New WRX from Calgary Subaru rusting

[Chester]

Update #3:
Subaru Calgary will be re-painting my trunk under warranty, finally

Update #2:
Just picked the car up from The Shine Factory. The owner was very helpful and managed to remove all the rail dust. As I suspected, the trunk IS actually rusting from below the paint, it is not rail dust. He said he mentioned this to Paul (Subaru service manager), I'll see what he has to say when I get a chance to call him tomorrow.

New pics:






Update:
So after contacting Subaru Canada, Paul (service manager) finally decided to offer me a power polish free of charge. I told them this wouldn't remedy the problem as the rust is coming UP through the paint. They insisted. Took the car to Subaru yesterday, left it with them all day. Got a call around 3:00 saying the car was done and they managed to remove all the rail dust!
For once, I'm thinking "Yessss, they finally did something right"....WRONG
I go pick up the car, take a look at it, and it looks WORSE. It looks like someone took 400 grit sandpaper to all the spots, so now instead of just rust, I have a scratched to shit, rusted out car.
I tried to snap pics, but the scratches are hard to capture, but they're there, trust me.

AVOID SUBARU CALGARY LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Hi guys, I'm looking for advice on what I should do with this situation.

I purchased this car back in January brand new and rust is starting to show ALL over the body of the car. I had a similar problem with my 2009 wrx, just not as severe and it didn't happen so fast.
I've taken the car to the dealership and they refuse to do anything, even though this is clearly stated in the owners manual:

"SURFACE CORROSION LIMITED WARRANTY (36 MONTH/60,000 KM)"
This warranty covers surface corrosion to visible painted body panels for 36 months or 60,000 km.

"ANTI-PERFORATION LIMITED WARRANTY (60 MONTH/UNLIMITED KM)"
This warranty covers perforation due to corrosion to body sheet metal panels for 60 months, regardless of kilometers.

The service manager, Paul, took pictures of the car and supposedly sent them to Subaru back in February. Paul said he would give me a call once he heard back from Subaru, he did not call. I called him after about a month and he said "Oh, I still haven't heard from Subaru". I'm guessing he just forgot and didn't send the pictures at all. He then says he will give Subaru a call and call me back, didn't hear from him. I call him a week later hoping to get this resolved, as I was going for surgery near the end of March and can't drive for three months, his words were "It is not rust, it is environmental contamination and warranty does not cover that" WTF??? The car is parked in a garage at home and at work. My commute to work is maybe 15 KM.

I decided to call Subaru Calgary again this morning and spoke to another service manager, Bill. I told him the problem, he said "Oh yeah, there's a recall for the rust issue". So I go ahead and give him my VIN number so he can check the recall and he said he would give me a call back; of course I didn't receive a call. I called him a few times during the day, no luck. I called again after work and he pretty much wrote me off saying "Oh I don't know what recalls they have for your car, Paul was looking in to it, he's out of the country now, blah blah blah". The last time I spoke with Paul was in March and he pretty much told me to fu*k off.


A friend of mine has the same car, color, and had the same problem; they fixed it for him under warranty no problem. On the Subaru forums, a few of the guys on there have the same rusting problem and the dealership covered it under warranty.

I'm not sure what Subaru Calgary's particular beef is with me, I've been a great customer, bought two cars from them in the last two years, yet they fight with me over EVERYTHING.

I just want to get this resolved so I never have to step foot in that dealership again.


Pics:










Sorry about the crappy pics, I'm on crutches and its hard to balance on one leg and snap pics.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[BrknFngrs]

I'm honestly not sure how Paul manages to keep his job; without a doubt the most ignorant and useless person I've ever met in a service position. I suspect this is something you're going to have to bring to Subaru Canada's attention directly; you should also make a point of how useless Paul is.

[riced]

Is this penetrating the paint or is it just surface spots?

I know that with my girlfriend's white Fit, she gets the same problem over winter. But during summer, all I need to do is take some paint cleaner and my PC and it buffs right out again. I don't know what it is, but it seems like it happens on a lot of white cars for some reason.

Although in your pics, it looks pretty bad.. so I can't be sure.

[Maxt]

That looks like the paint on both sprinters I had, Chrysler warranty determined it was from hot brake dust particles from Rail transport. They wouldn't do anything about it.
But if Subaru had a for sure paint defect causing it, can you try another dealership?

[Chester]

Originally posted by riced
Is this penetrating the paint or is it just surface spots?

I know that with my girlfriend's white Fit, she gets the same problem over winter. But during summer, all I need to do is take some paint cleaner and my PC and it buffs right out again. I don't know what it is, but it seems like it happens on a lot of white cars for some reason.

Although in your pics, it looks pretty bad.. so I can't be sure.

It looks and feels like it's penetrating the paint. It actually looks a lot worse in person. My mom has a white 2008 Lexus IS350, the paint is flawless, no "flecks" or rail dust in the paint and the car is winter driven. I don't care what they do, I just want Subaru Calgary to own up and fix the problem.

[Chester]

Originally posted by Maxt
That looks like the paint on both sprinters I had, Chrysler warranty determined it was from hot brake dust particles from Rail transport. They wouldn't do anything about it.
But if Subaru had a for sure paint defect causing it, can you try another dealership?

If I can't get this resolved with Calgary Subaru, I will try Centaur. I would rather stick with Calgary Subaru because its closer to where I live and my sister would be the one taking the car in because I can't drive for another month or so. I don't want her running around for me

[Aleks]

When you said you know a few guys that have had this warrantied, do you know what was done for them? I've seen these specks on a few cars around town including my wife's Forester, a Kia, Honda etc. Seems waxing in the spring takes them off but they are not as bad as your car...

[jetfire]

I picked up my car in swp around the same time and have the same rail dust problem as you, however your's looks much worse. People on other forums say clay bar and polish/wax works well.

What did they do for your buddy's car under warranty?

[kevie88]

I recommend another dealer. Subaru Calgary is one of the worst dealers I have EVER dealt with for customer service. I got jacked by the service department there a couple of times and have never, and will never go back.

I've also noticed that they turn over staff once a week over there. If the staff can't even stand to work there, you know it has to be trouble.

[se7en]

hmm... I would go in a raise hell. You need a Brand new car.

see chrysler lemon thread....good luck with this.

[Darell_n]

FYI, the rust recall is for the rear chrome trim rubbing on the paint and causing rust. (as mine was) They pull off the trim, clear up the rust best they can, then remount the trim with with different fasteners and what looks like a foam spacer to prevent future rubs.

[kevie88]

I was just thinking, you should park the car in front of Subaru Calgary on a Saturday, with big signs all over it pointing out the rust and the number of kilometers on the car. Maybe some big stickers on the side of the car saying "DON'T BUY A SUBARU FROM SUBARU CALGARY" and see how it goes..

I bet you get some action then!

[kvg]

Thats gotta be from "rail dust", but I have never seen it that bad. My friend had that happen with his mazda and is still fighting with them 2yrs later.

[schocker]

I would try claybarring it to see if that helps at all if it is mostly surface rust. I know my white car looked like that when I polished it up last weekend but all of the rust came off with the clay bar. But if they are not helping you, have you tried contacting subaru canada directly or say amvic as they could turn the heat up on the dealer for you.

[Chester]

Originally posted by jetfire
I picked up my car in swp around the same time and have the same rail dust problem as you, however your's looks much worse. People on other forums say clay bar and polish/wax works well.

What did they do for your buddy's car under warranty?

Originally posted by Aleks
When you said you know a few guys that have had this warrantied, do you know what was done for them? I've seen these specks on a few cars around town including my wife's Forester, a Kia, Honda etc. Seems waxing in the spring takes them off but they are not as bad as your car...

One guy was given a new trunk lid, another guy had to have his whole car resprayed, and the last was a simple power polish.
I think power polishing would remove the flecks from the doors, but the trunk is fucked.

[4lti]

You can polish off all that. The recall as said is for the chrome trim on the hatches 08-11. They remove the trim and clear off the rust with a compound, but if there is any rust behind the emblem or bubbling it the gets sent to a body shop to be fixed. The problem with the trim was the screws material was rubbing on the body and retaining water.

As for these rust spots, I see them on a few of the 08+ years. No idea what causes it tho.

[Chester]

Originally posted by schocker
I would try claybarring it to see if that helps at all if it is mostly surface rust. I know my white car looked like that when I polished it up last weekend but all of the rust came off with the clay bar. But if they are not helping you, have you tried contacting subaru canada directly or say amvic as they could turn the heat up on the dealer for you.

I contacted Subaru Canada this evening, which I had to do 3 months ago just so Calgary Subaru would get their asses in gear and resolve a much bigger problem that could've been avoided if they had just listened to me in the first place.

[Chester]

Originally posted by 4lti
You can polish off all that. The recall as said is for the chrome trim on the hatches 08-11. They remove the trim and clear off the rust with a compound, but if there is any rust behind the emblem or bubbling it the gets sent to a body shop to be fixed. The problem with the trim was the screws material was rubbing on the body and retaining water.

As for these rust spots, I see them on a few of the 08+ years. No idea what causes it tho.

As I said, the body of the car can be polished/clayed, but the trunk needs to be replaced or repainted. I tried clay on the trunk on March 20. The car has been sitting since and I just took those pics today.

[sillysod]

??? Are these cars not galvanized ???

I know with any German car they galvanize it before painting so unless you smack it up and have it repaired it will never ever rust.

Is the STI the 2011 version of the Protege5?

OP that really really sucks, all you can do is make their life a living hell. Unless you get under their skin to the point they know every morning when they get to work they will have to deal with a call from you, they will just ignore it. A phone call every 2 weeks is easy to forget.

You need to ride them about this daily until they resolve it or tell you to screw off... in which case you just go a notch up the ladder and repeat.

[Darell_n]

For what it's worth, my '08 Impreza in pearl white has the worst paint and glass of any vehicle I've owned. (this is the first import I've owned)