My New 2013 Chevy Silverado Frame is Rusting Away with 300 miles

[chartersj]

My truck came with a paste like coating that rubs right off stock, but the dealers love to put an undercoating on top that dries hard and is absoute junk. It eventually cracks, lets moisture in behind and rusts out frames twice as quick. I cant understand why anyone in there right mind would use the stuff. Rust check just washes off the next time you drive through a rain storm. I use stuff in a spray can that does not dry, goes on like fluid film and tacks up. This is what you want.

[angelovic1]

Hi Everyone. I am new to the site and found the information very helpful. I just bought a brand new 2013 leftover Tahoe on 7/22. After 2 weeks and only one tiny rain (car is parked in a garage) I am blown away with the amount of rust that is suddenly popping up on the frame. I contacted the dealer and they referred to #PI0281D which has nothing to do with rusting of the frame. (That had to do with component rust...something I'm not concerned with.) I have always been super loyal and between myself and my family, we have 8 Chevy trucks. To make sure I wasn't losing my mind, I looked under my 2005 Trailblazer (200k miles) and my wife's 2007 Equinox (100k miles) and there is hardly a single spot of rust. I travel to northern Vermont frequently during the winter and I already know this is going to be a huge problem. To make things worse, I took a plane all the way to upstate NY to pick up the vehicle since that's where I found it on the lot. I am going to attach some photos. Any advice would be great. I want to make sure this gets reported and fixed early on especially before the winter. I called GM but they claim there is no issue they are aware of. I guess my next stop is to file a complaint with the State and the NHTSA. Please let me know what you guys think. I appreciate it.

[Chief5]

My 2013 w/11K miles

['01LS1]

Hi Everyone. I am new to the site and found the information very helpful. I just bought a brand new 2013 leftover Tahoe on 7/22. After 2 weeks and only one tiny rain (car is parked in a garage) I am blown away with the amount of rust that is suddenly popping up on the frame. I contacted the dealer and they referred to #PI0281D which has nothing to do with rusting of the frame. (That had to do with component rust...something I'm not concerned with.) I have always been super loyal and between myself and my family, we have 8 Chevy trucks. To make sure I wasn't losing my mind, I looked under my 2005 Trailblazer (200k miles) and my wife's 2007 Equinox (100k miles) and there is hardly a single spot of rust. I travel to northern Vermont frequently during the winter and I already know this is going to be a huge problem. To make things worse, I took a plane all the way to upstate NY to pick up the vehicle since that's where I found it on the lot. I am going to attach some photos. Any advice would be great. I want to make sure this gets reported and fixed early on especially before the winter. I called GM but they claim there is no issue they are aware of. I guess my next stop is to file a complaint with the State and the NHTSA. Please let me know what you guys think. I appreciate it.

 

The State or NHTSA is not going to help much if any. Keep knocking on dealers doors until someone will fix it under warranty. Maybe you have already found a dealer to fix it since this post is a month old?

[GMCustomerService]

Hello Chief5,

 

Are you experiencing an issue with your truck and rust? I would be happy to look into this for you. Feel free to private message me to discuss this further.

 

Jennifer T.

GM Customer Care

[rdbaja]

My 2011 Suburban Z71 chasis looks like a 20 year old rust bucket underneath.......I'm literally horrified. I live in SoCal beach area, truck has never seen snow and is garaged. Here's the kicker, I went to trade it in to buy a new GMC Sierra when they appraised my burb the sales guy says" your frame is really rusted, do you drive it in saltwater".....WTF, seriously??.....Didn't buy the Sierra

, because during the test drive my girlfriend was sitting in the backseat and hot air was blowing on her from my cooling driver seat. I said turn the AC vents towards you.......Oooops, there are none, thats a whole other topic, needless to say won't be buying a $50K that forgot to put AC for rear passengers, brilliant GM.

Unfricking believable, haven't contacted my dealer yet, but will today. After reading all these posts it seems like they aren't going to do s**t. Last GM I will ever purchase if they dog me and I'll make sure the word is out there.........I feel better now, woooo

[rdbaja]

I can not explain how excited I am with my $58,348 purchase of my 2011 Suburban..........here are pics, I bought it new 2 yrs 10 months and 7 days ago...........Never seen snow, I live 1/2 mile from beach in So. California. Truck has been at dealer for 2 days awaiting an answer for nearly a week on the fix if any...........

[RyanbabZ71]

Occasional salt/snow much better than being by salt water

 

 

Ryan

[00Silverado4x4]

I can not explain how excited I am with my $58,348 purchase of my 2011 Suburban..........here are pics, I bought it new 2 yrs 10 months and 7 days ago...........Never seen snow, I live 1/2 mile from beach in So. California. Truck has been at dealer for 2 days awaiting an answer for nearly a week on the fix if any...........

Dang, I think you have as much rust as my old '76 Chevy pickup. My '06 hasn't been driven on too many salted road or near salty area for too long but after almost 9 years my rust is surface only and nothing that looks like yours. Heck the tailpipe, when it's clean, still looks brand new.

[gnet158]

OUCH! Have you lived by the beach the whole time? That's really bad.

[CapitalTruck]

I would be curious to know if all of the trucks that have this problem come off the same line. I'm telling you, something is seriously wrong with that on a molecular level or something. Like there's a charge issue on the metal or who the hell knows what. Some outside force is accelerating the chemical reaction that takes place which causes rust. I'm pretty sure I could leave a piece of untreated metal outdoors for that amount of time and it wouldn't look like that. That is just insane.

[Jsdirt]

It's one of two things:

 

Either GM is using inferior steel, or, local governments are using highly corrosive agents in construction zones to combat dust (this I know to be true up here, in addition to road salt).

 

After just 2 years of owning my '07, I was blown away at the amount of rust. I had backed into a tiny sapling at less than walking speed, and the entire bed crumpled like a tin can, all the way up over the axle. Had to go on a frame machine to be straightened! I found all the rust disassembling the bumper ...

 

That said, it's probably a combination of those 2 aforementioned things ... Our Forefathers are rolling in their graves ..

[j-ten-ner]

I can not explain how excited I am with my $58,348 purchase of my 2011 Suburban..........here are pics, I bought it new 2 yrs 10 months and 7 days ago...........Never seen snow, I live 1/2 mile from beach in So. California. Truck has been at dealer for 2 days awaiting an answer for nearly a week on the fix if any...........

 

Do you take your truck to the beach once in a while?

By the look of your skid plate and the frame rail it seems like the truck was dragged through dirt or sand.

Not judging, just wondering.

 

so long

j-ten-ner

[rdbaja]

Never been in the sand or water, done some backwood camping and some desert trail camping in Baja. I'm very meticulous with all my cars trucks and bikes when it comes to salt protection thats what so baffling. My neighbors 2012 Tacoma, not a spec of rust, my gf's 2009 Audi, nothing, and then mine is a bucket. Even all the metal on the second row seat brackets is completely rusted.

Edited December 12, 2014 by rdbaja

[rdbaja]

OUCH! Have you lived by the beach the whole time? That's really bad.

Yes, Im close to the beach, trucks entire life which is approaching 3 years not 30 years. Dealership said thats why the rust is so bad. I replied " so you're meaning to tell me the 300,000 Chevys that are close to the beach in So Cal are all like this ?".........Nice product GM, even the metal on my seat brackets in 2nd row is rusted, garbage.......