Mazda3 owners with corrosion issues; information here!

[ZoomZoom Girl]

As many of you know, from reading my thread here, http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/sh...ad.php?t=25136 , I am currently dealing with very serious corrosion and blistering paint on my 2004 Mazda3 Sport GT. Pictures and a more detailed explanation of my specific issues are outlined below.

I have heard through responses to my posts from several other Canadians dealing with the same type of corrosion on their vehicles. In the vast majority of cases, their dealerships gave them the same response as I received, that Mazda Canada could not be held accountable (no "perforation" (i.e. hole through the body)) and therefore no compensation would be offered. To put this into perspective, I received estimates ranging from $1100 to fix just the rusted areas to $1800 to also address the blistering!

I am still awaiting the final word from my dealership as to Mazda Canada’s response to my complaint. Following that, I will be sending a registered letter to both Mazda Canada and to my dealership, along with all the pictures of my car (see here: http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a38...Mazda3%20rust/ Password is ZoomZoom).

I’d like to compile a list of other Mazda3 owners dealing with a similar situation in order to add weight to my argument that this is a recurring issue with these first generation models. If you would like to get involved in applying pressure to Mazda Canada to take responsibility for what is obviously a manufacturing defect, please sign up here. Or, if you would prefer, send me a PM.

If you have any before pictures of the corrosion/blistering, please email them to me! Once I get enough entries, I'll send these to get hardcopies made up, for submission to Mazda Canada.

Also note that I'd love to hear from ANY Mazda3 owners who have/had corrosion or blistering similar to what I outlined in my own case. If you had your case dealt with by your dealership under warranty, note that when you sign up. The whole idea is to send Mazda Canada an impressive (i.e. impossible to ignore) list of Mazda3s that have/had premature corrosion. I’ll get the ball rolling.

Name: Lynne M. Witty
City/province: Sudbury, Ontario
Year of car: 2004
Model: Mazda3 Sport GT
Color: Winning Blue
Current Mileage: 109 000 km
Corrosion damage: as outlined in this post

To give you a bit of background, I took ownership of the brand new car on June 30, 2004, hand wash weekly in summer months, and go through a car wash at least once per week in winter months. Therefore, from an ownership perspective, I have done everything humanly possible to maintain the paint on my car.

In 2006 I began to have rusting at the bottom of my rear passenger doors, as seen here:



I did bring it to the attention of my local Mazda Service Manager (Mid City Mazda, Sudbury ON) and he stated that it was due to rock chips, not covered under the Mazda warranty.

Last year I began to notice very serious rusting around both rear wheel wells. This is how it looks today:



When I dropped the car off last year for other servicing, before my 3 year/80 000 km new car warranty expired, I again mentioned to the Service Manager that I had a considerable amount of rusting and would it be covered under warranty? He said that he would “look into it” but never got back to me.

Last month I happened to be visiting my sister in Southern Ontario. There one of her friends, who works at a luxury car dealership, looked at the rusting on my car and noted “your paint is blistering all over”. I was shocked and upon closer examination, did find extensive paint blistering. It looks like this:



The very next day, Tuesday May 14/2008, I brought my car to my dealership and had the Service Manager come out to look at all the rusting/blistering. His very first question was “what is the mileage?” (108 000 km at the time) He then proceeded to inform me that all the damage was due to rock chips, understandable with that high mileage.

If you look closely at the blistering, several areas show zero impact points. Also, I have rust between both rear bumper seams, seen here:



Therefore, at least that corrosion on my car can NOT be blamed on rock chips and high mileage.

Note that I am NOT bashing the Mazda3 or Mazda Canada by pursuing this action. I do love my car in all other respects, with the very notable exception of the faulty paint/body panels. The core purpose of this thread and the list which I will send to Mazda Canada is to let them know that it is a very common issue and that their loyal customers deserve to be compensated for this manufacturing defect.

Thank you!

Lynne

[midnightfxgt]

Hey Everyone,

Lynne is hoping to gather some info here, and present it to Mazda Canada, and is looking for your help. If you have had an issue with corrosion on your mazda3, please provide the following:

Name:
City/province:
Year of car:
Model:
Color:
Current Mileage:
Corrosion damage:


Lets keep this ontopic, and stear clear of any bashing or flaming of Mazda, or the Member posting her experience.

Thanks
John

[ZoomZoom Girl]

Hey Everyone,

Lynne is hoping to gather some info here, and present it to Mazda Canada, and is looking for your help. If you have had an issue with corrosion on your mazda3, please provide the following:

Name:
City/province:
Year of car:
Model:
Color:
Current Mileage:
Corrosion damage:


Lets keep this ontopic, and stear clear of any bashing or flaming of Mazda, or the Member posting her experience.

Thanks
John

Thanks John! You're fast. For those of you interested in joining up, you can post in this thread of PM me. Whatever you're most comfortable with is fine by me...

Lynne

[masterballer]

The first picture, is it rust on the side of the rear door? If so i have one that looks EXACTLY the same as that ... but thats the only place i have rust.

[ZoomZoom Girl]

Yes. It is the driver-side rear passenger door, lower trim....

[--StayFly--]

Year of car: 2004
Model: GS
Color: Sand Mica
Current Mileage: 106,000km
Corrosion damage: wheel well and all along the side of the car i dont know what that part is called at the bottom and the rear part where the bumper meets

[ZoomZoom Girl]

To all who post here, you can PM me whatever information you are not comfortable posting for "public viewing". I do need all the fields of data (your name, city/province, etc.) since I'm sure Mazda Canada will require hard proof of ownership.

Also, if anyone has good pictures of the damage to their vehicles, please PM or email them to me ok? Visual proof is great, solid evidence...

[ZoomZoom Girl]

Year of car:
Model: GS
Color: Sand Mica
Current Mileage: 106,000km
Corrosion damage: wheel well and all along the side of the car i dont know what that part is called at the bottom and the rear part where the bumper meets

What DO you call that bottom part? Are they the side sills? If you look at my first 2 pictures, that's what I am refering to. Not sure if that's the area on your car, Stayfly, that has corrosion? I'm calling the rear part where the bumper meets the "rear bumper seam"....

[--StayFly--]

What DO you call that bottom part? Are they the side sills? If you look at my first 2 pictures, that's what I am refering to. Not sure if that's the area on your car, Stayfly, that has corrosion? I'm calling the rear part where the bumper meets the "rear bumper seam"....

ya the rear bumper seam .........its not the side sills it more under the car.

[ZoomZoom Girl]

ya the rear bumper seam .........its not the side sills it more under the car.

I'll have to try to find schematics of the Mazda3 to figure out the proper term for that part then. I did think that the side sills were more on the outside, and below the actual part we're talking about. Googling now...

[--StayFly--]

here a pic where i have rust

[--StayFly--]

li try and get a better picture

[ZoomZoom Girl]

here a pic where i have rust

That's great! Well, I mean awful, but great that you have a picture showing where your damage is. That is exactly where my rust patches are too...

[ZoomZoom Girl]

li try and get a better picture

Yes, if you can get pictures of the actual rust on your car, that would be very useful. I'd strongly recommend the same to anyone else here dealing with this problem. Get your hands on a digital camera and take ALOT of pictures! Nothing like visual proof. Oh and, FYI, you can email your pictures to Costco and they'll be ready by the next day for 15 cents/shot. Good quality too...

[malam]

I do not have any rust that I can see so far, however, I am interested in knowing if any of the cars having these paint problems had any type of rust treatment after buying the car. It will be helpful to know if any of the rust proof methods are worth buying or if they are really marketing only.
Thanks.

[Dave_The_BMXER]

Name: Dave Thomas
City/province: Mississauga
Year of car: 2004
Model: GT
Color: White
Current Mileage: 118 xxx
Corrosion damage:
Both rear wheel well lips from side skirt to bumper
Passenger side out rear quarter panel at bumper seem
Rocker seam/pinch weld (thats what Stay Fly has circled)

Additional:
Fixed, privately, May 2008
http://www.havokproductions.ca/3/rust1.jpg
http://www.havokproductions.ca/3/rust2.jpg

Good luck Lynne

[b]

Name: B
City/province: Burlington, ON
Year of car: 2004
Model: Sport GT
Color: Black Mica
Current Mileage: 107583 km
Corrosion damage: Front of hood by grille, Botom of doors where the gfx comes to an end by back door, lots of rust where the back bumper connects at the wheel well (both sides)

[x_o_k_x]

wow! thats alot of rust on 04! I had a little tiny dot on my O4gt with 80k in the rear drivers side were it meets bumper, thats it
I got electronic rust proof module..I'll see how that works on my 08.5gt

[ZoomZoom Girl]

My corrosion may be due to a defect in the sheet metal itself. Any method of rustproofing would not have helped, if this is indeed the case...

[ZoomZoom Girl]

Name: Dave Thomas
City/province: Mississauga
Year of car: 2004
Model: GT
Color: White
Current Mileage: 118 xxx
Corrosion damage:
Both rear wheel well lips from side skirt to bumper
Passenger side out rear quarter panel at bumper seem
Rocker seam/pinch weld (thats what Stay Fly has circled)

Additional:
Fixed, privately, May 2008
http://www.havokproductions.ca/3/rust1.jpg
http://www.havokproductions.ca/3/rust2.jpg

Good luck Lynne

Bonus! Pictures. Added to the list...

[ZoomZoom Girl]

6 entries so far....slowly but surely. The more entries, the more Mazda Canada will be forced to take this issue seriously so please get your entries in and remember that you can PM me to do so privately.

[g_g]

Name: Gareth Baleta
City/province:Ontario
Year of car: 2004
Model: 3 Sport GT
Color: Orange
Current Mileage: 147k
Corrosion damage: Bottom rear doors. I noticed the issue early, and it hasnt progressed because i covered the area with 3M stonegaurd.
I also had rust along the rear wheel well most prodominant where the bumber meets the fender. This was already fixed without any hassle by Burlington Mazda.

[ZoomZoom Girl]

Name: Gareth Baleta
City/province:Ontario
Year of car: 2004
Model: 3 Sport GT
Color: Orange
Current Mileage: 147k
Corrosion damage: Bottom rear doors. I noticed the issue early, and it hasnt progressed because i covered the area with 3M stonegaurd.
I also had rust along the rear wheel well most prodominant where the bumber meets the fender. This was already fixed without any hassle by Burlington Mazda.

Did you have this fixed before or after the 3 year/80,000 km new car warranty expired?

[carTun3]

Name: Julian R
City/province: Mississauga, Ontario
Year of car: 2005
Model: Mazda3 Sport GT
Color: Titanium Grey
Current Mileage: 93000 km
Corrosion damage: Both rear wheel fenders and where bumper meets the fender; Bottom of driver-side rear passenger door; Spots of blistering on driver-side rear passenger door (noticed them after removing door mouldings)

I'll e-mail you the pictures sometime today or tomorrow

[ZoomZoom Girl]

Name: Julian R
City/province: Mississauga, Ontario
Year of car: 2005
Model: Mazda3 Sport GT
Color: Titanium Grey
Current Mileage: 93000 km
Corrosion damage: Both rear wheel fenders and where bumper meets the fender; Bottom of driver-side rear passenger door; Spots of blistering on driver-side rear passenger door (noticed them after removing door mouldings)

I'll e-mail you the pictures sometime today or tomorrow

Thanks. You're #8. That's a good point...anyone who does send me your name for submission to Mazda Canada, please try to send me pictures ok? Having visual proof to go along with the entries will be very helpful...