Rust on my 2004 Ibiza - will it be covered under warranty?

[Chris_B]

Hi all.

I noticed some rust just below the passenger door on my 2004 Seat Ibiza 1.2.

Do you know if it will be covered under the 12 year SEAT anti corrosion warranty?

Are there any terms and condition which may affect the warranty? For example, does my SEAT have to have a full SEAT service history (which it does) for the warranty to be valid?

The reason why I ask is that my car has just reached 40,000 miles and is due a service. I was going to have the service done at a VAG specialist for the first time instead of my SEAT dealership. However, if it means I'll lose out on the anti-corrosion warranty then I'd rather pay the extra £60 and get it serviced at SEAT.

Here is a picture of the rust. It looks like it may have started somewhere under the bodywork:

 

[DEAN0]

Hi all.

I noticed some rust just below the passenger door on my 2004 Seat Ibiza 1.2.

Do you know if it will be covered under the 12 year SEAT anti corrosion warranty?

Are there any terms and condition which may affect the warranty? For example, does my SEAT have to have a full SEAT service history (which it does) for the warranty to be valid?

The reason why I ask is that my car has just reached 40,000 miles and is due a service. I was going to have the service done at a VAG specialist for the first time instead of my SEAT dealership. However, if it means I'll lose out on the anti-corrosion warranty then I'd rather pay the extra £60 and get it serviced at SEAT.

Here is a picture of the rust. It looks like it may have started somewhere under the bodywork:

I would have a look at the lower door hinge - they seem to rust and the rust runs down the door on to the sill.

If it is deffinately sill/wing rust - I would use a dealer for the service to cover it - however i think the rust warranty is only three years - the perforation warranty is 12 years.

 

[Blanco92]

Mine has rust developing in the same place, it's all on the top of the sill and hasn't ran down onto the lower area of the sill yet as in the above picture.

I've also seen pictures of Kidinspace's Mk4 rusting in that area too.

It seems a common problem, I'd be delighted if SEAT could sort it FOC, maybe I'm just being too pessimistic but I don't think they would. The car (mine) is nearly 10 years old now anyway.

 

[Chris_B]

I'd be very disappointed if it isn't covered by the warranty. My brother had similar rust and paint issues when he had his Audi S3 which was 9 years old and Audi sorted it all out FOC. I think I'll wait until I get an answer before I book it in for it's service. If it's not covered I certainly won't be spending nearly £300 for a service at the dealership! I'll have another look to see if I can find where the rust is coming from.

 

[rf860]

Why should the fact that you have full dealer service history or not affect the paintwork of the car? It's not as if they do anything to the paintwork when carrying out a service (other than scratch it!)

Looks to me as if something is rusting within the arch itself and the orangey liquid is running down onto the door cill. Have you tried cleaning this off?

 

[Chris_B]

Why should the fact that you have full dealer service history or not affect the paintwork of the car? It's not as if they do anything to the paintwork when carrying out a service (other than scratch it!)

Speaking from experience full dealer service history very often affects whether a dealership will pay out for warranty work, regardless of whether it's mechanical or not. Usually stealers do anything to get out of paying for warranty work. I couldn't find the terms and conditions of the warranty in my service book so I thought I'd ask on here. I also thought the dealer service included a paint check every so often which may effect the paintwork warranty?

Anyway, I've now found the source of the rust and it's not as serious as I first thought. It looks like it's caused by a bolt shown in the pictures below. I'm going to remove the bolt and give it a good clean up or replace it if needed. The rust on the actual sill doesn't come off easily at all but I think it should be possible with the right equipment. I certainly won't be bothering the dealership over it and I'll save my £60 by getting my service done elsewhere.

Thanks for the help everyone. If anyone else has rust in the same place make sure you check that bolt!

 

[rf860]

bit of Autoglym intensive tar and glue remover might shift it, then give it a polish with Autoglym super resin polish.

 

[krussel]

Thanks for posting the pics

I will get some waxoyl in that area on mine asap

 

[RUM4MO]

I'd suggest that you remove the wheel arch liner and break free the lump of road silt that has collected in front of the door pillars. Its a pity that a lot of modern car still have silt/dirt traps - and that eventually leads to affected areas staying wet and maybe salty in winter for far too long. If Ibiza has the plastic shields along the chassis like the Polo has, take them off as well and get rid of the same trapped wet silt/dirt from in there - but buy a few retainers to replace the ones that break/fall apart when you take them off, for the wheel arch liners you might need to buy some plastic snap in nuts as they also do tend to break due to the material age hardening.

 

[Chris_B]

bit of Autoglym intensive tar and glue remover might shift it, then give it a polish with Autoglym super resin polish.

Thanks, I'll see what I can find lying around in the garage. I know my brother has a whole load of Autoglym stuff and polishing machines which he uses to detail his RS4 so hopefully he'll have something to do the job.

Thanks for posting the pics

I will get some waxoyl in that area on mine asap

That's a good idea.

I'd suggest that you remove the wheel arch liner and break free the lump of road silt that has collected in front of the door pillars. Its a pity that a lot of modern car still have silt/dirt traps - and that eventually leads to affected areas staying wet and maybe salty in winter for far too long. If Ibiza has the plastic shields along the chassis like the Polo has, take them off as well and get rid of the same trapped wet silt/dirt from in there - but buy a few retainers to replace the ones that break/fall apart when you take them off, for the wheel arch liners you might need to buy some plastic snap in nuts as they also do tend to break due to the material age hardening.

Thanks, I will do that. I was looking at the plastic arch liner earlier and could see the dirt behind it. Do I have to get the plastic nuts and retainers from the dealership or do they sell them elsewhere?