2013 Honda Accord rusting already...

[mosaud1998]

Went to go wash my dad's car at a touch-free car wash and this is what I noticed while drying the car....

2013 Accord 76k miles. Garaged until 2019

Don't know how a body guy's going to fix it but

 

[billt460]

You just gotta love Chicago Winters.

 

[Zee09]

I had a 13 Accord Sport-new.
In two years the wheels flaked and as delivered you could see primer under the paint. It was a lease so I let it go but never went back.

 

[PF52]

We had a 2002 Accord...... It was no match for Illinois salt.

 

[mosaud1998]

I had a 13 Accord Sport-new.
In two years the wheels flaked and as delivered you could see primer under the paint. It was a lease so I let it go but never went back.

I've heard Hondas paint quality sucks but I didn't think it would start to rust this quick. Hell, my 13-year-old BMW I just sold was rust-free.

The 1998 Toyota Camry we had in 2019 didn't start to rust until it was like 15 years old or so

 

[Zee09]

I've heard Hondas paint quality sucks but I didn't think it would start to rust this quick. Hell, my 13-year-old BMW I just sold was rust-free.

The 1998 Toyota Camry we had in 2019 didn't start to rust until it was like 15 years old or so

I have heard that was a bad year.
I had a 2010 insight new as well.
At lease end I only put 13k miles on it. I am super easy on cars but I wore out the armrest and the paint was bad too.
Honda went down hill by cost cutting. Even my long time dealer agreed when I refused to buy again after the Accord

 

[billt460]

I've heard Hondas paint quality sucks but I didn't think it would start to rust this quick.

I think with Honda it's more of a lack of quality of their steel. I remember back in the mid to late 80's, they had a recall on Accords that had major issues with the fenders rusting through in as little as 2 years on cars driven in the rust belt.

They ended up replacing many free of charge. I had a co worker at the time who owned one, and got 2 free fenders out of the deal. But it didn't matter. The thing was a bucket of rust after just 5 years. It would appear this problem is ongoing with them.

 

[mosaud1998]

I have heard that was a bad year.
I had a 2010 insight new as well.
At lease end I only put 13k miles on it. I am super easy on cars but I wore out the armrest and the paint was bad too.
Honda went down hill by cost cutting. Even my long time dealer agreed when I refused to buy again after the Accord

Well, hopefully a body shop can take care of it

 

[hrv]

My 07 Accord had no rust...........also on my 03 civic..

 

[ChrisMU]

I hope Honda improved the front subframe design from the 1998-02 era Accords. My folks had a 2001 that they purchased new and babied. It looked mint with no visible body rust. In 2008, it went to my college-aged brother. He drove the car and told my dad that it might need some front end work (at 110k). Dad looked underneath and that front subframe was rotten. It turns out that not only was it a design that trapped (salt) water, the a/c also drained into it. They traded it in soon after.

 

[PF52]

I hope Honda improved the front subframe design from the 1998-02 era Accords. My folks had a 2001 that they purchased new and babied. It looked mint with no visible body rust. In 2008, it went to my college-aged brother. He drove the car and told my dad that it might need some front end work (at 110k). Dad looked underneath and that front subframe was rotten.

I think it was more than just those years. My brother had an older Accord.... The subframe and (oddly) the sheetmetal on the car's roof rotted away. Neighbors retired their Acura also for a rotted subframe. Granted, I never crawled under and looked so I don't know if it is specifically the subframe, or the unibody where the subframe attaches to it.... But Illinois salt has been bad to them either way.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

I have seen several Honda's have rust issues over the years. It may be that the iron content of the sheet metal they use is higher than other comparable makes. Another thing to consider for anyone who frequents touchless automatic car washes is that they use either high akaline or acidic presoaks as chemical action to dissolve and remove the solids prior to the rinse cycle. These high concentrations of either base or acid chemicals cannot be good for repeated use on automotive finishes and coatings. The mechanical action washes that use traditional mitters, and spinning pads use chemicals and soaps that are less harsh. Lastly most automatic washes recycle a percentage of their wash water. This also equates to many vehicles being resprayed with filtered waters that may have dissolved road salts in them thereby adding insult to injury.

As far as repair to your Dad's car. The repair needs to start by mechanically (via sanding) removing all the corrosion on the exterior. Then chemically treating the interior of the panel with some kind of corrosion or rust converter. After the perforated holes are welded shut on the exterior skin, then both the interior and exterior of the panel surfaces can be sealed and coated with proper primer and paint coatings.

Some shops or individual owners will then go the extra route by spraying the interior of the panels with some kind of wax or petroleum based coating like Fluid Film. I once worked for a fellow who grew up in Minneapolis. He would spray all of his cars through the panel drain holes with some kind of oil mixture so much so that it would be dripping out of said drain holes for days afterwards. His rust preventative measures did work very well as a result.

Good Luck with the repairs, and now you know the reason why rust is called "cancer" by many in the industry.

 

[Trav]

If you start poking at that its going to be huge hole, the problem is it is rusting behind it too as you see at the seam. It can be repaired but to do it right its going to get expensive. I would start by removing it about 1/3 the way down by cutting and drilling out the spot welds then see whats the rest looks like inside.

The whole rocker and maybe some internal pieces may need to go, this is getting into big $$$, the cheap way grind it down and patch over it but that's a loser right from the get go, the bugger will be rusting before the paint dries (exaggeration). If you can weld and have the time and patience it isn't that much money in materials.

 

[dishdude]

There's no practical way to repair that, you drive it until it's a safety hazard and replace it. Car is already 9 years old.

 

[avacado11]

That’s not bad for a 9 year old car

 

[Trav]

Its not good either, my 1999 VW Beetle only sees winter use for the last 8 years and still has no rust and its 22 years old.

 

[billt460]

A lot of "Winter use" varies a lot in terms of rusting. If you live in the city, your vehicle is going to see a LOT more salt, along with salty water and slush, than if you live far out in the suburbs.

The inner city salts constantly in the Winter. I remember seeing literally piles of salt at intersections, where salt trucks sat at red lights with the spreader spinning.

In the more rural areas they were lucky to get plows to get through.

 

[E365]

Could be worse. Here’s a Kia Sorento I saw yesterday.

 

[doitmyself]

Yes, those blisters shown in OP are rust coming from the inside. I think corrosion issues have moved backwards. Maybe stronger deicers and less effective metal. With my current 9 year old vehicle I returned to getting annual Krown applications. So far, so good. $125 annually adds up, but that rust from the inside is painful to deal with. If nothing else, I have a certain peace of mind during winter salt season.

It's difficult overcoming the OCD to have a pristine clean car 100% of the time regarding salt residue. I don't believe in over-washing in winter - here in Michigan it is pointless because it lasts only a day or two. And, high pressure water pushing salt deeper into seams, seems to be counter productive. It's hard to accept a messy engine bay and underbody from the Krown (not normally seen by others). Can't have cake and eat it too, lol. Want rust or a bit of messiness? I choose messiness and peace of mind. Just my opinion.

 

[Delta]

If you start poking at that its going to be huge hole, the problem is it is rusting behind it too as you see at the seam. It can be repaired but to do it right its going to get expensive. I would start by removing it about 1/3 the way down by cutting and drilling out the spot welds then see whats the rest looks like inside.

The whole rocker and maybe some internal pieces may need to go, this is getting into big $$$, the cheap way grind it down and patch over it but that's a loser right from the get go, the bugger will be rusting before the paint dries (exaggeration). If you can weld and have the time and patience it isn't that much money in materials.

I just looked and it looks like they still make the rocker panels for these cars. Somebody with welding experience should have no problem doing that job. It is still very tedious though!

I spent forever on a small section of the old beater car I had. No panels were available anymore and the inner was pretty crispy. Now THAT was time consuming making all those parts!