Rust Around Civic FD sunroof

[danny_mart]

i was just wondering ive started using my sunroof alot now that it is getting warmer and on two corners of the sun roof are starting to rust...
almost looks like there is two air bubbles in the corner of the rust kind of hard to explain but just checking if anyone else had this problem...
i will take some photos in the morining but i do believe that this is factroy fault and it should be under warranty what do you guys think...

here is some photos....

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Image-5.jpg


http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Image1-3.jpg


http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Image2-1.jpg


http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/5.jpg


http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Image3-2.jpg


http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/6.jpg

[dmx]

i was just wondering ive started using my sunroof alot now that it is getting warmer and on two corners of the sun roof are starting to rust...
almost looks like there is two air bubbles in the corner of the rust kind of hard to explain but just checking if anyone else had this problem...
i will take some photos in the morining but i do believe that this is factroy fault and it should be under warranty what do you guys think...

usually paint starting got bubble is first sign of rusting.
don't think rusty would cover by warranty, unless u take rust proving from the dealer before.but anyway, no cost to try ;)

[aimre]

take it to honda asap.

me egs like 13 yrs old not and the sunroof hasnt got runst. Dont see y urs should.


how old are fd's n e way?

[Setanta]

I know first gen EBs with zero rust.

Get that slug on wheels to Honda ASAP and tell them to fix it.

[EG30]

may be your sunroof was an aftermarket fit?

ie a webasto or hollandia kit fitted by dealer/sunroof shop?

is it one of those with a rubber seal around the metal opening of the roof?

[aaronng]

It should be covered unless someone jumped on your roof. Check your service booklet, it tells you the warranty duration for rust.

[danny_mart]

after having a closer look this morin...it looks like stress fractures in the paint causing it to crack then rust...is this a common problem and considering it comes factory fitted with a sunroof i dont believe that this is my fault in any way....
haha no one has been jumping on my roof....

[aaronng]

Go to the dealer asap.

[JaCe]

Considering Civic FDs are less than 2 years old, there shouldn't be any issue- especially considering (like you said) that it's factory fitted with the sunroof on all the Sports models. See dealer asap. None of my friends with 06 Sports have reported this.

[m0nty ITR]

Was your FD parked in Waitara McDonalds yesterday?

You need to be careful with this. If you've modified your car some dealers will look for any reason to knock back the claim. If your car has coilover suspension they will try to force the fact that the chassis is under more load than designed for factory suspension. They'll try to say thanks to this the bodywork sturctural integrity has been comprimised and the factory rustproofing failed due to that.
Most manufacturers offer at least a 3 year warranty on corrosion and a standard 3 year warranty on paint imperfections.

Are you sure it's the factory sunroof? Have you compared it with others? I've seen Volkswagen cars without certain "standard" items before. Funnily enough, these things can be forgotten somehow. I just hope this isn't the case for you and the dealer hasn't fitted an AM item.

[JaCe]

Are you sure it's the factory sunroof? Have you compared it with others? I've seen Volkswagen cars without certain "standard" items before. Funnily enough, these things can be forgotten somehow. I just hope this isn't the case for you and the dealer hasn't fitted an AM item.

In Aus, all Honda Civic Sports come standard with the sunroof (FD2)... but then who knows.

[m0nty ITR]

In Aus, all Honda Civic Sports come standard with the sunroof (FD2)... but then who knows.

But as I said, some things do actually get forgotten on the production line. Manufacturers do make mistakes and they do occasionally get past QC checkpoints. I have seen a GTI with a Golf wheel, a Jetta without alloys and a Golf with a 5 speed box when it was supposed to be 6.

The last one was a doozie. We laughed a bit at such blind incompetence.

[danny_mart]

well heres the latest update after a week or so of fighting with honda...

the manager of hornsby honda has taken photos and what not and got about 4 of his staff members to look at it and they have sent it away to head office....

4 days later i get a phone call with honda claiming that some one has broken into my car and that is how i have got the damage....

so considering nothing has ever gone missing from my car and there is no other damage does any one have any ideas of what i should say next....

[Mr_will]

you should say that you do not accept this, and that you wish to escalate your issue.

[fab4272]

well heres the latest update after a week or so of fighting with honda...

the manager of hornsby honda has taken photos and what not and got about 4 of his staff members to look at it and they have sent it away to head office....

4 days later i get a phone call with honda claiming that some one has broken into my car and that is how i have got the damage....

so considering nothing has ever gone missing from my car and there is no other damage does any one have any ideas of what i should say next....

I've heard of a few complaints from Hornsby Honda, not personally, but from websites like www.motorsm.com. Most of them are taken off, but I do recall a few directed at this dealership.

[aaronng]

Take it up with fair trading. How can they keep denying every rust warranty claim when they have rust warranty on the car?

[SiReal]

greed is strife with the dealers. All receiving and no giving.

[m0nty ITR]

greed is strife with the dealers. All receiving and no giving.

I think you mean "rife".

I just bought a car for my parents from Hornsby. A sparkle grey Civic Sport. Dirt cheap. All I want is the car at a good price. I got that. They're hardly a shining example of customer service but, meh.

[JaCe]

There was a salesman at Hornsby who was quite good- he cut to the point and we wanted price. None of that other crap addon.

Service however.. well, there's a reason why I go to Scott's in Atarmon despite living near Hornsby.

[chylld]

Service however.. well, there's a reason why I go to Scott's in Atarmon despite living near Hornsby.

same here, bought my car at hornsby but now i always service at artarmon. hornsby service is brainless.

[panda[cRx]]

greed is strife with the dealers. All receiving and no giving.

pretty sweeping statement there jeff

[m0nty ITR]

;1456474']pretty sweeping statement there jeff

I agree. I gave a 6CD changer to a Jetta customer because she forgot that I told her when we retro fit sat-nav she lost her 6CD changer. It cost us $1,100 but was better than having a pissed off customer. We're not all crooks.

[aaronng]

He needs to go to a better dealer.

[danny_mart]

well i bought my car from trivett just because they were more freindly and ended up giving us a better deal but that is a good 30 - 45mins away so do you reckon stuff hornsby and take it back to trivett to see what they say....

[aaronng]

Go to Larke Hoskins at Rosebery if you can.

[EG30]

dealers reject warranty claims for all sorts of reasons and not always on behalf of the manufacturer either.

you might want to take it up with Honda Aust direct by writing to them and see what the score is from the horse's mouth.

[danny_mart]

ok heres what has happen after i have seen nrma, honda, and asquith smash repairs.

Honda came back with the problem being someone has tryed to break into the car.

nrma and smash repairs both have said due to lowering the car the suspension is to stiff and to imagine it as if the car goes over a bump there is no room for it to move up and down so instead it folds in causing around the sunroof to crack which has cause the rusting.
They said lowering the car is not a problem and there would be no problems if i didnt have a sunroof.
so now i have to speak to honda on changing my springs back to the stock honda springs as i didnt keep my old ones.

[m0nty ITR]

You need to be careful with this. If you've modified your car some dealers will look for any reason to knock back the claim. If your car has coilover suspension they will try to force the fact that the chassis is under more load than designed for factory suspension. They'll try to say thanks to this the bodywork sturctural integrity has been comprimised and the factory rustproofing failed due to that.



Hmmm, just as I suspected. I'd like to get the opinion of an engineer as to what compression loads increase by when 10/8kg coilovers are fitted to a car. Especially one such as an FD which has a rock solid chassis. What suspension do you have? I've seen a CC Lancer buckle it's roof after it hit a pothole whilst driving less than half an inch off bump stops.

[Setanta]

ok heres what has happen after i have seen nrma, honda, and asquith smash repairs.

Honda came back with the problem being someone has tryed to break into the car.

nrma and smash repairs both have said due to lowering the car the suspension is to stiff and to imagine it as if the car goes over a bump there is no room for it to move up and down so instead it folds in causing around the sunroof to crack which has cause the rusting.
They said lowering the car is not a problem and there would be no problems if i didnt have a sunroof.
so now i have to speak to honda on changing my springs back to the stock honda springs as i didnt keep my old ones.

Did they sell you a Harbour Bridge at the same time.

Have you dealt with Honda Au or just a dealer?

The insurance companies are full of it. If I can have a lowered EF9 last 26 years with a factory sunroof and never a touch of rust then a brand new Civic should be even better. To put it in perspective, when I measured the JDM aftermarket springs on my car they were 400 pound springs and you could run over a pubic hair and dislocate a disk (I since went to softer variable rate springs).

Bottom line, take a hard line and contact a consumer rights group and see what can be done.

Having said that - modding your car can void your warranty. It sucks, but some unscrupulous dealers will use the excuse.

[aaronng]

The insurance companies are full of it. If I can have a lowered EF9 last 26 years with a factory sunroof and never a touch of rust then a brand new Civic should be even better. To put it in perspective, when I measured the JDM aftermarket springs on my car they were 400 pound springs and you could run over a pubic hair and dislocate a disk (I since went to softer variable rate springs).

400 pound/inch is only about 7.1 kg/mm, which is pretty soft. I'm running 560 pound/inch on my Euro.

[panda[cRx]]

But as I said, some things do actually get forgotten on the production line. Manufacturers do make mistakes and they do occasionally get past QC checkpoints. I have seen a GTI with a Golf wheel, a Jetta without alloys and a Golf with a 5 speed box when it was supposed to be 6.

The last one was a doozie. We laughed a bit at such blind incompetence.

lol @ comparing vw to honda build quality

i've heard alot of similar stories about vw, so it sounds like common practice for them to install wrong parts


well heres the latest update after a week or so of fighting with honda...

the manager of hornsby honda has taken photos and what not and got about 4 of his staff members to look at it and they have sent it away to head office....

4 days later i get a phone call with honda claiming that some one has broken into my car and that is how i have got the damage....

so considering nothing has ever gone missing from my car and there is no other damage does any one have any ideas of what i should say next....

if you are unhappy with the response given, call up honda australia customer relations.

but if you look at it from their point of view, paint doesn't just chip off the roof for no reason does it?

something or someone has cause the paint to come off ,allowing the rust to form

[danny_mart]

;1461789']lol @ comparing vw to honda build quality

i've heard alot of similar stories about vw, so it sounds like common practice for them to install wrong parts



if you are unhappy with the response given, call up honda australia customer relations.

but if you look at it from their point of view, paint doesn't just chip off the roof for no reason does it?

something or someone has cause the paint to come off ,allowing the rust to form


Well the smash repair has seen it on many cars before. they have fixed it and then it just comes back he said if i want to claim the damage on insurance put back on the normal springs then go claim and they can fix the whole thing. but he said if they fix it now it will come back straight away.
at this moment honda is still dealing with it. and i kind of have taken most the blame to myself now so just see what is going to happen..

[aaronng]

There was an Euro with rust around the sunroof a while back as well. Same case, not covered under warranty as the dealer and Honda Aus claimed that someone jumped onto his roof eventhough there were no dents nor scratches.

[yfin]

ok heres what has happen after i have seen nrma, honda, and asquith smash repairs.

Honda came back with the problem being someone has tryed to break into the car.

nrma and smash repairs both have said due to lowering the car the suspension is to stiff and to imagine it as if the car goes over a bump there is no room for it to move up and down so instead it folds in causing around the sunroof to crack which has cause the rusting.
They said lowering the car is not a problem and there would be no problems if i didnt have a sunroof.
so now i have to speak to honda on changing my springs back to the stock honda springs as i didnt keep my old ones.

I reckon the "lower car" explanation is interesting when you consider that Honda itself in Japan, USA and Europe sell stiffer and lower suspension kits for all sorts of models. I had a Honda Access Europe sports suspension kit on my Euro (replacement springs and shocks) and I can tell you it is stiff compared to stock! Honda do not redesign the roof area when they fit such kits to the CL9 so why would the Civic be any different.

[denot]

There was an Euro with rust around the sunroof a while back as well. Same case, not covered under warranty as the dealer and Honda Aus claimed that someone jumped onto his roof eventhough there were no dents nor scratches.

hmm... i kinda worried about this now... so if someone "vandalised" your car, the insurance company wont cover it? eventhough its a full cover? how ironic...

[dmx]

hmm... i kinda worried about this now... so if someone "vandalised" your car, the insurance company wont cover it? eventhough its a full cover? how ironic...
it would be covered by insurance company (private) but when u dealing about warranty (dealers/manufactures), u will find much more trouble.
why, coz it's free (dealers/manufactures), but insurance not (access fee and anual fee).

[denot]

:eek: my bad!!! i read it wrong... i thought aaronng said "insurance" but he actually said "warranty" :p