Rusty holes

[Jomarkh]

Hi, has anyone else seen rust appearing around the holes under the bonnet?

 

[Lovemyev]

Hi, has anyone else seen rust appearing around the holes under the bonnet?
View attachment 17273

That is concerning !.
How old is your car and how many miles has it covered ?.
The paint applied in these types of areas ( which are not visible ) on all cars these days are very minimal indeed these days.
It’s almost only like an over spray, from the main painting process.
It will be a roughy dull matt finish as no protective lacquer will have been applied to save money.
The rust starts at the very edge of hole(s) because there is no paint finish applied to the edge of the holes.
Moisture enters here and It creeps under the paint finish, it can be seen appearing like a spiders web spreading under the very thin paint finish.
This is easily more visible as an orange colour under the white paint of the car of course.
Application of a rust preventative into these holes at the factory would have prevented this situation from occurring.
Unfortunately now it will need sanding and refinishing before any anti rusting agent should be applied.
Will this covered under warranty I wonder ?.
They tend to try and dismiss this type of thing as “Staining” which is total B/S of course.
Thank you for posting your findings !.
Purely on a personal bases, I would be checking my car and then applying some anti rust protection spray into each and every one of them holes, purely as a matter of course ASAP after seeing @Jomarkh car.

 

[Jomarkh]

I have had the car just over 2 years and done 33k miles.
My car is going in next month so will send them some pictures.

 

[Lovemyev]

I have had the car just over 2 years and done 33k miles.
My car is going in next month so will send them some pictures.

There will be no problem with them seeing the problem for sure !.
I will be very interested to hear what their response will be to this issue.
I know you will keep us informed ( please ).

 

[Macadoodle]

I have had the car just over 2 years and done 33k miles.

Pretty concerning for a 2yr old car. Don't think any car I've owned in the last 20 years or so displayed rusting like this, using galvanised steel typically prevents this for many many years.
Having spotted surface corrosion in places on my 5 month old MG4, I think SAIC has definitely opted for plain steel on most if not all body panels on their cars.

Thinking that my LFP battery will outlast the rest of the car. Handy for a home storage system I guess

 

[FiremanAxe]

I have the same, Although without the bubbling of the paint, but definitely rust showing around those holes. I have a claim in at the moment for this and a couple of other issues. After 18 Months and 27k miles I'm still loving the car, but seriously disappointed with the quality of materials used in this car. How did you get on with your claim??

 

[Jomarkh]

I have the same, Although without the bubbling of the paint, but definitely rust showing around those holes. I have a claim in at the moment for this and a couple of other issues. After 18 Months and 27k miles I'm still loving the car, but seriously disappointed with the quality of materials used in this car. How did you get on with your claim??

Apparently they are not rusty enough but it is going in for the Radio Module Disconnected faulty again so I will get them to check to see if they have got worse.

 

[M44LCY]

I had a 2019 Dacia which I wouldn't have chosen, but inherited when my brother passed away from cancer. I sold it last month with 25k on the clock. It had similar issues with rust just starting around holes in the underside of the bonnet, also a seam behind a rear wheel.

I've replaced it with a November 22 MG5 (facelift) which I collected last Monday. Today I had a closer look around, and spotted the same emergent corrosion under the bonnet. The bonnet stay is also quite rusty. I'll treat the stay with Kurust, then repaint with cold galvanising paint. The light stuff around the holes will come away with T-Cut, then I'll spray some Dinitrol or Waxoyl into the cavities.

My main concern is that, if these visible parts are corroding after 18 months, what's the car going to be like underneath? Anyone had a look at theirs?

My wife's had a KA since new in 2010 and it's almost perfect underneath. Before the Dacia, I had a 2012 Fiesta and the underneath was covered with rust (although not to an extent which would concern the MOT tester). I'm planning on keeping my MG5 for five years. Do I get my old clothes out, put it up on my ramps and treat the underside? Or do you think it will be OK?

I'm very happy with my 'new' car, but …

 

[MickeySw]

Do I get my old clothes out, put it up on my ramps and treat the underside? Or do you think it will be OK?

A must if you live close by the sea or the council tends to go heavy on the salt in winter time, in any other case better safe than sorry…

 

[M44LCY]

A must you live close by the sea or the council tends to go heavy on the salt in winter time, in any other case better safe than sorry…

The car's registration is for the Swansea, so it could have been kept near the coast. I've no idea about road salting in that area. For the future, I live near St Andrews - 20 miles from the sea, and we benefit from quite benign winters.

From my experience with our two Fords having very different corrosion profiles, it makes me think that susceptibility to corrosion isn't necessarily dependent upon the geographical location or even the name of the manufacturer.

I guess I just need to get it on the ramps and do the treatment as a kind of preventative maintenance.

 

[tlps]

Saw a You Tube video of James and Kate - The EV Team where this was an issue. They put it down to thin paint.

 

[M44LCY]

Saw a You Tube video of James and Kate - The EV Team where this was an issue. They put it down to thin paint.

That's right. James thought it was down to his being white, so the basic paint job. He thought the option colours had thicker paint, giving better protection. However, my car is grey, but still showing discolouration. It's not a major issue and can be kept under control; it's just disappointing

 

[Lovemyev]

Car manufacturers have been reducing and reducing the paint coverage for years, the robots are so accurate it allows them to manage the volume and coverage of paint, to within millimetres.
Any areas that are not in full view by the customer, rarely gets treated to any colour at all now !.
A bit of base cost ( colour ) overspray if you are lucky .
A good example is, if you open one of the front doors to its maximum capacity, then look beyond were the door hinges are mounted to the bodyshell, there is almost no coverage of colour at the front wing areas.
Personally, I don’t think it is limited to the colour white TBH - it’s just more noticeable.
If you are going to skimp on the paint coverage / protection, then the steel needs to be pretreated or the rust injection protection treatment has to bridge the gap, otherwise rust will be inevitable unfortunately.