Rust in new WQ Zetec

robjh80 · 04-05-2006, 02:04 PM

Picked up my new WQ Zetec in White last week, to my horror I found that all the steering, brake and drive components of the car are completely covered in rust!!, took the car back to the dealer who put it up on the hoist and advised me that this is perfectly normal with this model of car as well as I might add many other Ford vehicles due to the fact that Ford no longer coats many of the underbody parts of their vehicles, I could not believe what a mess it is for a brand new car, I have never seen anything like it on any other new car I have ever had before let alone any used car for that matter, this incidently is my first ever Ford purchase and unless I get some satisfaction from head office it will definately be my last!!
The Service Manager at the dealership I was speaking with contacted Ford Customer Service and they advised that this problem is "in keeping with this model of vehicle", they are not interested in doing anything about the problem, thought the problem might be just with my car so I checked out heaps of other Fiesta's at 3 different dealerships across Brisbane late the other night armed with my trusty torch and sure enough they were all the same, rust, rust everywhere!!, has anyone else seen this with their WQ or WP for that matter?,.......... "not happy at all!!"

mitch_lx · 04-05-2006, 03:07 PM

Hmm this is odd. My 04 WP fiesta has No signs of rust anywhere.
The ONLY part that is rusty is part of the front suspension.. where the shock connects to the whole wheel and brake assembly. theres a massive slab of cast iron, and it has surface rust. BUT that is completely normal. EVERYthing else, engine bay, under car, exhaust is completely rust free.

kiwijohn42 · 04-05-2006, 03:54 PM

Mine is the same, rust on the cast steel suspension links. I don't think it's a problem, just unsightly corner cutting.

robjh80 · 04-05-2006, 04:17 PM

The rust I refer to is a thick surface corrosion, not just powdery surface rust you can wipe off with your finger, the rust is on the tie rods, both left and right drive shafts, CV joints, ball joints and completely covers both left and right brake assembly mounts, the Ford dealer I purchased the car from claims that the rust is not dangerous and wont eat into the parts any further............"yea right!!"

joshf2 · 04-05-2006, 04:52 PM

mines the same, probably worse since i live right close to the sea.

most likely cause is the boat trip from germany

kiwijohn42 · 04-05-2006, 05:03 PM

Just gone fishing in the UKFN gene pool for any info. I'll let you know if that turns up anything useful.

robjh80 · 04-05-2006, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwijohn42

Just gone fishing in the UKFN gene pool for any info. I'll let you know if that turns up anything useful.

Thanks kiwijohn42, that would be great, let me know if you find anything, I cant believe this can only be a problem on the Oz shipment of Fiesta's, surely not?
this must be a problem in Europe as well, one would only presume.......and with the weather conditions over there as well as the salt they put on the roads to stop the ice buildup, their cars one would presume must be at even greater risk of rust going further into the components.

Scareybear · 04-05-2006, 08:41 PM

Any chance of some pics so we can compare?

robjh80 · 04-05-2006, 08:54 PM

Yea, will post some pics, bear with me though, just bought a new digital camera, need to work out all the buttons and software etc, bloody technology, life used to be so much easier, thanks.

LethalLeigh · 04-05-2006, 10:56 PM

I have a bit on the front end components too, but I would consider it surface rust. I agree with Josh in that it's probably from the boat trip. I guess Ford expect that the 'typical' owner of a Fiesta wouldn't be inclined to look at such things and as such feel they can cut costs there.

kiwijohn42 · 04-05-2006, 11:45 PM

Had a look at some cars on UKFN, appears to be common there too. I'll take some pics of mine tomorrow. Cheers.

BJ · 04-05-2006, 11:49 PM

Tell if i am wrong but these cars are imports yes? So what you have is surface rust from the trip over on the ship. I wouldn't worry about it, it's not like the car is going to fall apart over night is it. Gess you should have seen some of the BMW's that i have serviced over the years, and all of theses were brand new cars as well.

kiwijohn42 · 04-05-2006, 11:55 PM

Might have to look at some bimmers on the way to ford.

:

Danny · 05-05-2006, 01:41 AM

Surface rust, Nothing at all to worry about really. In fact, there is a type of steel used on Architectural Facades these days called Cor-ten steel. Basically it is an uncoated "feature" steel that rusts on the outside for aesthetic reasons, that is, to look good beleive it or not.

We are specified to use it on a Retail complex that my company is contracted to build, and after all the research I have done, it has been noted that the rusting Cor-ten is actually more durable than your average steel component. I owuld not worry at all about this.

joshf2 · 05-05-2006, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LethalLeigh

I guess Ford expect that the 'typical' owner of a Fiesta wouldn't be inclined to look at such things and as such feel they can cut costs there.

i doubt it be as simplistic as that, it only takes a flat tyre to notice this...

mitch_lx · 05-05-2006, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshf2

i doubt it be as simplistic as that, it only takes a flat tyre to notice this...

Well i just went out to check my car... basically no surface rust. Yours looks like it has a really thick build up over it. mines a very very mild surface coat only that would wipe away.

This is why people !!! whenever you wash your car, dont be afraid to shove the house inside the wheel arch, spray all the suspension components and completely flush the under side of your car including exhaust, rear muffler EVERYTHING.

Doing that simple task... will keep this problem under control

kiwijohn42 · 05-05-2006, 11:35 AM

You must have got lucky Mitch. This my car I've had for 5 weeks. I'm pretty thorough when I clean it top & bottom.

I'm pretty sure all the Fiestas at the local dealer are all the same. But I think it's purely cosmetic, your wheels aren't going to fall off. A lot of new cars probably have the same corners cut in production.

quest · 05-05-2006, 11:58 AM

Thats mild compared to the stuff we have here
After 50.000KM we have to cut the rotors with a die grinder & hammer them until they crack in half to get them off the hub.
The salt they spread on the roads in winter just kills cars here... I would say that 90% are retired due to the body's falling apart and not a powertrain issue

Teki04 · 05-05-2006, 12:23 PM

Agree with Mitch there... I used to spray water everywhere. NEVER seen rust like that - and my Fiesta got 3 flats in 1.5 years. Definitely would have noticed that

kiwijohn42 · 05-05-2006, 12:30 PM

This is on a brand new car Steven. Anyone got pics of one with no rust?

Teki04 · 05-05-2006, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwijohn42

This is on a brand new car Steven. Anyone got pics of one with no rust?

: I owned a new car John. July 04 build. Sept 04 delivered. Had never seen rust on it. And... Josh has the same WP model

robjh80 · 05-05-2006, 01:56 PM

Just got a reply phone call from the Service Manager at the dealership where I bought the car, he has been in touch with Ford Customer Service HQ who in turn have put three brand new WQ Fiesta's up on their hoists and all apparantly have this same rust buildup issue on the "drive/steering/brake" components that I have with mine, they have stated that this is OK and are not willing to do anything about this issue, looks like I am going to have to clean up the mess under the car myself and paint on some anti-rust paint over the components as Ford it would seem are not interested in addressing the problem...........my only advice to anyone out there looking at purchasing a new WQ would be to check the car out thorougly under the body before handing over your hard earned cash as this appears to be a universal cost cutting measure by Ford.........and in my humble opinion a ridiculous shortsighted one at that, other than the kick in the guts feeling I have over this problem I actually very much like the rest of the car, the overall quality of the car seems to be excellent which makes this issue even more surprising than anything to believe or even accept, the car performs very well for a small 1600cc motor and holds onto the road as if it were on rails, my only other complaint about the car other than the lack of MP3 player ("which of course I was aware of when I bought the car"),.......... would be how hard the engine spins in 5th gear on the highway at only 100km/hr, mine is running at 3200rpm, is this normal?, it seems about ready to go into the next gear (wouldn't that be nice - 6 speed), but of course there is none, perhaps a taller 5th gear would have been nice, I have had 3 Suzuki's prior to this Fiesta and all have turned over at around 2700rpm at 100km/hr, any comments would be appreciated, thanks also to everyone who posted comments to this thread, you have all been very kind and of great assistance, thankyou.

LethalLeigh · 05-05-2006, 02:16 PM

Rob, is yours a Zetec? I have a WP LX and that will do 3000rpm @ 100kph. It might be the shorter gearbox.

A 6th gear would be great on the highway, making the 5th gear taller would mean losing a lot of torque for climbing even modest hills. At the same time a 6 speed in a light car is somewhat unprecedented.

robjh80 · 05-05-2006, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LethalLeigh

Rob, is yours a Zetec? I have a WP LX and that will do 3000rpm @ 100kph. It might be the shorter gearbox.

A 6th gear would be great on the highway, making the 5th gear taller would mean losing a lot of torque for climbing even modest hills. At the same time a 6 speed in a light car is somewhat unprecedented.

Yes LethalLeigh, mine is a WQ Zetec, from what I have read on the net it would seem that the new gearbox in the WQ has a shorter range over the whole ratios including the 5th gear hence the 200rpm increase over your WP model, I would have preferred it if Ford had left the 5th as it was on the WP, in saying that the car seems quite happy to buzz along at that 3200rpm and indeed is looking to go even further in the rev range, quite a "feisty" little engine in this thing!

kiwijohn42 · 05-05-2006, 02:33 PM

That's about right Rob, that'll be the close ratio box. Hence the slightly worse consumption of 6.8L/100km v 6.6 for an LX. Still better than an auto at 7.5L/100km.
Seems rust was luck of the draw on the WP, where as it seems to be standard on the WQ.

joshf2 · 05-05-2006, 05:15 PM

again, i'd like to state that i rarely bother to wash my car, and i live by the sea.

i somewhat expected it

robjh80 · 05-05-2006, 08:10 PM

kiwijohn, I just got to see that excellent pic you took of the rust under your car, that's exactly what mine looks like except that yours doesn't seem to have much of the rust buildup on the steering arms whereas mine is covered there also, it looks like yours would have the rust on the drive shafts/CV joints as well just like mine, other than that to look at that pic you could be looking at my car, exactly the same, must be a universal problem with the new WQ's as the WP owners seem to be generally unaffected, lucky them I say,...........does anyone have any ideas what would be the best way to treat this rust?........is there an anti-rust solution anyone could recommend that perhaps gets it off so I can then paint the surfaces with a rust-kill type paint to stop this rust buildup from coming back?

**Polyal** · 05-05-2006, 09:35 PM

mate I wouldn't worry about it.

Ive been around certain manufacters and brand new components come in off the truck with surface rust and its only interstate, and then sometimes only a few hours away.

**Polyal** · 05-05-2006, 09:37 PM

Also forgot to add, why do you think BA's came with disc "protectors" behind thr rims? To stop the cars looking like crap on the show room floors!

TheColonel · 06-05-2006, 12:24 AM

my new WQ zetec is in a similar state of affair, purchased in brisbane, but by god it's the most fun i've had in a car since my mk1 escort...