Is your VW showing signs of rust?

So basically im here because about 4 months ago i noticed my paint begining to flake under driverside fender lip. So i thought ill keep an eye on it and hopefullly it wont show metal for a year or two. However after the good ol salt got at her, it has been rapidly progressing to the point a small piece of paint has come off and bare metal is beginning to rust. Creeping from the underlip of fender to a more visible part on fender. Thus looking god awful. Car is a 2011 with 86000km and i am second owner.

I have taken great care of my candy white paint, by using iron x, cleaner wax, polish, regularily hand washed and dryed by me (etc.).
Pretty Pisssed! Went to a body shop ive been to before and was advised its best to replace whole fender, that sucks.


I made a app. at local dealer to see if the 12yr corrosion warranty can help me at all. I doubt it! Basically im just wondering if anyone else is experiencing rust, i fell it is way to early for this to be occurring.

I have noticed it on many other vw's though in the exact same spot, mostly the rabbits from before 2010. It really has left a bad taste in my mouth, and almost makes me want to re-considor a VW.

Lets see your pics?
How should i deal with this?

Thanks!

Wish I could help, I do have to ask are you lowered? I just sucks to see rust like that without any rubbing of the paint.

No im not and never have been.
Nor do i drive on dirt or gravel roads..

CHarmer said:

No im not and never have been.

Nor do i drive on dirt or gravel roads..

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I see you're in Canada. I don't know where Kdub is, but I assume you get a fair bit of snow which then requires a fair amount of sand and salt to clear the roads. How often do you wash your car in the winter?

Lol Kitchener, 45 minutes outside of Toronto, Ontario.
Yes we get a fair bit of snow and salt can be nasty...however no sand used here.
Or so ever rarely. Tbh i barely drive the car, especially when roads are shit cause i run all seasons. In winter when heavy salt is on roads i try to wash atleast every week or 10 days. By no means am i the type of person to let it go for a month. However now i am nervous as hell to wash my car with fender starting to show bare metal,not to mention the fact it has been raining last two days...

However the car originally was from montreal when purchased off lease.
They also see some shit storms and nasty winters. But on purchase paint was mint.

The car is also non garaged,. im not denying the fact it sees far from ideal conditions, however this is the only sign of problems with my paint. I keep it waxed.

There is no doubt older cars then mine of diff. makes which are kept in worse shape dont even show a single rust spot... wtf VW
They have had other problems in the past with cars and rust if you search a bit under "vw 12 yr rust". They had a foam insert casuing problems earlier.
I found this http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=387456&page=2

Bottom line someone on here has to have something similar happening . Right?
Or a spare fender
Or owns a body shop
Lol

I had the same exact thing happen to my GTI. Passenger side fender paint is peeling/chipped on the inside - however no rust. I peeled the paint off clean last summer and prepped the area and repainted it with touch up + clear coat. Seems to have held up. Otherwise there's no rust anywhere; it's a 2010.

I'd say try doing the same, but if there's some surface rust just sand it down a bit. You can even add a layer of base coat to the area before applying the paint.

Has this car ever been in an accident?

Same thing on my '12 GTI at less than 100,000 km. Driver's side fender replaced by VW. I had it assessed at VWRH and then got it approved. This was Sep/Oct 2016. They used a body shop on Newkirk just north of Major Mac. The other side was starting to go, but not bad enough yet.

Once I got it back, I promptly took it for a drill-less visit to Krown rustproofing in Newmarket.

I suggest you take it to a VW dealer and give it a shot.

I have thoght about carrying out a temp repair of sanding, treating, priming, painting however i am going to wait to hear from VW... probs a coup months so it will be getting worse and worse w.e
Some thing else i don't understand is i have to wait a decent amount of time just to find out if i am approved so if i happened to be denied the rust would have gotten that much worse thus the original repair is that much more!!

CHerna said:

Has this car ever been in an accident?

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It has seen a minor accidnt yes, but that's irrelevant considering the fender in question has factory finish, it is untouched.

@moneyguy, thanks for the response! Did you pay anything out of pocket...for blending?
I hear that alot when dong research "not bad enough". i dont understand how bad it has to be/ we all know all rust takes is time once present. Which clearly there is a problem on first sign.

I am deff. going to give the dealer a try and give em a real fight when the time comes.

If they tell me "its not bad enough yet" i will loose it.
I cant understand how a major company like VW would want there customers driving around in 6 year old rust buckets. I bought what i though was a quality car for a reason..Does that look good to anyone else who sees these vehicles? If i seen more rusty vw's when considering this car (my first car, saved for 5 years) i may have totally avoided it.

CHarmer said:

@moneyguy, thanks for the response! Did you pay anything out of pocket...for blending?

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Nope, no money from me, and no blending as the new fender was painted off the car, then attached with new mounting hardware. Matches the other Carbon Steel Grey panels fine per my eyes.

It is VW Canada that makes the decision based on the pictures and paint measurements submitted by the dealer, and not the dealer. You should consider the dealer as being in your corner (hopefully), and not as the adversary.

VW Richmond Hill was great to deal with (as always) and they sure got me in for my pictures/measurements appointment quickly. My bought-from dealer (unnamed on Sheppard East) offered me appointments in the new year (i.e. 2017 or now) when I approached them in September.

Yeah i assume the body shop dealer used would do a damn good job. I asked because i just heard of other people requesting a blend in older car forums and having to pay. I also read that richmond hill is a good dealership to go to for this warranty work!! I prob wouldnt bother blend,. I have already priced a painted fender for around 315 from a place in london,ont (beaver auto) or something for backup.

& yeah just realised the dealer just inspects and the decision is totally out of their hands. Just checked junk mail and had one from the dealer, explaining the process and asking when im available. Hopefully they can side with me, Found it funny in email when it said this " Since there are only a handful of Volkswagen representatives across the country handling all of these claims, please be advised that it can take up to 3 months from the time of inspection before we have an approval/denial."

"ALL" of these claims.... there IS deff a problem with their paint processes

@moneyguy how long after that appointment at richmond hill were you contacted with a verdict?

CHarmer said:

@moneyguy how long after that appointment at richmond hill were you contacted with a verdict?

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Between the pics and the "approved" phone call, not exactly sure, but I think it was maybe 2 or 3 days, for sure not more than a week. There was a bit of a delay in getting into the actual body shop (good shops are busy, right?), but I am very impressed with the whole process and mostly because of VW Richmond Hill.

Fri. Sep. 16/16 - went to Sheppard Dealer at lunchtime, wanted to book me in 2017. Called VWRH instead, filled out on-line form and got subsequent e-mail/phone call and appointment for Monday(!). :thumbup:

Mon. Sep. 19/16 - pics etc. taken at VWRH at lunchtime. Approved call a few days later and booked for Mon. Oct. 17 car drop off at VWRH.

Sat. Oct. 15/16 - dropped off GTI at VWRH near closing on Sat. rather than messing around on Mon. morning.

Mon. Oct. 17/16 - VWRH takes car to body shop around 2 km away.

Mon. Oct. 24/16 - pick up new-fendered GTI from VWRH.

Well shit thats not long at all. & once i knew it was covered i wouldn't mind waiting at all. But yeah a good body shop will always be busy, especially in southern ontario.. its easy to tell who knows what their doing.

Hopefully i have a pleasent experience as well, im seeing the dealer monday morning.

This is another useful thread from mk5 forum with exact problem & some succes stories on claims.. http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195230

I have not metioned yet but i have small rust forming underneath the fenders along the top of sills almost right below that infamous door foam insert pad.
Will upload a picture tomorrow.. but just like this however i do NOT use mud flaps
http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92983

Update if anyone cares. Today I finally heard back from VW after two months and few days. Just as i was about to email them next week...as i was getting worried/lost hope. However i was blessed with great news. They are going to repair all claims. So the fender and both door sills just behind the front wheels aswelll. I was beginning to budget to cover it by myself in the coming months as the winter did a number on what were once minimal spots. I have been constantly looking at any vws i see and examining for rust. && i DO see alot of golfs or "rabbits" with rusting fenders or sills.

Anyways the moral is it is definitely worth a shot to give the corrosion warranty a try, and be patient as it may take muliple months. They may have just kept me in the VAG fam 4 life.

That's great news! Still don't have issues with mine, but I am paranoid about rust. I still check my car periodically in historically problematic spots....

Do you know which dealer/shop will take care of the car?