Keeping a wax or sealant fresh on your vehicle helps a little to help protect your paint. However, no paint job is perfect and this was likely a low spot in the paint that just got contaminated in the right enough way to cause it to break through.

 

Much grinding on that roof rust spot and you'll be looking at the inside of the vehicle. Sure looks like a defect to me. Our 09 Fit clearcoat is flaking off the roof as I we speak, and I'm hoping that Honda will do the right thing.

 

Got the car back and it looks great (of course it does). We'll see how well it holds up!

Oh, and I discovered that it technically wasn't covered under the Honda warranty. It was a "good deed" that Honda did for me...a one time thing. Good thing my dealer has a lifetime warranty on all of their work...

 

The Honda Fairy Godmother strikes again!

 

I have the same thing on my 2009's roof, never seen anything like it before and I've owned a lot of cars. And this car has been treated pretty well--my father bought it new and kept in in Florida for the first three years of its life, he was extremely meticulous about it. I've had it in Michigan for the past two years or so, can't say I baby it but I wash it now and then, wax it a couple times a year and kept it garaged last winter.

I've been extremely disappointed in the paint on this car, it has always seemed dull and generally not right. And now this. I know the car is not new, but I don't think a 5-6 year old car should have this kind of rust, and definitely not on the roof.

I plan to take it to the dealer next week and see what they say. Any tips on how you got Honda to pay for your roof repaint would be much appreciated.

 

Unless you are prepared to get it profesionally fixed, don't grind anything or it will just make it worse. just blob some rust stop on and use touch up paint.

 

Honda's Rust warranty is 3-5 years. Depending on how your stealership spins it. Check with them. 5 Years is too young for a car to have such ugly rust bubbles.

 

Yeah, it sucks.

I basically took the car to the dealer (who has a body shop) and said that it is ridiculous that my car was rusting. We could tell from the little rust spots that they were NOT caused by rock chips, and that it was coming from under the paint. Because of this, the dealer apparently pushed Honda NA on my behalf to get it fixed.

Every dealer will be different I'm sure...good luck!

 

I get pitting on my hood from time to time and fix it ASAP. I lately noticed light brown spots (car's Taffy White) on the A pillars where the metal flanges in to hold the windshield I better get to. Car is a 2010 bought new, now has 76K.

 

@ PatrickT

I'm certainly not a body shop/paint specialist, however to me those rust spots look like they could be from bird sh!ts.


Especially since you said your car only gets washed once every few months.

If you get bird dropping on the roof, or bug splatters on the hood & front bumper and let them settle in for a few months...it's certainly not a Honda issue. You should be checking your car all around every day you drive it and remove them with water / car soap and a clean towel within 1-2 days MAX.

 

That spot kinda has the look of a chemical issue, like a drop of brake fluid or some nasty solvent got to it, In the Pacific North West the fir trees can cause a similar issue if the sap is allowed to sit....

 

Patrick can you PM me with a copy of the good will letter from Honda. I have the exact thing on my 2009 in 10 places. The only way to really fix this is to drill out the rust holes and weld them up. Yours and mine are too rusted to fix right. They will grind it down and acid prep it and the rust cancer will be back because it advanced too far for a cure. The car was not prepped right before panting. If Honda would acid prep and dip them this would never happen. The only right way to fix it for good is a new roof at $500 and a whole lot of body work. Mine come out of nowhere so, I will have 15 in another year. I guess i will push to get it fixed too, because I could stop that new progression. . But who knows , this could be coming from the underside through "rust pin holing" that advances through the panel and back on the other side. Please PM with your letter. Thanks.

 

That sort of thing really feels like a minor manufacturing defect or some weird contamination. Mine sits outside 24/7 in Michigan and I rarely wax or even wash the car. I've never had rust on painted panels except where there was a chip....

 

All the new cars have random issues with this problem, the water based low VOC enamel is just not as tough as the good old Dupont with all the nasty stuff in it..