2002 TB Rust Problem

Last winter I found rust forming under bubbled paint at the bottom seams on the inside of both rear doors of my 02 TB. I waited until spring to have the dealer fix it. This past April, GM had the dealer sandblast, seal, and repaint the entire lower inside seams of both rear doors.

About a month later I saw some bubbling paint on the inside of the front of the hood, again at the seam. I brought back to the dealer, and they actually found the same issue with the tailgate seam. Again the dealer sandblasted, sealed, and repaintedboth areas.

Now, I see more bubbling paint on the inside of the rear doors, this time half way up the back of the doors. Even worse, the original rust found at the bottom of the rear doors is returning by way of more bubbling paint down there. It looks like the primer lets loose from the metal near the seam, and then rust starts to set it with the worst area being where the most moisture lies (bottom of rear doors).

The dealer suggests I ask GM for new rear doors, as the first repair attempt did not work.. This should be fun. I'm so disappointed with GM. Although I've owned only GM vehicles (8 total) my whole life, I must say there's no excuse for this kind of awful product quality and this'll probably be the last straw. Now to get it fixed so I can launch it and buy from a company that merits my business.

Is anyone else seeing this problem??

Thanks.

I've owned only GM vehicles (8 total) my whole life

And one with problems. So you've got an 87.5% success rate. :D

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And one with problems. So you've got an 87.5% success rate. :D

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The topic here is a rust problem that began to appear at around the 2 year/20,000 mile mark. I didn't think it worth while (or relevant) to list previous problems I'd had with GM vehicles. I would say that its implied it was not something as inexcusable as rust on all seams at 20,000 miles. GM had better wake up. I am all about buying American cars, but it would take some people much less of an excuse than rusted doors on a $30,000, two year vehicle to do otherwise.

What is your point anyway? I'm trying to guage how many other TB owners have the same problem, and what, if anything, they were able to do about it. If you have something constructive to add to this post, please do so. If not, please go display your math skills somewhere else.

please go display your math skills somewhere else.

Please unknot your panties and chill out. It was a joke.

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Please unknot your panties and chill out. It was a joke.

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Is this the wise a** forum or what? Last I checked it had to do with TBs.

I'm not posting here to put up with your smart a** remarks. I do hope the moderator is taking note .

Go away.... leave this thread for those of us who are here to share info regarding our vehicles in a constructive manner.

reading the past posts compudude...it sounds like you started it all with the "go display your math skills somewhere else".

It really doesn't matter anyways...it's all good.... :smokin:

GM can't control rust...I think that's personally asking a lot. I used to live in the snow belt...and rust sucks...but its a part of life in the midwest. I don't know where you live, but if you live or drive on gravel roads and also have sanded/salted roads in the winter time, you would be well aware that when rocks chip the paint...you could easily have rust in a year...much less two years...especially if you don't take care of your vehicle.

I'll show you pics of our 88 camaro...that spent the last 17 years in Ohio, then you'll know what rust is.

The rust is not due to chipped paint. It is showing up mainly on the inner rear door seams where the outer door skin sheet metal wraps around the inner door metal. The rust is creeping out from the overlapped seams and working it way under the paint. I actually have paint peeling off (and subsequent rust) as far up the inner part of the rear doors as the level of the door handles. Also, the same kind of thing was happening under the hood and tailgate although, to date, no re-occurrance there since repaired.

I did speak to a GM rep who told me that it was just cosmetic. I told her that the fact that the car would soon be worth a lot less due to a lousy manufacturing process at GM was not just "cosmetic". I do see more posts on the Net regarding the issue. I even found the same kind of problem on my buddy's 02 Envoy. GM had better wake up...

Any way, as the body repairs did not resolve the rust issue on the doors, I'm trying to get new ones from GM but not holding my breath.

As for the tit for tat earlier in this post, I really wasn't in the mood for joking...... 18000 miles and rust showing up at most inner sheet metal seams is not funny. I guess I'm just pissed at myself for having given GM one more opportunity to screw me.. Never more.

I have the same issue with my 2003 with 36K miles. The dealer looked last week and it will be going back to be fixed in a couple weeks. I am concerned as well. I have found in the past that once rust starts you can never really get rid of it. I have read multiple posts of others with the same issue. This should not be an issue with a two year old vehicle. The dealer agreed.

Hello everyone. I too own a 02 TRAILBLAZER w/around 51,000 miles, but I have not seen any RUST problems. I will however, walk out there now and inspect it.

Hope your issue got resolved bro'. That must suck to have an ongoing problem like that.

Every GM vehicle I've owned has, or has had, this type of rust (hum, that would be 100% I'm guessing). The door skins are glued to the inner panels and as the panels heat and cool, expand and contract, the adhesive loses it's seal, water enters and stays, rust develops. I've yet to find a permanent fix for this, just keep cleaning and touching it up with paint. Sure unusual to see this in a two or three year old vehicle though. Does sound like your dealer is making a genuine effort to solve the problem though, and that is an eye opener these days.

Thanks to all for your replies. My case with GM is still open. Things are moving slowlly as its vacation time for most.

As for this kind of problem with previous GM vehicles of mine, I've never seen anything like it. I live in New England, and we get a decent amount of snow resulting in a lot of road salt, so all my vehicles experienced the same environment in that regard. The only time I can remeber this kind of rust problem was with my 73 Olds. All my newer GMs (83 and up) were excellent with regards to lack of seam rust.

I beleive there's a manufacturing flaw with my 02 TB. I can't imagine bubbling paint and subsequent rust in this many body locations as being an expected situation. Its defintiely not acceptable to open the rear door of a three year old vehicle and easily see rust spots that are now almost 1" in diameter.

I'm keeping hushed about it to my import driving buddies, as they'd have a field day bashing my decesion to buy American with "I told you so" s. As I stated in my first post, GM had better wake up before its too late..

I'l keep you guys posted as to final outcome, and thanks again for all the comments.

Hope you get your rust issue with gm resolved soon! :D

I have had the same problem with my '02 TB. I took mine back and had ALL 4 doors redone! Now it is coming back. I just found out that my brothers neighbor, who has an extended TB, also has rust on her doors. I was comforted however to find out that GM has a 6 year warranty on rust...

The sad thing is that the '94 Honda Civic that I sold to a friend to get this truck still has NO rust.

Good Luck

Sorry to hear I'm not alone with this rust problem.

I just met with the dealer service manager, GM rep, and the dealer's autobady shop manager regarding the problem. The GM rep approved replacing the two rear dooors, so that's promising. However, during the meeeting the autobody manager re-inspected the fornt doors and thought there might be rust starting on one of them. When I got home, I gently flaked away a small piece of paint at the bottom of the inside of the passenger side front door and voila.... rust.

So, I'm going to hit them up for replacement of that door also. Wish me luck. I'll keep everyone posted. We're talking about three doors, that's some bucks..

Also, I know GM has a 100,000 mile rust warranty, but I though that just dealt with rust-through and not surface rust. Hopefully I'm wrong on that.

OK. Here's an update to my situation.

GM has agreed to replace all four door skins. The TB 's in the dealer's body shop right now. Also, the autobody shop will warranty their work against rust for as long as I own the vehicle.

Previous surface repair attempts were not working becasue the rust would just pop out of the seams in a few months. Now the skins come off, and the entire door frame can be checked and cleaned of rust. New skins will be "glued" at seams. Supposedly the glue method seals the best.

Thats great to hear GM finally has resolved (hopefully for good) your rust problems. I have been checking my 02 every once in a while to make sure I dont get any rust, but at least I know what GM's rust policy is now!

I've got the same problem. I own a 2003 Trailblazer LS that had rust along the seams of the rear doors and along the seams under the hood. Nothing on the front doors. The tailgate was fine but that was replaced just a year ago for another reason.

I've lived in Minnesota all my life and I realize that cars rust quickly here but usually not this quickly. My old Eclipse lasted seven years before I saw a hint of rust and even then, there wasn't as much as what was on my TB after just two years.

I was at 37,500 miles but the dealership decided to repair the rust anyway. They removed the rust and applied a type of thick paste to all the seams. The stuff dries like cement. Then they repainted the seams.

I've been told that this new rust sealent will work for the life of the car. The problem is, I'm not sure if it's going to prevent new rust or just keep rust from bubbling through the paint again while it's eating away at the door.

I'll let you know if the rust returns. Odds are, even if it does, the cement will hide it from me!

By the way - I've been told that the rust policy is that up to 36,000 miles they will repair any rust damage. After that, up to 100,000 miles, they will only repair rust damage if it actually creates a hole all the way through the metal. You would most likely have a pretty ugly looking car long before that would ever happen.

My dealer tried the seam sealer route first, and th erust returned in a less than six months. Also, after the old door skins where removed, it was easy to see that the rust had begun to travel up the inside of the door panle also.

So far so good as far no re-appearance goes. Lets see how it looks after a New England winter though.

Good luck with yours.