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And here is the really bad one, passenger side rear wheel well:
All of this rust isn't all that bad, that's why I'd like to take care of it now. I live in Northern NY near Canada and they salt the roads a lot so I know thats a contributing factor especially now since the steel is exposed. Isn't audi's steel not supposed to rust? I try to wash it once a week to keep the salt off of it, but it has been getting worse lately. I'm the 3rd owner of this Q7 and it now has 110k miles, it's in service date was December 2007. I know Audi has a 12 year corrosion warranty, do you think they would cover it? On the Car fax it says the vehicle had damage fixed. Visually and mechanically the car is fine, all panels are aligned correctly, no paint imperfections, and the vehicle drives perfectly. I imagine the previous owner made a stupid claim for something very minuscule. I actually think the claim is from a tire blow out, in the front wheel well the plastic is all bent and some cracked behind the wheel. Also the inflatable spare in the trunk appears to have been used before. This shouldn't have anything to do with the rear wheel well.
The other option would be to take it to an independent body shop, and pay for it out of pocket. Not something I really want to do, but if I had to, I would. does anyone have an idea how much something like that costs? I was just going to throw touch up paint on it but I decided not to because that would be a short term fix.
I bought the Q7 used so it could very well have had previous body work. I agree, rust is almost impossible to keep under control. I really wish the state didn't salt the roads, just force everyone to purchase dedicated snow tires. Salt is a certain slow death for vehicles. I will probably have to take it to an independent body shop. I still may try though.
I have the same problem on my 07, the worst is around the door handles, Audi didn't want to cover because they claimed it's from road rash but clearly the paint was botched from factory. I plan on going to court for that.
All depends Edd, Audi covered my allroad without complete perforation I only had paint bubbles, but that was in 2012... Nowadays Audi is a lot tougher on what they accept.
The issue on the doors and wheel well areas looks like it's due to stone chips or something causing the paint to chip. This lets water/salt get in there and do its work - likely not covered under warranty.
The top of the windshield though is a bit of a puzzle. Was going to say stone chips are common in that area too, but the way that it's such a wider and almost unbroken swath it makes me think it might have been damaged if the windshield was replaced. Likely not covered but might be worth asking about.
Check around your door handles, the mechanism is held down with one screw that scratched the paint from factory, adding the plastic spacer keeps road grime, salt and water then the paint pops.
Check around your door handles, the mechanism is held down with one screw that scratched the paint from factory, adding the plastic spacer keeps road grime, salt and water then the paint pops.
No issues there yet, now I'm contemplating fixing the rust in the wheel well my self. With a sander, primer, and OEM paint. Sounds crazy. I really should just take it to a body shop. Rust is usually the death of a car.
Get some POR-15. It will not chip off and can be painted over. You don't take the rust off before painting the POR-15 on, it adheres better to a lightly rusty surface.
http://www.por15.com
I have used it extensively and it is an awesome product.
02-07-2016, 11:39 AM
Q7 starting to rust; what should I do?
