Accident damage, but worse... My Swift is rusting away!

[amitoj]

Thad, maybe you should get hold of the vehicle that collided with you and thank them
If it weren't for the accident, you might have noticed the rust only after the warranty period!

[RajaTaurus]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

This is 2010, not 1960. I did not expect any bodywork rust. Now I know better..

Well, may be you need to suspect everything right form the beginning(with all due respect to Maruti and its dealer network).
- Did they sell you a re-done (that too poorly) car from the beginning?
- Was it worked upon due to any incident before delivery by the dealer and you were never told a word about it?
These kind of rusting happens on 1960's body-shop work (called tinkering shops those days), using premitive materials like putty etc to build up the plate and then paint over it. any crack on the paint, propagates inside, lets water to go in and remain there merrily eating away the base metal. So, my question is; Is it possible that the dealer tried to hatch-patch any incident happened during his possession of the car before delivery through some local road-side body-shop guy and it showed up now?

[supremeBaleno]

@r_nairtvm, I agree that it is always good to invest some time to look under the bonnet and have atleast a casual periodic observation / preventive-maintenance. And being from the old school, I do this.

But having to do this on a 3-year old car in today's times to look for rust ? No sir. 3-years is too young for a car to rust away like what happened in Thad's case. This clearly looks like a defective part / bad QC.

[thedreamcatcher]

See, rust is like cancer or termites. The second it even occurs, unless tended to in time, it will eat away anything in its sight. So, a car need not necessarily be submerged or whatever to a deep extent. A part that is very low, but in contact with water can develop a rust and then rapdily spread to other parts

Water should most likely be the culprit in this case, and unless you are hosing your car from the inside daily, I dont think daily washing is an issue at all

[Thad E Ginathom]

RajaTaurus, As I recall, this model was new-out when I bought it, so there was not time for any of those things to have happened.

Your advice to suspect everything, of course, is good advice. There is plenty of dodgy practice in the motor trade all over the world.

Amitoj, you are right: it was all for the best! The only thing that has changed today is that, after all the crazy depreciation and stuff, it is just not worth claiming the accident work on insurance. This happened on the last day of last years policy, so the first thing is we would have to repay the NCB for this year's policy, as we would not be entitled to it.

[yzfrj]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I was thinking that, if I was Maruti, I would be so anxious to find out what happened, I would probably have wanted to buy the car back, dismantle the whole thing, and analyse everything, not for the customer's sake, but for the sake of necessary R&D.

Wishful thinking eh ?

Originally Posted by SirAlec

pure negligence.
The part to reach that state must have taken time. Its will not rust this much within a month.

I don't really agree, most blokes don't have a clue about cars and never even open up the hood. This is especially true for "older" people.
I think we need to consider the average chap here or a complete car "noob" who just drives and nothing else.

In that case is that pure negligence ? I think its crappy quality.
Just my view.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Hey, "older" person here!

no, I wouldn't really like them to take the car back off me. I'm just thinking what I might think if I was a Maruti big wig; I'd want to know the why of this!

I don't have any illusions about the Swift: it is superb value for money. That means that it is cheaply and lightly built; it means that maybe there aren't as many coats of paint as there might be on a more expensive vehicle --- but still, corrosion protection is basic, even on a low-price car.

[yzfrj]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Hey, "older" person here!

no, I wouldn't really like them to take the car back off me. I'm just thinking what I might think if I was a Maruti big wig; I'd want to know the why of this!

Ooops...!
Really did't know and I never meant it in a sarcastic way.
Apologies if you felt bad.

Its rather true based on my observations all my uncles are living examples.

The only exception I've seen is my dad, he just loves the thing and takes care of it very well. wash, vacuum the inside , check every bit of the car and the cycle continues every week and in rains he does it every other day. Polish once in 3 months or so.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by yzfrj

most blokes don't have a clue about cars and never even open up the hood.

Infact believe it or not, some don't even know how to open the hood. A colleague's 1-year old car (Getz) stopped enroute to work and won't crank. He called the A.S.S and they ask him to open the bonnet to do some remote debugging. The guy does not know how to open the hood and calls me.

P.S. : Problem was traced to one of the battery terminal connections being off.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by yzfrj

Apologies if you felt bad.

No problem: I didn't feel bad at all, hence the laughing smiley.

Both my parents were much more deeply into cars than I am, and were quite happy under the hood. My mother drove until a few weeks before her death at nearly 90.

A colleague's 1-year old car (Getz) stopped enroute to work and won't crank. He called the A.S.S and they ask him to open the bonnet to do some remote debugging. The guy does not know how to open the hood and calls me.

I was horrified that to hear that a female colleague had called the AA to change a wheel! You might have noticed in other threads, that I have some strongly feminist ideals --- and equality cuts both ways! Frankly, I was amazed at anyone who drives a car not knowing how to do that! My mum would have had the job finished quicker than getting the mobile phone out. Come to think of it... she never had a mobile phone!

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Yes, it will be done under warranty.

Good that they have accepted to cover it under warranty

Is there a way to find out that car is not prone to such rusting issues again? In my case, rusts slowly appeared in many places esp around the edges with bubble formation. If the warranty gets expired, Iam sure Maruti is not going to entertain any such requests, hence if there is a way to find out possible rusting problems, atleast you can decide whether to retain or sell the car

[ph03n!x]

All's well that ends well. I'd suggest you take the car to IgNite after you get it back and have Raghav's team do a thorough look-see, to make sure there is nothing else rotting off to the cancer-of-metal.

[asethi]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I used to be proud of owning the only Swift that didn't rattle: now I find the whole damned thing is falling apart. Worrying; very worrying.

Status: being referred to Maruti by MSS. They tell us they will will get a reply by tomorrow afternoon and will call us by 3.00pm.

Maybe the humid Chennai climate is to be blamed, but surely that can't be taken as an excuse by Maruti for such worse condition.
I'm worried about my Swift now, rainy season is on the way.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by asethi

Maybe the humid Chennai climate is to be blamed, but surely that can't be taken as an excuse by Maruti for such worse condition.
I'm worried about my Swift now, rainy season is on the way.

No way! We live a stone's throw from the beach, and have a 5+ year old Santro that is still rust free (I checked). And a 16 year old Peugeot, that has spent quite sometime parked without a roof on top, is still rust free.

[SirAlec]

I am not saying quality of each new vehicle is top notch, even R.C. Bhargawa, Maruti CMD cannot vouch for that.

WHat I am saying is it helps if you check the car now and then. Because you will not take home the car that you book at dealership, if you actually know their journey from factory to dealership yard and finally to you.
In short they are not kept nicely.