Rust Issue

[Michael]

You know, I bet you the dealer will pay close attention to it when you go to trade in your H2 for a newer one in a few years.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I've never had any type of rust problems on any other vehicle that I've owned.

Does the H1 have this problem?

[Duramax Diesel for H2]

True, but GM should have thought about it a bit more on the H2, as the whole rear drivetrain is clearly visible. Or maybe they wanted people to see loads of rust under a H2...[/quote] Well Once GM has your money they could care less they just hope that everything last until the warranty runs out. That's when the vehicle will usually crap out.

[rpv]

to all concerned, esp the lawyers or car dealers...does this mean GM has no responsibility at all for the premature rust in our less than 6 month old H2s??? Won't the rust cause early wear and tear of certain rusty components???
RPV

Perhaps this might help…….
I had 2002 H2 with 11,000 miles on it.
When I got “tired” of issues I tried trading it for new H2.
Dealer offered $32,500 for mine, we settled at 34k.
And one of the arguments dealer used was …. Take a deep breath…. Unpopular vehicle with issues.
Next to rather long list of repairs and few beyond repair things, with that altitude I just went to MB.
Got myself G500 and got 37k for my H2.
I still love H2, don’t understand me wrong way, it’s just that I don’t like being showed around.
I had rust spread all over the undercarriage and I took care of it. Removed it, primer+paint+marine type inhibitor.
Did good. Than I found rust under the carpet behind rear seats, cargo space. Huge rust spots!?!?!?
Tried cleaning it just to discover that one, next to the RR wheel well was “see-through” spot.
Similar on driver door. Bottom inside with heavy rust.
I agree, it’s the first run and small glitches are to be expected.
I just didn’t want to end up with rusted H2 even before warranty expires. Yes, this is Chicago, land of road salt, but still....

[HummerGirl]

hmmm...am going to check mine out too...I would definitely be all over the dealer about the Lemon Law thing. Did you ask about that????

~amy

White 2003 H2
Got Soap?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why are there no fireworks at EuroDisney? Because every time they went off, the French tried to surrender."
--Unknown ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[MAC]

Could it be just a bad shift of bottom painters at the Hummer plant or frame supplier's plant. My guess is the frame came painted and pre-assembled from a supplier or sub-contractor. That shift of workers did not follow the same guidelines. We have all seen workers dedicated to their jobs and workers who absolutely don't give a #@$%**@ about their jobs and self-worth. Workers in other smaller plants do not share the same pride in building a Hummer because it is just a frame No. XXXXX they are putting together, could be any one or combo of hundreds of reasons, labor issues that week. Hummer should have a strict QC to spot the problem parts in plant.

[rpv]

guys and gals,
about this lemon law thing...how do we find out about it per state bec obviously the dealers will have other priorities and try to steer us the wrong way...any suggestions???
rpv

[TJ]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rpv:
guys and gals,
about this lemon law thing...how do we find out about it per state bec obviously the dealers will have other priorities and try to steer us the wrong way...any suggestions???
rpv<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The lemon law varies state by state, so it will depend on which state you live in. A good starting place to send you in the right direction would be a search right here on the good ol' Internet. Just go to your search engine, type in the STATE you live in and then LEMON LAW and it should bring up quite a few places for you to start your research.

[buddy]

With all this rust chatter I had to put on the coveralls, grab a flashlight and take a look under the ol' beast and see for myself. It's been a couple of months or so since I had a look around.

It was pretty much as I had expected. Most of the fasteners, the torison bars keys, steering knuckles, and rear drivetrain housing has some rust. Some of the rusty areas will get much worse without attention, and some areas will always have no more than a surface rust. IMO, I believe most this rust we're seeing, is nothing more than cosmetic to the underside. Either way it definitely needs to be addressed by the dealer. Rust to the sheetmetal would be totally unacceptable, period.

I could stop or slow down the rusting fasteners and such, but would rather let someone else do it these days. I don't have any desire to start one of thoses rustproffing jobs like I went through a long time ago, and eventually lost. Not a GM product though, a MB 450SL.

I have a good dealer, will check with him tomorrow.

[West Point H2]

I have a three week old white adventure series.
I opted to not get the dealer undercoating because of the reputation that they often do a "spray can" type job. I started noticing some trace rust around the rear differential etc. I took my H2 to the local Ziebart rust proofing center and had it and paint protectant done. The rep told me that the factory puts a thin wax coat on the frame and undercarriage that wears off in short order. Ziebart chemically cleans and removes all residue from the undercarriage, and then applies several coats of rust protectant. They did an excellent job, guaranteed for 5 years... looks similar to Phil's picture upon completion... the cost - $199. The diamond coat paint protectant is well worth the $ as well... no waxing for 5 years, or so they say. It is very easy to remove dirt though, everything, and I mean everything rinses off completely at the car wash. Reading these horror stories about rust made me want to be as proactive as I can.

[GA_GOLD]

I would love to know what the story is with rust on the H2 ..

With less than 5K miles, I'm already seeing the u-joints, drive axle and other under carriage components rust.. So far the only wet sources have been rainy days in GA this spring... Here's what the GM rep said .."This is normal with unpainted parts "..Well duh ..So why does my 17 year old 4Runner have less or my 1998 F-150 4x4 ??.... I'm curious why others aren't rusting and some are .... Since my 1 year loaner Denali has similar issues , it appears GM is cutting corners to save $$ .. Who wants an SUV or Any vehicle with a rusting undercarriage .??.. Oh yeah if you read your rust warranty these parts ARE NOT covered under your rust warranty !!….

I’ve seen Hummer_Girl’s website and this is nearly identical to the rust ( corrosion ) I am seeing .. You can’t make any rational person believe this is “normal” per the BS the GM service manager spouted in response to my leaving the H2 at the dealership. It is either defective manufacturing or really piss poor quality control .. I’m sorry in a nearly 60K automobile , this is not acceptable !!!

Talk about Aggravating !!!… Any one want to buy a rusting H2 ?
5/19/03

[funpilot]

I'll offer you 20K for it. Then spend $200 on undercoating.

[kacyk]

I am just a day away from buying another H2. It's an '03 with 14K miles. I crawled under it to see if it's been off road. No signs of off road use but there was a lot of rust. Will Ziebart halp at this point? Also, is any of this (e.g. rusted bolts) covered under warranty? Has the rust caused any safety issues for you? I live in Seattle and this is a AZ car! Ironically, my Seattle H2 didn't show sign of rust, at least not like this one.

[LasVegas]

That's a great looking cleanup job on the rust! Let us know how it holds up. I think it's the luck of the draw. I have a mid-year '03 and never had a problem until my cd changer quite a month ago. Knock-Knock-Knock on wood. Hell, POUND on wood. I've had a couple "glitches" like losing the driver setting and the seat lumbar quiting for two days but it sorted itself out. Go figure??

[Fubar]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by West Point H2:
I have a three week old white adventure series.
I opted to not get the dealer undercoating because of the reputation that they often do a "spray can" type job. I started noticing some trace rust around the rear differential etc. I took my H2 to the local Ziebart rust proofing center and had it and paint protectant done. The rep told me that the factory puts a thin wax coat on the frame and undercarriage that wears off in short order. Ziebart chemically cleans and removes all residue from the undercarriage, and then applies several coats of rust protectant. They did an excellent job, guaranteed for 5 years... looks similar to Phil's picture upon completion... the cost - $199. The diamond coat paint protectant is well worth the $ as well... no waxing for 5 years, or so they say. It is very easy to remove dirt though, everything, and I mean everything rinses off completely at the car wash. Reading these horror stories about rust made me want to be as proactive as I can. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Funny with 500 stores around the world you'd think they'd have one in or near one of the largest cities in the world (Los Angeles) No of course not. I kind of figured there would be nothing in Nevada. Anyon know the closest state to NV or Ca that has a Ziebart store? I guess I could keep puting in states into there store locator and see what comes up. (ziebart.com)

from there site:
Ziebart and its franchise owners operate almost 500 stores in 42 countries around the world. To find the store nearest you, simply:

[LasVegas]

Well Fubar00 you know we do live in Vegas i.e. 4" annual rainfall (except this year) and 15% humidity and sunshine 305 days a year so I doubt Ziebart would do much business. There's several posts about rust behind the dash and when I put my Nav in a couple weeks ago not one speck of rust! As long as I live here it's not a concern. But I would think they might a store in Utah or maybe Phoenix.

[devilsfan]

It has zero to do with rain and humidity. Most of the rust problems come off the lot, not develop over time.

There was a thread a while back that offered a lot of alternatives over Ziebart, including quite a few that you could do at home. I know a lot of people tried these techniques over a year ago, and seem to be holding up fine. Do a site search for "rust" and you should come up with tons of threads on this.

Stacy