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Just noticed I have hood corrosion

5K views 28 replies 13 participants last post by  LosAngelesGT 
#1 · (Edited)
Just when I thought I was in the clear, I saw the ****ing hood herpes.

It's very minor (picture below), but I'm pissed. This is horse****.

It's a 2014 for crying out loud. There are other areas here and there that have flaws in the paint and I'm willing to let them slide, but this is unforgivable.

What do you guys think I should do? Is there a way to prevent the corrosion from getting worse? The car is always hand washed, always garaged, and the synthetic sealant I use on the paint, Wolfgang deep gloss paint sealant, is one of the best wax/sealant products on the planet.

At the very least I'm going to have the dealer look at it. Luckily the car has only been in service a year, but I'm sure Ford will come up with something like "you bought the vehicle used, the previous owner likely used a touchless car wash. Not our responsibility. HAHA silly owner!"

Side rant: I do have reason to believe the PO was an asshat (and not to mention the dealership that sold the car to me), considering the morning after I brought the car home I discovered 1. ALL 4 tires were 10 PSI low, 2. Engine was a quart low on oil, 3. Coolant was a half quart low.....Seriously, WTF is that all about?!
 

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#2 ·
Hey well you bought the vehicle used - so that's your problem :heha:
In all seriousness that looks more like a factory defect in the paint than corrosion - are you sure that just developed and wasn't always there?
I'm more concerned about your side rant - the cooling system is supposed to be air tight. Unless the owner purchased the car with half a quart low on coolant it sounds like you may have a minor leak or the cap isn't screwed on tight enough.
 
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#3 ·
Haha I suppose I was a masochist for buying used, the general public's neglect for cars is unbelievable, but that's a rant for another thread.

Hopefully it is a factory defect that won't worsen over time. As far as the coolant, I've been watching it and I haven't noticed any loss since I filled it 1500 miles ago, so the whole thing is still a mystery....as is the nature of buying a used car
 
#4 ·
I'm still trying to figure out where on the hood that corrosion is located. I know the 13-14 hoods are different than my 12 but man, I can't seem to figure it out.
 
#5 ·
It is a very zoomed in picture I must admit:grin: Hopefully this shot helps clarify
 

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#7 ·
Yes, very annoying. I have it too.

I was so p!ss3d off about it (and the MT82 problems) a few weeks ago that I was very close to trading it in for a Camaro. But then I realized that I would be taking on a new longer loan for a car that I actually like less. Didn't make sense. And then just the sales tax on the Camaro would have been about $1800. Then I thought, well the $1800 in sales tax could just buy me a new hood instead of spending it on tax. So I may just be in the market for a new hood sometime soon!!!
 
#10 ·
Interesting, if I was going to buy a Camaro I think the sole reason would be for the self fulfillment of feeling like I got my revenge against Ford for taking one of the best engines of the decade and sticking an awful chinese-built transmission it in to save money.

By the way, I'm guessing Ford refused to fix your hood?

A new hood might not fix the problem, if I had the money I'd consider a carbon fiber hood. Can't corrode at least.

I may also be in the market for a new truck soon. My Dodge Ram is part of the buy back that is being forced on FCA. I've always thought my next truck would be an F-150, but all this hood corrosion on the Mustangs has me concerned. I do not think I will be going with an F-150 (aluminum body truck) if I get a new truck because of the Ram recall.
The irony is that apparently the Mustang manufacturing plant has the most modern paint line out of all the Ford facilities.

If I was going to buy a truck I think I would still go with the F-150, but only if it had the V8. I've heard horror stories about those ecoboost engines...
 
#8 ·
I may also be in the market for a new truck soon. My Dodge Ram is part of the buy back that is being forced on FCA. I've always thought my next truck would be an F-150, but all this hood corrosion on the Mustangs has me concerned. I do not think I will be going with an F-150 (aluminum body truck) if I get a new truck because of the Ram recall.
 
#11 ·
Unfortunately that is definitely early hood corrosion. It will get worse over time. Look underneath near the seam and you will probably see more bubbles/paint flaking off.

Nothing can really be done to prevent it. Re-painting will only delay the inevitable.
 
#12 ·
My 2012 5.0 had this lovely problem a year ago. 20k miles on it. The dealer took it back and repainted it. It matched up great. Nothing new showing, but I'm sure somewhere down the road it'll return. Sadly, I'll be paying for the next repaint. But I love the beast, lol!
 
#13 ·
First of all, if you're under 36k, you should be covered by the 3yr/36k warranty and ford should be willing to at least repaint it. For some, they replace the hood (don't ask me how they decide). For others, they tell you to get lost and hope you don't fight them on it. Legally, they are responsible to fix the problem because this is not due to poor care, this is a defective part.

Your hood is aluminum. The problem you are seeing is galvanic corrosion, it's like rust but not like rust on steel. When aluminum rusts, it gets a white chalky covering, and this covering actually ends up protecting the aluminum, which is why it takes aluminum a lot longer to corrode than it does for steel. That's great, right? Not really if you have paint on your aluminum, because the corrosion will make the paint bubble and come off, which is what is happening on your car.

So why is it corroding? It's not because your previous owner didn't take care of the car - keep in mind your car is only one year old. It's happening because the aluminum metal was corrupted by iron particles during the production process. Ford has known about this since around 2000 and put out a TSB about it in the mid 00's. Yet here we are with 2014s having the same issue, which means Ford hasn't done anything to correct the situation.

It's clear that their strategy is, it would be more expensive for them to fix the problem than it is for them to simply dodge the problem. So they've chosen to dodge it. Mostly, they hope that the problem doesn't show up, or get noticed by owners, until after the 3yr/36k mi warranty is up, then they can tell that owner to get lost, which is exactly what they do. If it happens during the warranty period, they do a cheap touch up job and wait until the warranty is over, and then when the corrosion comes back (and it usually does because the iron corruption which causes the corrosion is usually in the seams and cant be reached, will continually cause these corrupted hoods to corrode regardless of anything you do) they can tell the owner 'no warranty, no helpy'.

It's absolutely despicable how Ford has behaved about this issue. Lodge as many complaints as you can but it's clear Ford simply doesn't care about loyal mustang enthusiasts. Also, while your at it, check your trunk lid along the seams, you might find another unhappy surprise there.

In the long run, if Ford loses enough customers over pathetic build quality and even worse customer service, maybe then they will care about issues like these.
 
#21 ·
Nailed it, GreyWolf! Same problem on my '08 Expedition's lift gate, and almost every Expedition at the hood or the rear. I almost bought a Chevy Suburban when I decided on the Expy to keep Fords in the family.... so much for brand loyalty angrymob2.gif
 
#17 ·
My dealer replaced my hood on my '14, that is the only course of action they will take as they state it will come back on repainted hoods.
 
#19 ·
Great to know your dealer did right by you. Did you have to insist that Ford replace the hood?

I'll see what happens with the dealership but I'm not interested in them simply repainting the hood. They either replace mine or I'm going to buy a Cervini fiberglass hood.
 
#22 ·
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