Just washed my car and saw that I have rust on my roof! Surprised me.

One big spot (quarter and a half sized), one medium spot (quarter sized) and 3ish smaller rust spots. All toward the front of the car on the roof.

My car has sat outside during Wisconsin winters and summers since I bought it new.

Here's a few photos:


(largest)

(medium)

What do I do to stop this?

 

aaaak! Tin worm. I'd be taking it to a bodyshop for repair and a roof repaint. If you can't afford it think about dremeling it down to bare metal, painting with rustoleum or something to keep it from getting worse, and putting a vinyl wrap on the top. (edit: I mean dremel (rotary grinding tool for hobbies) the couple square inches where it's affected by rust, not the whole roof!).

It's surface rust; I don't think Honda will do anything, they have a 5 year rust through warranty but that's from the inside to the outside. This looks like road-rash turned malignant.

 

Wowsers. From a fellow Milwaukeean, I share your concern, since we know they're not going to stop using road salt around here anytime soon unless the upper midwest turns into a tropical climate because of global warming.

 

My usual DIY approach to these sorts of little rust spots is to grind them out with a Dremel (or sandpaper if you want to be low-tech), fill with a body filler, sand smooth, prime, paint, and clear coat. For the filler, Bondo is a traditional choice, but I find JB-Weld works a little more easily and with less mess for little spots like this.

More than likely, you got a little paint chip to start the rust. It's worthwhile to go over the car once or twice a year and touch up any paint chips (on the metal body parts, at least). You probably also should inspect the rocker panels for rust; that seems to be the part that rusts first on my cars, particularly right behind the front wheel and right in front of the rear wheel.

 

Take it to a body shop.

 

Wow that is bad and the first time somebody is reporting rust like that. Like others have said remove the rust and repaint soon as it will just keep getting worse.

 

Thanks guys. Not too happy that this happened. Seems strange for a ~5 year old car, but I suppose with the wear and tear of Wisconsin winters it's not too weird.

 

Although it isn't perforation, it may have some rust through when repair is started.

I would also lean on the dealer before taking it to a body shop, that shouldn't happen
unless you have never washed the car. Just keep cool and explain that it's not something
that shouldn't happen to a 5 year old car. I would tell them I may buy some other car when
I make my next car purchase.

It may not help but it may be worth trying if would like to keep your business.

Clifton

 

I would take it to the dealer to see what they say about corrosion coverage then the body shop to get it repaired before it spreads.

I am in upstate New York where they seem to salt the roads white. My last car was a 2006 Toyota Corolla ended up with approximately 120k miles in 2012 when I traded it in on my Fit. No surface rust but I also washed and waxed it weekly from spring to fall. A buddy of mine said a body shop guy complained about too much wax on cars made it difficult to work on them. I believe the coverage would break down through the winter. My main concern was not surface rust but what I could not see.

Good luck, after seeing this I think I will be doing some touch paint on any chips.

 

Body shop guy must be just lazy there are plenty of products that one uses to remove contaminants before bodywork. Wipe on wipe off clean as a whistle.

 

I wonder how often OP washes his Fit not to have noticed this before. It sure didn't happen in the last year. More likely to have started from a chip 22-3 years ago to have spread this much.

My Taffy just turned 4 and has been through 4 Canadian winters with no rust. But then I clay bar and wax every year. I also touch up those tiny stone chips.

 

Years ago, my hood got a drop of rain-x on it, and it turned like this very quickly.

 

"a buddy of mine said that a body shop guy said" means "Im completely full of shit"

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

I will take it to the dealer and push them a bit...and hopefully get a good response.

I have only waxed the car once since I've owned it (from new...Nov 2009)...about 2 years ago. It gets washed occasionally by the Honda dealer when its in for oil changes, etc, and by me either myself or at a car wash. I have to admit that I hadn't washed it myself for a few months, so I hadn't noticed anything until now.

Since the problem areas are on the roof, I highly doubt that it's rock chips causing it. A rock just wouldn't hit it up there. I can only imagine that something falling from a tree would penetrate it. Since there are several spots, I doubt this is the case as well. That, and the spots don't seem to be caused by chips anyway (based on how they look).

Anyway, I'll take it to the dealer and see what they say. I think I'm technically covered under the warranty anyway?
Owner Resources - Official Honda Web Site

 

That was my thought but wax should break down over time.

 

The roof does get hit with debris my has several since reading this I am doing touch up paint. That is good news about the dealer good luck.

 

Thanks guys. I finally made an appointment to bring it in for this Friday...I'll post an update once I get it.

I'm hoping for a completely new roof panel covered under warranty...but we'll see.

 

I'm pretty certain you won't get a new roof panel. I'm not even sure you can reasonably replace the roof panel; I think it's a welded-in part of the car structure. It's certainly not an easy part to take off and replace (like, say, a fender or bumper is).

What they may do for you is clean out and fill the bad spots, and paint them to match. If done properly, it should be as good as new from a car reliability standpoint, and practically undetectable (at least without very careful inspection). This would not be a warranty repair, as the corrosion warranty only covers perforation. They may be willing to deal on a goodwill basis, though.

 

Sorry for the late follow up, but I wanted to update the thread...

I brought the car in for the body shop at the Honda dealer I purchased the car from a couple weeks ago. The tech inspected the spots, was really surprised that I'm having a problem with it, and submitted a claim to Honda to hopefully get it covered.

After about a week, they told me that Honda WILL cover the repair under warranty, apparently on a good-will basis (they wouldn't normally cover it). This surprised me since I thought there was a provision about rust in the warranty... Either way, I'm happy that they're going to cover it.

However, I'm a little concerned that the problem will continue to persist after the current rust spots are removed. They will be sanding the panel down, getting rid of the rust, applying some corrosive sealant and then repainting the panel. To me, this doesn't seem like it will completely solve the problem being. I was really hoping for the roof panel to be replaced.. Time will tell I suppose. I just hope I don't have to go through this again in 6 months after I start to find more rust...

The body shop tech said that they haven't seen this before on ANY Fit. In fact, another guy at the shop came out, looked at the car, and couldn't believe that there was rust. Crazy.

The car goes in for repair tomorrow and I should have it back in a few days. We'll see how it goes.

 

that does seem odd. mainly because my 09's been outside 24/7 since 2008 and rarely washed...and no such rust. i'm also in snowbelt state where they use salt.

i had some rust spots on the hood from rock chips which i cleaned and touchedup, but that was it. nothing like those in your picts.
GL with the repairs.