Rusty Door Pillar Panels

[twe]

At the moment I am having the door pillar panels replaced for rust issues on my 2012 Chrysler Delta. I will take a photo and reply here with it. 

I noticed the same thing on another Chrysler Delta in the same place on another 2012 model.

 

I will be requesting a load of other work to be looked at under warranty, but that's when I see the dealer for the above work.

Edited May 13, 2014 by twe

[T14086]

Hi, are you talking about the A pillar and B pillar (between the doors) trims that are rusting? 

[twe]

Here is a quick image of it. You can see the panel to the left of it in the same area as the right one, has no rust showing but is discoloured. That means there is rust underneath as it is turning white first then the rust shows.

 

This is on the passenger side panels too and on the 2nd car I saw.

 

http://i60.tinypic.com/54yemr.jpg

[twe]

The dealership said that there has been no recall on this issue which makes me presume that the replacement panels will rust again in the same place.

 

Tempted to put some lacquer on the edges, under the rubber seals, to see if that helps out?

 

Also the dealership said that it is not part of the 7 year paint warranty, but part of the 2 year sheet panel warranty.

 

http://www.chrysler.co.uk/contact/faq

 

Q. What corrosion warranty does my vehicle have?

A. Corrosion warranty covers any outer-body metal panel that gets holes from rust or other corrosion. The warranty has time and distance limits as follows;

• For sheet metal panels, the limit is 2 years with unlimited distance.
• For an outer-body sheet metal panel, one that is finished-painted and that can be seen when walking around the vehicle, the time limit is 7 years with unlimited distance.
• The warranty does not cover cosmetic or surface corrosion resulting for example from stone chips, scratches or bird lime in the paint.

Edited May 15, 2014 by twe

[T14086]

Seen this on Deltas before, in fact I have changed these bits of trim. Also common on the 300 range and various Fiat models.

[twe]

Any idea on how to protect them once replaced?

 

Does the lacquer idea sound good at all?

[T14086]

Dont know but if it was my car and still under warranty then best to leave it as if it happens again then they have to replace it under parts warranty, if you put lacquer on it they might said that has affected the paint etc

[Nello]

Hi twe - thanks for highlighting. I've noticed very slight discolouration on mine in the same spots. No-way near as bad as yours are/were, but just a hint. I'll be trying to treat and protect as much as possible but as my car is a 2011 probably out of warranty (though I bought my car from a non Chrysler dealer anyway.) I do use an excellent paint/body shop if required in the future though! 

 

What 'other work' are you looking at having done?

Edited June 2, 2014 by Nello

[twe]

Hi there. Just had these panels replaced by Chrysler, and being a 2012 it will be out of warranty when they rust again unfortunately.

I have noticed that these same locations are not covered correctly by the thin rubber seals as well as the fact that the paint may not fully cover the edges as it is a thin metal sheet.

 

Let me know what you use to help out as at the moment I can only think about getting some black paint, hopefully the one that matches the wing mirror will also match the strips, and maybe spray some lubricant inside the panels.

 

The other issues were basically the rear wash wiper cable came apart from the join (which was a simple fix), couple of fault codes that were reset and not come back in nearly 2 weeks, a flickering headlight, wind noise coming into the cabin and a squeaky clutch pedal.

 

I think it might be a bulb flickering as they checked the headlights and they seemed fine. I will ask them to change them over. The wind noise into the cabin they could not hear but I will ask them to check it out again. Possibly due to my hearing being really good as it is high pitched, I know my dad would not be able to hear it.

 

They will get back to me with the squeaky pedal as they can't rectify it, might be a unit change as they removed the clutch cable to see if it was that.

 

Finally they said no to looking into the squeaky rear leather/suede seats so something I will have to look into myself. The springs probably need lubricating, need to figure out how to get to them though.

[Lucky]

Hi,

 

I've noticed a tiny bit of rust on these panels on my 2010 Executive Twinturbo. How do I remove them? The trim under the windows is lifted straight up, but what about the top and side trimming? I don't like the try&fail method when it comes to plastic trim on my Delta..   I'm from Norway, and there hasn't been an official Lancia dealer here since late 90's, and the Chrysler dealers couldn't care less, so it's not so easy to get these parts if they break.

[Nello]

Hope this helps Lucky - If you can get to them looks like they unbolt/off bolt/on.......... Showing around 68Euro on eper....

 

Edited July 8, 2014 by ben
Attached Image

[Lucky]

Thank you! I will check it out. Haven't noticed those bolts, but I will have a look and see what I can find.

[T14086]

If you decide to buy them you will see where the bolt(s) are, often Chrysler hide them behind the inner glass seal.

[Brendon1977]

Thanks for flagging this up, I've checked mine out, I do have some small marks but nothing as bad as reported, the drivers side rear panel appears the worst offender so ill definitely keep an eye out, and look at treating/protecting.

 

Also noted from twe's reply that my rear wash cable had also become detached....(now fixed)

[Penguin2007]

Hi

 

Just cleaned off the dirt from my windows etc, on my tour of the Scottish Islands.

 

I have rust worm at the back of the rear passenger door trim in quite a big way.

 

Also, on the panels named above - minor discolouration is seen.

 

I'm getting to feel that I have bought a lemon.....

 

SO disappointed - another trip to a dealer that is not the flavour of my less than 3 month old purchase.

 

I feel like handing it back ......

 

 

Gutted - never before have I had so much hassle and bitter feelings for a car.

 

Chris

 

 

On tour - Westray, Orkneys

A place where the wind waves and sky all meet

[twe]

Hi

 

Just cleaned off the dirt from my windows etc, on my tour of the Scottish Islands.

 

I have rust worm at the back of the rear passenger door trim in quite a big way.

 

Also, on the panels named above - minor discolouration is seen.

 

I'm getting to feel that I have bought a lemon.....

 

SO disappointed - another trip to a dealer that is not the flavour of my less than 3 month old purchase.

 

I feel like handing it back ......

 

 

Gutted - never before have I had so much hassle and bitter feelings for a car.

 

Chris

 

 

On tour - Westray, Orkneys

A place where the wind waves and sky all meet

 

Had my panels replaced, still need to protect them but I bet they will do the same if I don't.

 

Will look at other panels. Penguin2007 can you upload a photo of the panels you have seen with rust? I can try and protect them before they get worse and anyone else looking at this thread. Thanks.

[Penguin2007]

They are going to be replaced under warrantee  Thank goodness, all six panels.

The 'selling garage' MD has stated that it is a common fault - and also happens on two year old Mazdas.

 

Is it a return to the old 'rust worm' that FIAT had in the 1970s? When a Strada of a colleague simply fell to bits, with the dreaded rust worm?

 

 

I will upload a photo asap.

 

 

How would you go about protecting the panels? Another spray of protective lacquer?

How could you twist the arm of an already uncooperative main dealer? to do the extra lacquer layer? ....

 

I'm not into taking doors apart - but I strongly suspect, that they are going to do the same thing, inside the two years.

If scratched underneath - you cannot see the damage, and they will just rust from the back.

The main damage on my 'worst one' appears to have come over the top surface - so a mere nick or scratch from a screwdriver would have started the process off.

 

Now and again 'good quality' plastic parts have their uses - perhaps here is one of the places.

 

Chris

[Nello]

I'd say just apply Autoglym Resin Polish to them weekly Penguin. Create a protective barrier to prevent any water ingress...... I had a similar issue on my Fiat Coupe with its Fuel Cap bubbling with rust.

Bought a new one and replaced and have applied polish regularly and its still as good as new.

[Saulnier]

I've just had the offside B panel replaced on my 12 reg Delta & having just given it a bath, have noticed similar corrosion on 3 of the others, so it'll be going back to the dealer for more warranty work.

 

The dealer was able to replace the 1st panel under warranty without problem (although they left the car on their forecourt where it was hit by a delivery van & it's awaiting a trip to the bodyshop to fix the damage)

 

I previously owned 2 Bravos & neither of them were affected by this.

[Penguin2007]

Car being repaired under warrantee 

 

Rust on all six panels

 

A shame that I could not get autoglym polish under the panels.

 

If these go rusty I will claim again - as the clock, according to various folks starts again from replacement.

 

 

Dr  Chrysler took my car on Tuesday and although present position is not known, it may get back to me next week Monday or Tuesday.

 

 

Word of warning here for future purchasers (in general) check that any work that is required to be done warrantee or not, can be completed by the vendor in his garage.

 

Chris

[Penguin2007]

Hi

 

Have just got car back from warrantee work on the door panels.

On close inspection, two of the panels are devoid of 'enamel / paint' on the sharp edges.

The just have not got any surface colour on at all - shiny steel shining through.

 

It does not show up on a iPhone photograph - else I would have put one on.

 

Cannot really touch it up, as it is in a visible position - and will attract attention etc

 

Slap and dash - from a main dealer .......

 

Have moaned - don't know if it will get anywhere.

 

Panels involved drivers door, passenger offside front panel.

 

As stated before - make sure that all work can be done by the selling garage under a warrantee claim.

I have not had the car for 7 days .... to and fro from my selling garage, to main dealer for the warrantee work back to my garage, tinkerings and back to me.

 

Slowly taking the car into the direction required BUT still not done well.

 

Chris

[Nello]

Chris - when I checked mine I noticed that the 'enamel' finish only goes up to the edge flush with the bodywork. Where the panel wraps around the pillar looks indeed untreated hence why we are seeing these issues. Mine does look at least undercoated around there (plus not under warranty now!) so I will put up with. Actually mine do not seem to have corroded for now but longer term it'll probably be on the likely side.....

Edited September 29, 2014 by Nello