list of **** quality for my car.

 

The thing that pisses me off is they wouldn't give me a loaner or rental car while they fix all these bullsh-t rust issues. So how am I suppose to get around without a car?

 

well..i think all the cars are th same....you ll get rust...if u winter drive it and such...salt peppels hit its....exposes it to bare metal....i dont think it avoidable....

oh well..good thing i don't drive mine during the winter=)

 

guys what u do it u have to get the black ashphalt tar spray fro canadaian sitre and spray ur wheel wells when u take of the back wheels and also the bottom corner where all the water collects and u will have no rust

 

i totally did NOT understand that..

Try to word it better, please?

 

I drove a neon for 8 years in the winter and it din't get any wheel well rust until year 8.

3 years is too soon for any car to get rust.

 

I did a google search and found that this is a very common problem on the Protege. Basically 100% of Protege had suffered this problem very early on.

Will definitely have to tar proof the inside of the fender lip.

 

Anyone got the official Mazda Canada's position on this yet? After reading about it here a few months ago, I happened to be at my Dealer (Mazda 2-20) so I asked the service manager. Upon inspection of one wheel well, the first thing he said was "your car has been repainted so it wouldn't cover anyway". Eventhough he doesn't know if Mazda would cover it (said he'd ask), he claimed that because there is sign of a tape line somewhere near the trunk hood indicating repaint, it would cover. After inspecting the opposite side he saw the rust but couldn't find any signs of being previously re-painted. I'm not at all impressed by his attitude and also do not see any reason why it would be covered even if part of the car was repainted. Since I bought mine used I can't know for sure but the only painting I had done was to fix a very small dent/scratch in the door. The shop may have blended it all the way back but that shouldn't void any rust warranty if there is one. Besides, I have that lifetime rust protection anyway.

 

hey is the rsut on the inside of the wheel well cause what i did i got some roofing tar from Canadian tire and put it inside the wheel well and a bit around the edges wondering if ur getting rust on the painted side of the well where u have little indents kinda like circle patterns????

 

You've got it. It's surface rust on the painted side with the little indented circles. The dealership repainted the fender lip for me. Now off to Crappy Tire to tar proof the crap out of the inside.

 

Indentation circles = Spot welds
I dunno how mazda does it but the toyota boyz did the nickle plating aka galvanizing BEFORE they did the spotswelds that hold everything together, therefore the first thing that rusts is of course, the weld.

 

I also have some rust that seems to be a little deep for surface rust appearing on the top of the rear fenders right by the window, I am sure because water really seems to sit there when it rains. Rust is part of the reason I sold my other car.

 

hey are u going to get the roof tar make sure u dont get any on you cause i hasd to wash my hadns for like 2 hours lol