Was giving my new car a clean and noticed this in horror.

Rust forming between the join of the side panel and rear bumper. Im guessing these panels are rubbing due to vibration from wind etc causing the paint to wear away and allow rust formation.

What would be the cheapest/self help option to nip this in bud and prevent further rusting at a later stage?

its a ford ide worry about any rust given the age ide take it in to ford theres not much you can do to protect it as it will come back time and time again its not from rubbing its from the fact ford use very little paint there and the water naturally lies in the groove between the plastic and metal accept that it will come back later all fords suffer this from the ka to the mondeo

Nowadays on ford they are a lot better with not getting rust, KA's for example are always going to rust

But like mention some areas mainly corners / edges have less paint on due paint doesn't Laura on as well as flat surfaces which is understandable

Where it is now I would keep an eye on it and if gets any worse go in get it touched up...baing there you won't be able to notice a touch up that much..

Layer on as well***

I would get it seen to asap. Ford galvanising has never been any good. Its easy enough to do yourself. But any rust should be dealt with the second you see it. Look at my Rebuild thread and that'll show ya what happens when you ignore rust!! LOL

Got the same problem with mine on an '08, on both sides. The sills under the rear passenger doors are also rusty (and on our company pool cars, '07 and '08), I have rust on both sides of the boot/rear number plate trim and also the sill immediately after the passenger side front wheel arch.

Finding 'Orrible Rust Daily!!!

Thanks for the replys guys! Might drop the rear bumper down and do a touch up job on it! Whats fords 10 year perforation warranty all about?

anti perforation is if the metal rusts that much that it holes. But trust me its galvanised just enough that it will last 10 years and not much more!! See my van for details! LOL

It all stems from Ford scrimping on the galvanising to save money to keep the cars pricing competitive. Personally id prefer it if the galvanised properly and put the price up £500

anti perforation is if the metal rusts that much that it holes. But trust me its galvanised just enough that it will last 10 years and not much more!! See my van for details! LOL

It all stems from Ford scrimping on the galvanising to save money to keep the cars pricing competitive. Personally id prefer it if the galvanised properly and put the price up £500

Maybe if they painted it properly, it wouldn't need to be galvanized so well!

It needs both to be done adequately for proper protection. Paint won't protect well on it's own because there's always the problem of uneven coverage, especially on edges and corners, and pinholes and galvanising will corrode in the presence of road salt if unprotected by paint. Cavities also need to be well wax-injected to protect from condensation.

I suspect we've passed the high point of manufacturers applying good protection to bodyshells, around the turn of the century, and they're now starting to compete to shave the costs of providing it.

its rubbish about costs etc ive had numerous fiat puntos in the past and they are so well galvanised i didnt have any rust on an 8 year old car the underside was well coated with factory sealer etc.

ford have always been notorious for rust hence why my old man wont buy another one after 35 years of fords vw are good as well and use clear plastic protectant on the high wear areas on arches and sills, citreons are good for there protecion also and most of these are far cheaper than ford so cost really has nothing to do with it ford have this mindset that people shouldnt keep cars 3 years or more ive seen 2010 cars with rust patches and the woman over the roads 2012 new focus mk3 has some starting on the rear arch where the salt etc has eaten the paint with ford saying a chip caused it so its not there problem so i was at it with kurust a touch up kit glad the cars black as you cant see the repair but it will come back the paints so thin

Yeah and why is the paint so thin?? COST!!

Its all profit driven, just cos citroen, Fiat etc have better rust protection doesnt mean anything. Ford is competing directly with these companies and has to make the car for as little as possible, to maximise profits for the shareholders!

Did you know it only costs about £4k in materials to build a Mondeo, So if you add in labour and machining your probably £7k in total,

This is where they are in direct competition, because the public dont even come into car sales anymore, its fleet and leasing companies. 3/4 of all new cars are sold to them with only about 1/4 going to the public. And a fleet company such as Arval PHH will prolly only pay Ford £10k for a top spec Mondeo Titanium X

So manufacturers cut the costs the best they can, We all know Fords have always been crap for corrosion, but no where near as bad as Rover and British Leyland.

It needs both to be done adequately for proper protection. Paint won't protect well on it's own because there's always the problem of uneven coverage, especially on edges and corners, and pinholes and galvanising will corrode in the presence of road salt if unprotected by paint. Cavities also need to be well wax-injected to protect from condensation.

I suspect we've passed the high point of manufacturers applying good protection to bodyshells, around the turn of the century, and they're now starting to compete to shave the costs of providing it.

I think your right! The quality seems to be slipping especially in the last 3-4 years. And not just Ford's, General Motors cars are really bad for thin paint, So are VAG now, and even Mercedes are having issues now!!

I wonder if i took it to ford would they charge me an arm and a leg to sort it... Hmmm

Base warranty lasts only a year, i take it my issue would of fell under that. Typical!

We all know Fords have always been crap for corrosion, but no where near as bad as Rover and British Leyland.

That's a bit of a generalisation. You're dead right about British Leyland, of course, and the Rover 100 got it's legacy from them, but I used to own a 75. It was a petrol 2.0L V6 so didn't suffer from the dreaded K-series head gasket issue. It was 10 years old when I sold it and there wasn't a spot on it. It had other design and build quality issues but the bodyshell protection and paint finish on those models, certainly the earlier ones, was spot-on. There are also quite a few 10-year-old 25's around that are still looking good. My wife had one for a while and it was also spotless.

As for Fords, my Mk1.5 is 10 years old and still holding up well. As I said all these old cars were produced at a time when the manufacturers were taking body protection seriously.