Leased car - rust, what to do?

[Freakuk]

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum, mods please move as required.

At the weekend I was washing my wife's car, it's a 3 year old Jeep Wrangler and I noticed that at the bottom of both driver and passenger doors that the paint has started to bubble, rear doors seem unaffected.

My wife has this car on a 4 year lease which will be up at the end of the year, and a quick Google suggests Jeeps bodywork warranty is 3 years/36,000. So it's about 4 months over it's 3 years.

Given it's a lease and I am aware that they will check the vehicle upon return for wear and tear, stone chips/scratches etc but what about rust? And given it's not hers as such should we even contact our dealer to discuss repairs/goodwill etc?

[Rough101]

Straight to the dealer, - when did they last service it, perhaps they didn’t complete the inspection properly, iId argue the issue was there prior to the end of the warranty.

[anonymous-user]

I would have thought paint defects is three years but corrosion is around ten to twelve years. Anyway, as previously said, get to the dealer.

[Mr Whippy]

Is rust wear and tear?

Has it been serviced at main dealers? Shouldn’t they be checking body condition?

Not great is it, rusty doors at 3yrs. Back to the 70s

[Freakuk]

Yes it is maintained at a main dealers, part of the lease agreement.

It's a yearly service so the last one was done either December or January.

[Hammersia]

Interesting, bit of googling suggests Jeep have had some legal challenges about their corrosion warranty -

Looks like in the UK, it's a standard 3 years, but 7 years for "anti perforation".

So the answer might be to accelerate the rust and make sure it perforates before the lease is up and you'll be covered.

[Mr Whippy]

Part of the dealer servicing will be checking bodywork for rust/perforation I think.

If they’ve not spotted it to be remedied, then I’m not sure how they can blame you for wear and tear.

How would someone ‘wear and tear’ a car to rust between annual services?

[Alex Z]

Mr Whippy said:

Part of the dealer servicing will be checking bodywork for rust/perforation I think.

If they’ve not spotted it to be remedied, then I’m not sure how they can blame you for wear and tear.

How would someone ‘wear and tear’ a car to rust between annual services?

Open the door into walls or other obstructions so the paint gets chipped enough to allow rust to take hold.

[Ian Geary]

Is this rust along the bottom lip where the door is held against the seal?

Or within the double skin of the door?

Not clearing drain holes, or worn paint might accelerate rust, but it's not going to prevent poorly prepared poor quality metal from rusting.

[sunnyb13]

Just hand it back as is at the end of lease.

[georgeyboy12345]

sunnyb13 said:

Just hand it back as is at the end of lease.

This. They probably won't even notice it.

If they do, put this plan into action

Dog Star said:

My technique.....

- make sure that any direct debits are stopped immediately after your final payment is made. This is just in case they try and take any alleged damage monies by DD.
- when you get a letter off them asking for £xxx send one back and dispute it. This will stop the clock.
- when they write back to you wait a month before replying
- always wait a month before making any reply BY POST
- ask for some better photos. By this time the car is long gone so they can't

I got a 500 quid bill down to 50 using this technique. Just spin it out.

[Mr Whippy]

Alex Z said:

Mr Whippy said:

Part of the dealer servicing will be checking bodywork for rust/perforation I think.

If they’ve not spotted it to be remedied, then I’m not sure how they can blame you for wear and tear.

How would someone ‘wear and tear’ a car to rust between annual services?

Open the door into walls or other obstructions so the paint gets chipped enough to allow rust to take hold.

But it’s rust bubbles, inside to out.

Outside to inside would be ‘perforation’

[bennno]

Alex Z said:

Open the door into walls or other obstructions so the paint gets chipped enough to allow rust to take hold.

That the sure fire way to get any manufacturer claim thrown out, for sure…….

[LightningBlue]

Alex Z said:

Open the door into walls or other obstructions so the paint gets chipped enough to allow rust to take hold.

They’d probably then claim it was external damage that caused it and refuse to pay out. I had a similar issue with a VW Scirocco at 6 years old (although it wasn’t leased), but got stitched up by a main dealer bodyshop and VW customer services, who claimed me and my passengers had been kicking the sills when getting in and out, which was totally untrue but they wouldn’t budge. So in this case I wouldn’t do anything that damages the paint any further and gives them an excuse.

[The_Nugget]

This might help.

https://www.themotorombudsman.org/useful-informati...

I think the question will come down to the definition of perforation. If the rust is coming inside to out and affecting the paint then you may be able to claim on the Jeep warranty.

If it were me, I’d go to the dealer and ask their opinion on cause and if it is covered under warranty. They might just say yes.

Doesn’t sound great for a 3year old car!

[Mark V GTD]

sunnyb13 said:

Just hand it back as is at the end of lease.

It’s not according to the OP. The lease ends at the end of this year so 8 months to go