Our 07 Plastic Saturn (We have had it a whole year now! )is developing rust on the rear lift gate that happens to be metal! Took it to the stealer today and they are aware of the problems and can not fix per Saturn HQ until it rusts through!

I, as a corrosion specialist for the automotive industry find this funny! Since fixing it when it does reach that condition actually does not help the overall situation for the life of the vehicle. Sounds to me Saturn needs to do a recall. The service guy and I looked at 2 others that were in for other reasons and BOTH had the same problem. He described the problem to me before ever looking at my vehicle.
Guess it all comes down to the area that has the corrosion does not have any sort of seal between the rear shroud on the lift gate and where the fasteners attach it! Just another cost cutting measure. IDIOTS!
I am going to take off the little shroud/emblem and take a look see/ My guess they also did not correctly primer and paint the area....More cost cutting! I see it everyday and just shake my head.
I also find it funny the idiots behind the desk only see the initial savings, not the actual cost it will cost them a year later. With the rust through warranty they have on these this is going to be a nightmare for GM real soon! More brains at work.
Most of the stuff I analyzes does not even pass the simplest corrosion test! After I submit the failing report; I usually never see a resubmitted corrected action part!

Sorry to hear BR...I would be POed if I found that on our new car.

I am pissed but have learned to not let these idiot manufacturers get to me so much. It eventually bites them in their A s s. THEN I laugh.

What a drag. Would seem to make alot more sense to take care of the problem before it becomes a hole and needs replacement. Guess another reason the imports are so popular.

I just bought a 2008 Mustang Gt only to find about the corrosion problem ford is having with the hoods and trunk lids. Supposedly it is a galvanic issue from 2 different metals contacting each other. Ford is aware of the problem and has issue a tsb on it. There initial offer is to repaint the hood - they will replace the hood if you push them but even that does little to correct the problem. By the time it would happen the 2nd time you would be out of warranty and on your own. Kind of disappointing quality issue. Otherwise I love my car. Considering putting a aftermarket www.cervini.com hood on instead.

BR, what they fail to see is the big picture. When I hit someone with a big repair bill on a fairly new car, I am often asked if this is normal. I always say "normal, no; common, yes." Lower intake manifold gaskets on GM V6 and V8's are a good example.

People will and do totally abandon their brand loyality if they feel like they've been had. Then the "brand" cries the blues.

TAKING CARE OF THE CUSTOMER SHOULD BE JOB #1!

Saturn Corp should take care of that no questions asked. Does Saturn stll give away free hotdogs?

I had the lower gasket done on my Aztek. GM ponied up for half the bill. I was annoyed it happened, as my research found it to be common, but I appreciated GM helping out. I was well past warranty.

They take care of the customer sometimes, you just have to know who to contact. Take my wife's old car, an '01 Pontiac Grand Prix GT. Cat Converter was clogged up, so bad that it ended up damanging the intake manifold and a bunch of sensors. On the trip to the dealership the car died, and had to be towed in. It was almost at 100K miles. GM paid the bill, and for our rental. It didn't take to long for me to find the right person at the GM Renaissance Center to get it taken care of. Still unreal on an '07, and I hear you on the warranty. There is no way anything would rust through during the time of the warranty, it should cover rust like your experiencing also.

How proud Gm/Saturn must be with one year old cars on the road with rust! It's bad enough they plaster the car with the manufacturers emblems, whats worse, advertising they rust in a year!

I guess year old cars with rust is better than the brand new ones rusting on the showroom floor, like in the 70s!

But I agree, to not take care of the issue proactively is silly at best!

I recently saw some surface rust in the chrome on the bumper of a fairly new major brand pickup. Went to the dealer lot, and noticed about half of them on the lot with similar rust - bad chrome job.

You have to admit that the rust issue has largely been solved these days, compared to 20-30 years ago when you saw 5 year old cars with huge holes in the fenders.

I can understand your frustration with a "developing" rust spot on a 1 year old car, but you do have a warranty for rust through, and the company will honor it. In other words, they will meet the obligation they've made to you - - you are getting what you paid for.

We don't see too many cars with rust problems around these parts.

The lift gate on our Expy (04) is rusting around where the plastic cover is in the middle. I've looked around at other ones of the same design, and half had the issue as well. Surprises me that it would be such a prevalent problem in this day and age. I have not informed Ford yet, but will be showing it to them at the next service.

Well, we all know it isn't going to rust through during the warranty period (which is why corrosion warranties are worthless and always have been IMO). It'll just look like crap, far sooner than any "reasonable person" would expect it to. Sorry, I cannot consider that getting what was paid for.

Take a look at my thread on the rust issue. Might be worthwhile to start doing what cny boater has been and what I'm starting to do. Coat it with Fluid Film and be done with it.

Intersting stuff. Might pick some up for the knuckles on the truck. I have some spots on the burb that could use it as well.

I also need to get some of the black chassis rust inhibitor that GM uses on their truck chassis. Got some diesel fuel on it and it strips right off.

Sorry, but I'm not sure "GM's obligation" is what people come to expect from turning over years of their hard-earned cash.

GM won't replace the full-sized chrome bumpers that I think you are referring to. The dealer's directive is to send the bumper out for a re-chrome. Tie up the vehicle for a week or 2 for a re-chrome is a horrible way to earn customer loyalty. If the dealer provides a loaner car, then the cost of that will exceed the cost of a new bumper if the plating shop is backed-up. Stupid stupid stupid!

As long as we're on the truck subject, the late 90's early 00's full sized 5.3 and 6.0 (I think) had poorly-designed pistons that would slap horribly. GM's position was that they would not reoair the issue because they claimed that it had no long termeffect on the engine. So I guess they figured a clunking engine should be acceptable to someone who just spent 30 or 40 large on a new truck. Again, GM execs should look into the mirror to see why their market share has dwindled over the years.

Seems like they took too much cost out of too many vehicles and their decisions are coming back to haunt them. Ditto for Ford and Chrysler.

But poor design can't be solved just by money alone. Just ask the guys who spent 45k on their Tundras then broke camshafts and driveshafts.
And what about Honda and their Accords that rust out at the front edge of the rear bumper? I sure see a lot of them that aren't repaired, so Honda's rust warranty must not be any better than GM, Ford, Dodges?
Unfortunately it goes across all brands, cny.

CNY. Actually it was a Ford Explorer I was referring to, not GM.

I never said that you were getting what you expected for the money, everybody's expectations are different, and meeting all of them is impossible - regardless of the happy cliches out there. Even Toyota, Porsche and BMW have problems with their vehicles from time to time. I did say you are getting what you paid for - which is totally different. I don't work for GM, but I presume they try hard not to have small rust spots develop on their cars, but when they do, they bank on the total ownership experience of the vehicle overcoming that relatively minor problem - unless they make a huge mistake - then they'll fix them.

I guess as I get older, a car or truck is more of a tool to me than a status symbol. As such, if it's got a scratch on it, or a spot of rust, I don't get too alarmed. If it doesn't work right, I get really annoyed.

I guess I think any item that is made of steel, that is used outdoors is going to rust, sooner or later. I'm actually amazed that they rust as slowly as they do.