Rust spot, warranty?

[bigmac77]

I have a bit of rust on the rear door of my 2015 Cali. Where the plastic trim, which houses the rear number plate illuminating lights, touches the panel on its lower left corner it has rubbed the paint off and rust has developed. My question is; is this covered by VW body work warranty? The van is now 4 1/2 years old. Just want to be prepared before I take it to VW for some other work.

 

[Emil Silenhag]

Yes, this is one of those spots where you WILL se rust on them all sooner or later. Crappy design...I doubt this will be covered by warranty...but it SHOULD be...

 

[MartG]

You're right Emil. My experience with bodywork warranty is corrosion from under undamaged paintwork and also, away from panel edges are covered, no where else. Might be worth a try...

 

[bigmac77]

Surely VW have a warranty time limit for paintwork? Anyone know what it is?

 

[MartG]

My Audi is 10 years, I'd think VW would be the same...

edit - just googled it to be 12 years

Body protection warranty All current Volkswagen vehicles are fully protected during manufacture against through corrosion for 12 years from the date of first registration. ... The perforation must not have been caused originally by damage, neglect, insufficient care or maintenance or by external corrosion (rusting).

Reading that, it only covers rust from below the paint surface, not from abrasion or surface damage

Still may be worth a chat with a dealer, they may contribute money towards a fix. Extended warranty?

 

[WelshGas]

Touch of Kurust and when dry a dab of Touch up Paint.
VW, if they accept it for warranty, will probably just use the Touch up Paint.

 

[bigmac77]

I was going to put some rust converter on it and touch it up but I thought I’d see if I could get VW to sort it for me FOC. I’ll see what they say.

Thanks.

 

[Emil Silenhag]

It is possible to do this yourself, if warranty is out, but you have to remove the painted plastic trim above the number plate. This is a pain in the ..s job. I’ve done it on many cars. Use 2K clear coat and put a transparent film underneath the plastic trim.
The rust starts because there are dust and fine sand rubbing between the plastic trim and the painted body...and the plastic trim vibrates/moves all the time. As said before, crappy design...

 

[Legin]

The key words are through perforation. This means from the inside out basically and hole as the evidence. I think you have limited chance VW will cough.