So the coupe is 4 months old and I changed the oil yesterday. While sliding around underneath the car I noticed that the control arms and a few other components already have rust on them. Disappointing, as this car has not yet seen winter or road salt.

Question... do you guys just let this go, or do you sand and paint using a rust-preventing paint? I know this is really only aesthetic, but it bugs the ap-cray out of me.

 

This is completely normal. If you want to sand and repaint under car components every time they have a light surface rust, you'll be under your car doing it every few weeks. Out of curiosity, what part of the world do you live in? This will happen anywhere there's humidity in the air.

 

Chicago. The winter road salt isn't our friend.

 

My car has never seen winter here in TX but I have it too from the humidity. The only cars that won't are garage queens that never see the road unless it's clear and sunny on a weekend.

 

Like BB said, you'll see rust on the car no matter where you are (unless it's a garage queen). Just even splashing through puddles will give you rust. Now if it was a body panel, that's a different story but for components underneath, it is completely normal.

 

Man! I thought you were talking about something like panels, LOL. Metal + water/moisture = rust ALL DAY... especially on the bottom of your car.

 

The rotors on my 2006 corvette develop surface rust after not being driven for a week or so. Every time. And the car has never seen snow or rain in its life, and has spent every night tucked in in my garage. Humidity is the enemy, especially here in the humid summers.

 

I don't know about you but there was a day when Nissan/Datsun use to paint the underside components almost as well as the upper sheet metal. I mean there was no area that wasn't painted unless it was aluminum. Of course that was back in the 70's - 80's. Now it seems anyway they can say a few bucks on the car they will. I don't like rust on any component under the car or in the engine bay. I know it's probably something that won't fail or cause a problem in the future but it just plain looks bad and shows signs of a lower quality ethic. When other manufacturers started looking to why they were loosing sales to the Japanese, they looked at the fit and finish of components under the car and even inside the major components such as transmissions, differentials, and engines. These extra attention to detail are what made the Japanese take over the market in the past. It's now what is hurting them when the Koreans are doing it even better. If the Chinese ever surpass the quality of the Koreans then we're all in trouble. Remember it was a car like the NSX which made Ferrari pay closer attention to their designs, ergonomics, fit and finish and now where they build a hell of a great car in all areas. It's the little things that make the biggest differences. JMO

Al

 

^^^ It's the little things in deed.... buuuuuuut probably not whether the bottom of the car i painted or not LOL

 

if you go to your Infiniti delarship, and look under all the new cars in the lot you will probably see the same rust.

 

Indeed, rust is not attractive but...