Mine's got the surface rust too, but my tech said the rust warranty will cover the damage once the rust goes through the metal. I'll bring this up to him at my next oil change though.

 

My 2011 excape hatch also has blistered paint, rust and peeling paint on the inside lip, from the latch all the way the passenger side edge. Also the rounded part of the rear drivers side door has blistered paint and rust on the lip.

 

I am thinking if u live where it snows i bet alot people don't clean off their tail step and it accumulates there and moisture/salt eats at it...Always clean your vehicles off thoroughly in snow and try to wash off any salt under and all over it..I just got my escape from an owner who lived in the south where it didn't snow and the bottom of my escape you could eat off it,no rust at all.And its a 2004... :shades:

So i might get it rustproofed by zeibart b4 the 1st winter it will see...Since there is no rust on it at all now i would like to preserve it to last long time... :thumb:

 

Mine's got the surface rust too, but my tech said the rust warranty will cover the damage once the rust goes through the metal. I'll bring this up to him at my next oil change though.

Wouldn't you rather have it fixed to prevent it from rusting completely through the metal? Are you still within your bumper-to-bumper warranty?

My 2011 excape hatch also has blistered paint, rust and peeling paint on the inside lip, from the latch all the way the passenger side edge. Also the rounded part of the rear drivers side door has blistered paint and rust on the lip.

Oh no... I didn't even think to check the doors... and now I'm afraid to look. :worry:

I am thinking if u live where it snows i bet alot people don't clean off their tail step and it accumulates there and moisture/salt eats at it...Always clean your vehicles off thoroughly in snow and try to wash off any salt under and all over it..I just got my escape from an owner who lived in the south where it didn't snow and the bottom of my escape you could eat off it,no rust at all.And its a 2004... :shades:

I completely agree; keeping the filth off of your vehicle should definitely prevent rust from ever forming. That being said, I still think it's ridiculous that my 18-month-old car is rusting. Our 2001 had ZERO rust in this area when we traded it in earlier this year.

Given that other owners are having this issue (on a 2011 even!), it leads me to believe that there is something more than owner neglect at play.

Anybody else take a look @ their tailgate?

 

I'm out of my b-to-b, but rust goes to 5yr/60K and I opted for an extended warranty.

 

That is not correct. I too had rust in this area, as well as the metal curl/lip on doors, as well as the wheel wells. I took it to my dealership over the summer, complained, stated what the warranty book stated, and they covered it all under the 36K/3 yr warranty. If yours meets this, I hate to say it, but bi**h and complain, over and over. At the time, my 2009 was only 2 years old from when I bought it. It doesn't sit in salt 24/7, it shouldn't rust that fast...

 

I prevented this by drilling small holes at the bottom of the tailgate and also the front doors. Where I saw issues was when after a heavy rain I noticed the factory drain holes in the front two doors where draining slow and also the drain holes where a little higher than the complete bottom. So when I noticed this I drilled the bottom out like a drain in a tub; I actually drilled 3 holes. The results where evident as soon as I started drilling. Even after I drilled 3 quick holes the water came out for several seconds.

MORAL of the Story: Drill some drain plugs and water wont sits at the bottom to rust out.

 

That is not correct. I too had rust in this area, as well as the metal curl/lip on doors, as well as the wheel wells. I took it to my dealership over the summer, complained, stated what the warranty book stated, and they covered it all under the 36K/3 yr warranty. If yours meets this, I hate to say it, but bi**h and complain, over and over. At the time, my 2009 was only 2 years old from when I bought it. It doesn't sit in salt 24/7, it shouldn't rust that fast...

Now I have to check the wheel wells too.... Ugh :worry:

Unfortunately, both of our Escapes our out of the bumper-to-bumper warranty (mine due to mileage and Dad's due to age). It hasn't rusted through YET which is why the repair cost wasn't 100% covered.

timothyjay2004, has your Mariner started rusting again?

 

Checked mine today and it was fine, they salt the heck out of the roads here too. :shrug:

 

mantruck101 - so far, no. But, I'm sure it's only time....

 

No problem with mine - (yet)...

 

I have a LOT of dirt in that area. I'll have to clean it up and hopefully prevent the problem.

 

I bought my 08 Escape Limited on 8-8-2011,so I've only had it a few months. I'm in Pittsburgh PA,and we had a 3-4 day,non-stop period of rain up here. After all of this rain (I had not driven the truck the whole time),I went to open the driver door,which was facing the curb and slightly leveled down,and water just POURED out of the corner of the door,where the metal is rolled/lip! When I had it back at the dealer to fix the hatch rattle problem,I asked about that,as I felt it didn't seem right that all of that water should collect in there like that,basically waiting to rust through at some point. The sales person said that it was "supposed" to drain out of that location (?) As someone else mentioned above,there are drain holes,but they seem like they are too high up to really effectively drain the water. I thought about making my own holes as well,but was afraid it would create more opportunities for rust.

I'm going out to check my tailgate in the AM...

 

My hatch is rusted in the corners, and my fenders have started getting rust HOLES! already. 45k miles too. :/ Frame also is rusty but not tender or anything.

 

mine is rusty there as well.. just like the photo at the beginning of this thread.. took it to the dealer.. after some persistence they said they "took care of it, didn't even need to break the paint" said they used a sealer... i dont know what space age stuff they used but i would like to get a hold of stuff that can penetrate throu paint and stop rust... :shrug:

also rusting shown in the pinch welds in the driver side pass door.. boooo when my life slows down ill just dremel it out and respray.. not a biggie but still sucks for those that cant do it them selves.

 

not a biggie but still sucks for those that cant do it them selves.

I'm one of those people. Mine goes back to the dealer next week for repair. My dad's will be repaired after that.

It seems to me that this problem is more common that my dealer and Ford Customer Care rep allowed me to believe.

For anyone who has paid for the repair out of pocket, I was advised by the Ford Customer Care rep to hold onto your receipts in the event that Ford decides to issue a recall/ pay for the fix in the future.

What bugs me is that I'm willing to bet that even after mine is repaired, it will start rusting again. Between this and my Escape fighting me to turn over yesterday, I'm a bit miffed.

 

My hatch is rusted in the corners, and my fenders have started getting rust HOLES! already. 45k miles too. :/ Frame also is rusty but not tender or anything.

What year is your Escape? Do you live in area where the roads are salted?

 

As someone else mentioned above,there are drain holes,but they seem like they are too high up to really effectively drain the water. I thought about making my own holes as well,but was afraid it would create more opportunities for rust.

Yeah I gave a solution but I guess no one wants to try it :bang:

 

As someone else mentioned above,there are drain holes,but they seem like they are too high up to really effectively drain the water. I thought about making my own holes as well,but was afraid it would create more opportunities for rust.

Yeah I gave a solution but I guess no one wants to try it :bang:

Ecoboosted F150?

 

:bang: :hyst: nah what I meant was to drill the bottom of the doors.

As someone else mentioned above,there are drain holes,but they seem like they are too high up to really effectively drain the water. I thought about making my own holes as well,but was afraid it would create more opportunities for rust.

Yeah I gave a solution but I guess no one wants to try it :bang:

Ecoboosted F150?

 

EcoBoosted F-150 seemed like a pretty legitimate response to me...

 

I took my 2010 Mercury Mariner (delivered March 2010) into the dealer in June after I noticed blistering paint on the edge of the rear hatch. I was getting an oil change at the time and before the oil change was done they had obtained approval from Ford to refinish the hatch. My dealer (North Country Ford) did a great job on the repair and took care of a couple other minor cosmetic issues.

I'll have to give the vehicle a good look before winter sets in and I don't see anything but salt and sand until spring!

 

I took my 2010 Mercury Mariner (delivered March 2010) into the dealer in June after I noticed blistering paint on the edge of the rear hatch. I was getting an oil change at the time and before the oil change was done they had obtained approval from Ford to refinish the hatch. My dealer (North Country Ford) did a great job on the repair and took care of a couple other minor cosmetic issues.

I'll have to give the vehicle a good look before winter sets in and I don't see anything but salt and sand until spring!

Glad to hear it was taken care of, BobJ. Am I correct in saying you were within the bumper-to-bumper warranty period when you had this repair made?

An Ecoboost F-150 doesn't sound like the worst solution...

 

Yes - bumper-to-bumper still in effect Mine was just showing up as bubbling paint and a very thin crack - looked like hairline crack in Bondo. No rust at the time - but I didn't want to take any chances and wait. My wife keeps telling me it can't stay new forever, but I'm trying!

Has anyone used Xpel paint protection film to protect their door sills from scrapes over the winter? I bought some, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

http://www.xpel.com/products/Tools_preview.asp?subcat=Do It Yourself Products&pn=R3022

 

The ones that still have warranty; Ask to see what they do to remedy the issue. I could only guess they drill new drain plugs and repaint or just repaint.