Rust on hood ;(

[jcpetit]

We recently noticed that our Tesla Model S 2016 refresh has a few bad spots of rust under and on the hood.
Pretty bad on a car that Tesla said shouldn't rust ;(
The warranty on rust is 12 years, so we got an appointment with Tesla to get it fixed...
Well, it didn't go as plan. They gave us all kinds of reasons not to honor their warranty: there must have been a rock chip starting the rust, this is not perforated all the way, and so on...
We went to 5 meetings (a few weeks apart) and got always the same story and excuses to us...
I let you look at the pictures for yourselves. They are not pretty. We can clearly see that the rust started under the paint. The worst part is under the hood next to the latch hook and on the top of the hood. Looks like some kind of reaction between the hook steel and aluminum.
We went to one of the best car paint shop we can find in our area and they told us that the first steps in the factory (cleaning, preparing, primer ?) were not well done and the only solution will to replace the hood as the rust will propagate like cancer...
What would be your recommendation as this is clearly not a normal wear or tear..

 

[IChillinz]

I always hate rust too. There’s no way Rock chips under the hood would cause some of those spots. Looks like your in Canada, snow, salt. Always terrible for cars. Also 5 years old. I dont know if you can get Tesla to cover, my guess is no. I’d look into replacing hood. Is that only place its rusting?

I just got my Model 3 and plan to wash it weekly and try and keep down on winter driving with salt here in Milwaukee to try and avoid corrosion starting.

 

[jcpetit]

Here's what the warranty states:
“Body Rust Limited Warranty

This Body Rust Limited Warranty covers rust perforation (hole through the body panel from the inside outwards) resulting from a defect in material or workmanship for a period of 12 years and unlimited miles, excluding the following:

• Vehicles treated against rust, i.e., procedures commonly referred to as rustproofing or undercoating;
• Corrosion from defects in non-Tesla manufactured or supplied materials or workmanship causing perforation in body panels or the chassis from the inside out;
• Surface or cosmetic corrosion causing perforation in body panels or the chassis from the outside in, such as stone chips or scratches;
• Corrosion caused by, due to, or resulting from accidents, abuse, neglect, improper maintenance or operation of the vehicle, installation of an accessory, exposure to chemical substances, or damages resulting from an act of God or nature, fire, or improper storage.

For more information on other paint, rust or corrosion concerns that are excluded from this New Vehicle Limited Warranty, see Additional Limitations and Exclusions on page 8.”

 

[jcpetit]

I always hate rust too. There’s no way Rock chips under the hood would cause some of those spots. Looks like your in Canada, snow, salt. Always terrible for cars. Also 5 years old. I dont know if you can get Tesla to cover, my guess is no. I’d look into replacing hood. Is that only place its rusting?

I just got my Model 3 and plan to wash it weekly and try and keep down on winter driving with salt here in Milwaukee to try and avoid corrosion starting.

We looked everywhere else and could not find any other place with rust. In fact, our car looks almost like new as we take very good care of it (car washed weekly). It is inspected every end of winter (we just did) and everything looks great, even underneath.
Yes, you are right, the majority of the rust is under the hood except for the big spot on the front top. It might very well be started underneath and coming up to the top...

 

[IChillinz]

Maybe after it gets worse they’ll cover it? Not a good thing to have to deal with. Hope you can get somewhere with them.

 

[Tiger]

I'd just ignore it until it actually meets their warranty terms (hole through) or I move onto next car (whichever comes first). Keep the photos. If you ever sell the car to a reseller, they would touch it up anyways to get rid of it.

 

[jcpetit]

Hello everyone,

here is some news on the issue.

I insisted several times last year and they finally accepted to repaint part of the hood where there was rust.

After a week, to my surprise, they just repainted under the hood around the hood lock striker. I was pretty unhappy as I understood that they would fix all the rust spots...

More or less one year later, I decided to meet Tesla asking gently if something can be done (again). They kind of say that the aluminium was not well treated in the factory when the hood was made... They seemed willing to do something to fix this issue. A few days later, they came back to me saying that my Tesla Model 2016 (Refresh) doesn't have any corrosion warranty?? It looks like this warranty wasn't existing before something like 2017 ??

Anybody with a 2016 Tesla Model S could confirm that?

 

[vcor]

The hood is aluminum, so I don't understand how there can be any rust. Agreed it looks like the paint didn't adhere properly or there is some excess paint on the underside, but it really can't be rusted. Aluminum can get some corrosion, which could be the case, but generally, it doesn't propagate like rust on steel.

In your Tesla account, you should be able to see all the documents associated with your car including the warranty that is applicable.

 

[mishixoxo]

I have the same issue and they obviously have the same scripted response. They say its metal fallout although its all over the hood, and only the hood.

 

[mishixoxo]

I have the same issue and they obviously have the same scripted response. They say its metal fallout although its all over the hood, and only the hood.

 

[krsgio]

Try using iron remover such as carpro ironx. Industrial fallout is a thing and that's what it will do to paint. It's commonly used for paint decontamination when doing paint correction.

 

[brkaus]

Try a detailer. This looks like surface contamination to me, but it's only photos so very hard to tell.

Have you waxed or done any sort of paint maintenance on the car since new?

The part around the latch is a dissimilar metal problem. They shouldn't be allowed to touch.