Severe corrosion on new mustangs

My two cents worth...

I personally check forums to make myself a better consumer by researching the type of problems I can expect from my ride, not to just hear how good it is - h*ll, I already like it enough to have bought it. But no car is perfect, and I like to know what I'm getting into.

Just as an example, my current ride is an 2002 Acura TL-S, which will be replaced (hopefully!) in May or June by the GT I ordered on the 1st of March. I found out, thanks to Acura forums way before I had any hint of trouble, that the A/T was troublesome with a high replacement rate. same thing with the front brakes. This enabled me to 1) expect the problem, and 2) be in a better position if it would become an issue at the dealer. As expected, my A/T died on me at 46,000 km (a few thousand more k's than most other failures, so I was not that hard on the poor thing!), and replacement was a non issue at the dealer, which replaced (not repaired!) the A/T with a brand new one from Japan (which, BTW, might still have the same defect - so you see, imports don't always fix things right the first time!). And same issue with the front rotors, where I did had to fight a bit for a replacement under warranty (the same brake problems applied to my 60 yr orld father and his 2004 Accord).

One thing that seems to be different with domestic car manufacturers is that they almost always wait for a recall to advise customers about a possible problem. Again, with Acura (or Honda if you prefer), as soon as it seemed that they had a higher failure rate on their TL's A/T, they sent a letter to the owners advising them that they would extend the warranty of the A/T to 7yr/150,000 km instead of the 5 yr/100,000km - that before any "official" recall was issued. Compare that with Chrysler/Dodge and their infamous minivan A/T...

SULUTION and prevention for SURFACE RUST

first off, if I was the original poster who has all the surface rust, I would be FURIOUS pi$$ed, If I forgot to get on my knees to look under car, hey thats understandable if your exciited about your new purchace you just want to go and DRIVE. (when I picked mine up wed, I did get on my knees and look underneth broken ankle and all!)

just picked up my '05 GT this week, I instructed my dealer not to touch the exterior (BLACK) the paint was medium dirty from transport (did not look like it went through alot of rain or weather) underhood and undercar is new looking (lots of clean bare metal), no rust, little dirt in wheel wells

I'm in AZ so salt is not an issue but rain and even winter humidity here will rust bare metal especialy cast iron, rust belt state owners who are detail freaks may want to do the folowing: I plan to.

Go to: www.eastwood.com click on "rust treatment"
get on list for catalog, ck out site (I have had good experence with products)

first for the non rusted / bare metal cars,
get the "clear rust encapsulator" its a satin clear coat for preserving chasie markings etc. but also indicates works for bare metal, avail in 16 oz aerosol can $20.99

for the already surface rusted guys
get the "fast-acting oxiSolv rust remover" avail. in a spray bottle under $15 and then use the "clear rust encapsulator"

they have all sorts of cool car care and restoration stuff, worth a look, little pricie.

I plan on crawling under car when I install the Eibach Pro-kit lowering springs, on jack stands wheels off and spraying the dozen or so areas with the clear rust encapsulator (will clean surfaces as well as poss. with some carb cleaner on a rag or a prep cleaner)
only thing I need to worry about is the overspray mist floating around on the body, may get one of those disposible plastic body shop bags

there may be similer products avail that work just as well, but imo stay away from parts store type clear coat, they seem all to be of the "glossy" type and dont look as natural and they may not last long, Eastwood seems to profesional quaility stuff (no I don't rep. them)

for the alum. parts, WD-40 and scotch-brite pad works, also look at the autoparts store for "bare alum". wheel cleaner, some types, Eagle one? they have diff. levels of cleaning, some have acid and are somewhat caustic so be carefull around paint, Eastwood may have something, I didn't see

If you are reading this and wondering why the hello do these guys care about the bottom of ther cars, YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND CAR NUTS

yes never reposted an update either....I believe you hit the nail on the head.
possible goat owner?

There are a few trolls on this board. Not all of them are 1 post wonders.

gee..I wonder who you speak of.....