floydfan

I haven't looked under mine yet, but I will recommend one product...Eastwood Rust Encapsulator. It's a "paint right over rust" epoxy paint. By rust, I mean surface rust, not flaky rust. Wire brush any loose stuff first. You can brush or spray the stuff on. I did an entire control arm setup from a 70's nova, before I bought a new set. So the ones I painted got put behind the garage in the elements for a couple years and were still rust free. The stuff is great, it comes in Black, Gloss Black and a "rust" red color (ha ha). Check out eastwood.com , they also have all sorts of awesome stuff, more geared twords resto, but plenty of stuff we can make use of. BTW, this is not like that "gummy" rust covering stuff you buy at local auto stores, it truely is awesome. The only catch is that if you paint stuff, you might void the warranty on said parts.

RiceRocketToMustang

I think they painted my car with fingernail polish or plastic model paint. The very tip of the front bumper barely touched a wall and the paint peeled off. You can see the black primer(?) under the paint. I guess everytime I parallel park and someone barely hits it, I'll have another paint chip. Great. Within a few months, I'll have a two toned bumper on a new car.

I barely ran into the same wall with my 96 Eclipse and the paint never came off. I just brushed off the dust and it was fine. It seems like there's only paint and no coating on the Mustang. There's also a small chip on the passenger door from a highway pebble. Why would I think that Ford would coat the paint when they don't even coat important parts? I'm sure it's not all 'that expensive' to coat the main parts like the exposed crankshaft pulley and rotor sections that hawgman mentioned.

Thanks to everyone for the input!!

n4ggs

guys... oxidation is normal, chill out
the layer of rust protects the steel underneath aka. it wont get any worse
chill out my doglets

and yeah, when you run into a wall it damages the paint, even ford paint

RiceRocketToMustang

Otay Otay At least it's not as bad as the Titanic..yet! J/k.

05stangawsomecar

Very scary indeed. I wonder if Ford stored your car in an area that had a flood and they just shipped it afterwards without checking for damages. (Mine was assembled Jan 05).

Just think how much rust will accumulate after one year. Scary how this quick rusting could begin to eat at the metal causing seal leaks and metal weakening after a few years.

I'll look under the car tonight. I plan to take it in for its gas tank and 1000 shaker replacement later this week and see what crap they hand me about the rust. I thought the new mustang quality was much improved. The problem is Ford still has the same careless assemblers putting the 05 mustang together. The rusted parts should have some sort of protective paint on them and not bare steel. Buy American? Yeah right.
[/quote]

First of all your comments about the line workers is total BS, go look under your import crap and tell me what you will see, SURFACE RUST, the car companies have relized the vast majority of people could car less if their crank pulley , rear axle, or other componants under the car are painted. I take it by your comments you dont go to many salvage yards, or deal with cars in genral. Ford/Gm/Honda/Toyota, etc all do it, the suppliers are the ones cutting costs, not painting a rear axle, crank pulley, etc. The big machines that wash, paint and bake the parts cost money, paint, electricity, man power. Just elimanating that alone saves MILLIONS, and takes away jobs too.
When I bought my 05 GT, I had the dealer undercoat it, then I took it home and painted all the things I felt needed paint. And I did it for way under $100 dollars, about $20, is that still to much for you? AND YES BUY AMERICAN.

05_Bullitt

I'm painting all rusty parts as well.

I noticed all the rust when the dealer had it up on a lift to install my Eibach spring kit.

The dealer said it's normal which makes sense to me.

Professor Wizard

05stangawsomecar - I was making a dig (IE: God forbid they got their hands dirty!)... But you ARE correct as per my commentary... it is a cost cutting measure and EVERYONE does it!

Now... When I got the nicer cars, I took the time in the first couple of weeks of owning them to jack the puppy up and detail the underside. Although the general statements that the rust won't hurt are correct - that is only true if you’re only going keep the car a few years. I help my neighbor take old cars and hot rod them and we have had to replace many frame parts for rust-through... Some parts WILL rust through after 15 - 20 years.

NOT to mention... the rust can build up and look pretty damn nasty after a while.

While the car is new and clean, a couple of coats of quality paint will protect those parts for many years and make your car look a lot better.

Hell... there were many times when I had cars that had parts of the undercarriage you could see when you step back from the car - I removed and sent them to a chrome shop. OR… I painted them with some complimentary color to sharpen things up.

Bottom line is...

Rust on new cars is completely normal. (NO… your car wasn’t stored in a swimming pool!)

If you do nothing at all… the rust will not hurt your car or affect it in any way. Especially if your only going to keep it less then 10 years.

If the rust concerns you, there are many products out there designed to cover surface rust.

Besides... IF you burn your tires often enough... you will coat everything under the car in melted rubber and then there is no problem! Right?