meilers

Before I commit myself to the all-day job of painting my rusted brake rotors , I wonder if any of you have been able to convince your dealer to replace them under warranty. My understanding is that the unpainted/uncoated rotors were only on 2002 WRX models from the first half of that year (when my car was made) and that late 2002, 2003 and 2004 models come with rotors that are pre-painted black. My rotors are CRAZY rusted -- on the left front rotor, every inch of the rotor that is not a contact point with the pads is deep orange. Note that this is in Arizona, a very dry climate!

The fact that they started stocking the painted rotors at all seems to be an admission that there is a problem with the unpainted ones -- at least that's the argument I am going to use when I take the car in next week. What do you think my chances are in getting them replaced? Are they a drivetrain warranty item? Unlike most dealer experiences reported on this board (people only tell horror stories, never praise online it seems) my dealer has been excellent, "winking" at my Perrin air filter and giving me free auto washes and paint protectant spray when I go in; they even endorsed the idea of lowering the car with Eibach springs, as long as I have them install them. Still, they may groan about this one... anyone have success stories to share?

gdogg

iTrader: (38)

free oil changes, fluid fill ups, winks @ my aftermarket parts, and as far as the rotor part goes....do you really wanna save that much money t resort to stock 03/04 rotors? honestly i hate em. they suck(warpage). but if you must save $ then try to. won't hurt. if anything beg for the one off a salvaged one(if they get one) before they tow it.

DrD

Brake rotor rust is a fact of life - dealer is not going to replace them unless they really like you... the reason you notice it so much on the WRX is the open wheels - every other car I have owned has had rotors which rusted like crazy. (as an aside, mine are essentially rust free - and I am in a similar climate to you in Abq., NM)

The 02's had coated rotors, they just weren't painted black (they had a silver coating on them - there is even a tsb about how it causes increased scoring of the rotors) - even the late 02's had silver rotors (mine was made the month before 03 production began, and has silver - I would guess the switch happened sometime early in the 03 model year)

The Mirror

iTrader: (1)

My '03 rusts the rotors overnight.

meilers

I did a walk around the office parking lot today, and I found a Nissan Sentra, a Chevy Cavalier and about a dozen other cars with open alloy wheel designs, and not a spot of rust on the rotors. Sorry, I'm not going to accept that rust of this magnitude is the status quo. As it is right now, I can poke a finger at my rotors and it comes away totally orange -- indication that metal is actually flaking off the rotor, not mere surface discoloration.

Kwilson21

Mine did the same thing... overnight all the sudden they had rust.... i went to the dealer and the service guy walked my out back where they keep there inventory and showed me 20 brand new WRX's all never driven...all with rust on the Calipers... i asked him what the deal was and he couldn't give me a str8 answer. I ultimatly fought with him about it and they agreed to wirebrush my existing calipers and paint them and we would split the cost. I never did it out of principle.

Its only a matter of time before someone wrecks and sues SOA for manufacturing defects related to this issue.... I'm sure they'll figure it out then.

gdogg

iTrader: (38)

for clarification on the location of rust----- review the link... of course the contact area will rust overnight(which disappears after braking)- - - but the other sections really shouldn't... but the fact that it wasn't painted black sure doesn't help. . . it just looks ugly-thats all. paint em.
ihave my stock 03 brakes with 34,000 miles... they rust overnight(contact area) my only real complaint is that they warp too easily- what do you expect right?(stock)