i just bought an 03 mk3 mondeo tdci ghia, i checked the car over before buying as well as i could and have checked cars in the past without problems.
alas! one thing i didnt think to check for was rust! i am sure i can be excused for this as it is an 03 car and not something you would expect to have to look for, especially for what i paid for it.
however, after a couple of days of ownership i decided to give it a more thourough clean, and, on my hands and knees poised with cloth in hand there it was RUST running along the (inside)bottom of every door, not just a bit but deep old flaky rust, hidden out of sight from a standing position.
as you can imagine i was in total shock to find this amount of rust on a fairly new car and just wandered are there any more out there with this problem, if so, what have you done about it?
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it's fairly common on the Mondeo from the ones I've seen
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My understanding is this is not unheard of on 2000-2003 Mondeos and is caused by inadequate wax sealant at the bottom of the door skin. The problem was corrected on later models.
Your car should still be in the anti-corrosion warranty period. I believe people have been successful in getting Ford to put this right under this warranty.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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I had this problem on an 01Y Mondeo, I seem to remember Cheddar had it on his Mondeo also. There is a thread about someone else here as well :
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=49407&...f
It was/is a common problem on early Mondeo 3's. Mine was resprayed under warranty at the time. Ford bodyshop said they'd seen loads of examples. As has been mentioned it was defective sealant
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Yep I had them on my ST220 2003. I got 3 doors replaced. You really have to fight. Firstly have a look at your service book. You should have a section for service and a body work check section. If you have a FSH with bodywork stamps it makes the fight much easier. If you just have FSH with Ford without bodywork stamps then you may be able to convince them that it was done at the time but not stampled, by contacting the dealerships who have done the service. If you have neither then you are going to have to try and get them to do it on goodwill, which will involve a fight and many months of wrangling.( I was lucky as my 2003 53 plate was supplied with a old style service book from new, and so everytime they said the bodywork section was not stamped, i said there was nothing to stamp).
You need to find a dealer who is willing to take photos and send the initial claim if you don't have a fsh. Perrys in Aylesbury were v good for me, and then sending loads of letters when they reject the claim until hopefully something is done.
It took me a good 5 months to eventally get them to do the doors on mine.
P.S. PM me if you want to know more info about who i contacted.
Edited by smoke on 12/10/2007 at 19:15
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thanks for the reply smoke, i am unable to pm you because your details are private, however, i would welcome any further information that you can provide for me as every bit will help, you can send the info to my email address if you like, thanks.
p.s. sorry for the delay in reply..been in hospital.
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"I am sure i can be excused for this"
Rust isn't the problem it was, but the chemistry remains the same, so it will happen anywhere there isn't enough protection. It's funny how cleaning a car reveals things that you couldn't see when you were looking for them, too!
At least it's in warranty, so check thoroughly for any other areas that need attention and then make a very big fuss in the dealer's showroom, preferably when it's full of punters.
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My '03 Mondeo TDCi Ghia has rusting rear doors. It has not had the bodywork checks because the lease company never paid. Ford would not do anything so the lease company is taking the car back next week with rust and will hope to sell it for as much as possible at auction.
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Yep
I got a 53 plate and yes - I found the same when cleaning the car.
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If it makes you Mondeo owners feel better - my supposedly galvanised A4 on a 52 plate is rusting on the front wing wheel arches and on the boot lid behind the numberplate. Never been in an accident or repaired either and again seems a reasonably common problem.
Im selling/trading it early next year and I doubt the first thing someone looks for is rust!
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My 53 plate Mondeo had rust on the rear doors. It can also affect the bonnect and boot.
It should be covered by the warranty provided you have all of the "optional" bodywork stamps in the service book. With Ford the body work check is an additional (i.e. cost) check each year. Mine was a lease car so they saved the £20 or so on all the Ford's to save money. So when mine rusted, although I took it to the body shop in the end the company had to concede it was not covered by warranty and went back 8 months later even more rusty.
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"Im selling/trading it early next year and I doubt the first thing someone looks for is rust!"
I "hid" some print outs of the rust problem in the boot and glove box of the Mondeo before sending it back :-) Wanted to try to avoid someone at auction being caught out by assuming the car would not be rusting.
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The two rear doors on my 2002 Mondeo were effected, I would not call it rust, more like a white oxidation where the sealer had come away, this I guess because they are galvanised. The sealer on the effected doors was very hard to touch where as on the front doors, hatch etc it was/is soft to the extent that you can make an indentation in it with your finger nail.
The car was nearly four years old and had done 102000 miles, so a year and 42000 miles out of it's warranty, yes they have a 10 year perforation warranty though it was certainly not perforated so Ford held no liability to me at all in respect of this problem other than goodwill. However they fitted two new rear doors and a complete respray of each side of the car, front wing to rear wing and gave me a literally brand new C-Max to drive while they did it.
It is better to not have the problem in the first place though IME top marks to Ford for taking it seriously and sorting it out.
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The two rear doors on my 2002 Mondeo were effected I would not call it rust more like a white oxidation
I don't think iron oxide is white.
I'm amazed that Ford still make cars that go rusty. Recently I've seen Mondeos, Focus, Fiesta and Ka all with rust on and all less than five years old. My son's girlfriend has an '03 Fiesta and the sills are rusty. We live many miles from the sea BTW!
If Ford were taking this problem seriously they would have stopped churning out rot-boxes years ago.
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My Mondeo is fine. Coming up for 7 years old and oh so many miles. Goes out in all weathers including salt laden Scottish and Alpine winters. Not a mark on it.
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If Ford were taking this problem seriously they would have stopped churning out rot-boxes years ago.
It's unfair (and unjustified) to generalise like that. I've owned 8 Fords and not had a problem of rust on any of them. My latest (a Focus) is over 5 years old, it lives at the seaside, and there's not a spot of rust on it anywhere.
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Our 2002 Mondeo TDCi Estate owned since new, stands outside. It had rust to the inside bottom edges of both left-hand side (nearside) doors but not the right-hand side ones. Cut it out myself, applied galvafroid and touch up paint, no recurrence.
Our 2002 Focus TDCi Estate, owned since new and garaged each night, is clear of rust.
halilley
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I stand by my comment above. Of all the major manufacturers, Ford is the one that is still making cars that rust at a youngish age. I see 10 year old Japanese and even French cars that are rust-free, but 5 year old Fords with rust on. The Ka seems to be particularly bad under the sills, and my son's girlfriend's Fiesta will soon need remedial work to the sills for its MoT. This is unforgivable on a modern car that's only 5 years old.
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A relative's much loved Puma - owned by her from new and lavished with love had rusted through its rear offside wing and there were rust bubbles in the sills. Not unique, check them out in car parks. Very poor.
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Afraid Mazda has joined the rust club, I had mine in for corrosion protection, they tend to rust around the rear wheel arches and, again, around the door seals. Seems lessons have not been learned.
My 2001 Mondeo at rust on the doors and hatch, my Mazda 6 seems ok at the moment but maybe its only a matter of time.
If you have a Mazda from 02 or newer, you should be entitled to it.
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>>>Afraid Mazda has joined the rust club,
I have not seen any rust on my 2002 Mazda6 yet. However, I will be polishing every square inch of it later in the week in readiness for the winter and will report back.
Clk Sec
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My daughters Ford Ka has had to have both sills welded up to pass the MOT. Granted its knocking on a bit, but it was always looked after.
I always thought rotting sills belonged back in the 70 early 80's when there was a flourishing trade
selling replacement sill panels.
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Isn't the Ka the only Ford that's not galvanised these days?
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>>>I always thought rotting sills belonged back in the 70 early 80's
Oh yes, I remember it well. Anyone own a Chrysler 180 back then? Sills were the least of the problem.
Clk Sec
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The driver's door on my 03 (04 model) Mondeo rusted where the sealant pulled away near the lock. I had always made sure that the body checks had been done at each service.
At it's 4th annual service the Ford servicing dealer confirmed the problem after the body inspection... but that was it, it was up to me to take the matter further. They could do nothing because they didn't have a bodyshop. After visiting three dealers it was confirmed that it must be looked at by a dealer that has a Ford approved bodyshop department.
Finally took it to Inchcape in Farnborough, Hants. They took photos of the door, the VIN number and the service book. A week later they confirmed that Ford would pay and booked the car in. The work took two days, it's been fine since.
Edited by RobertyBob on 26/10/2008 at 10:51
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Check around rear wheel arches, where the rear bumper meets the body, also around door edges and around rear brake light clusters.
They re sealed my doors, filled the voids around the sills and doors with waxoyl stype stuff. They also applied a sort of stone chip paint arund the rear wheel arches and removed the linings and applied sealant behind it.
Reports of the bonnets rusting, so check around the edges.
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"Anyone own a Chrysler 180 back then?"
An inflated Hillman/Chrysler/Talbot Avenger wasn't it. A neighbour had one in bronze - very well looked after. Rare sighting even back then.
Didn't the Talbot Tagora replace it - equally unloved IIRC.
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Yes, like an overgrown Avenger. Apart from rust there were problems with camshafts - something to do with inadequate hardening, I think - although mine was OK in that respect.
Best point was the extremely comfortable drivers seat.
Clk Sec
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"Isn't the Ka the only Ford that's not galvanised these days?"
I suspect some of the minor (in the UK, not Toyota or Honda ) Japanese/korean makes are not galvanised.
What about the impending new KA? no one seems bothered about whether Ford have used the same process with the bodywork as the 500.
I`m always sceptical about Ford since I had a new Fiesta `Popular plus`in 1982 (second up from base) and they seemed to have saved 10 pence by not fitting a bit of plastic over the bare metal handbrake handle.
I think it may show in the corrosion warranty, if its still 6 years...
What`s wrong with checking it out with an ice pick in the nethers in a `road test`.
I know I keep writing this, but does no one care?
;)
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>>>Afraid Mazda has joined the rust club,
Reporting back!
Polished the 6 today and I?ve been on my hands and knees looking for evidence of rust. Fortunately, perhaps helped by my low mileage and living a million miles from the sea, there was none to be found.
I hope to get another year out of it.
Clk Sec
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Hi, I just bought an 03 Mondeo mk3 Zetec, had it less than a week and water is leaking into rear footwells, and when looking to see where it is coming from have found horrible flaky rust on bottom of all the doors.
I have just retired my mk 1 mondeo that had no rust anywhere and was nearly 16 years old so did not expect rust on an 03, should have kept the old one and put new tyres and exhaust and bushes on it but it did not seem worth spending money on it.
The doors on my 48 year old Ford Pop are better than this pink fluffy dice
Not sure what to do now, car is booked in for the water ingress problem on the 12th Jan I guess I should ask them to fix the rust, not very hopeful though.
{Mr Popstar, welcome to the forum. Pelase take a couple of seconds to read our no swearing policy - thanks www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=33...5}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 17/12/2008 at 10:49
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If the log book has the body/paint check stamps then should be covered by warranty. If the annual stamps are not up to date (this was optional) then that warranty is void.
This was a common problem for a while on Mk III Mondeos - mine had some rust on it (53 plate) on the rear doors. But not as bad as you describe.
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The water is coming in behind the door cards. Take them off, you'll see some clear membrain that keeps the water out. Around the bottom the sealant (buytl tape) dries out, lift the membrain away and clean off the old gunk and re seal with some waterproof sealant like you use in bathrooms. I'd check the front doors as well.
The rust will just come back, the doors would need to be changed, I had rust popping up on my old Mk3 Mondeo, its was a 2001 and I got it when it was 13 months old. It also rusted around the drain holes on the bottom of hatch, and around the b piller trim on the drivers front door. The dealer at the time never mentioned about checking the paint check. I always asked for it to be done but they never spotted the rust anyway.
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