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I have what appears to be rust on the rear hatch where the rear window meets the hatch (see photos).
Has anyone else experienced the same? This has to be new rust as I've never observed it prior.. I don't drive it much in the rain and has been garged for the last year.
Not too sure how to go about tackling this. I'm scared to wash my vehicle now and I definitely would never take it through an automated wash.
The station wagon effect creates a whole different weather system/patterns behind the car during motion. I'm not too surprised that there could be rust around the window. I've owned a Jetta wagon and a Golf. They have similar problems. All that said, I'm wondering if your rear window might have been replaced at some point and if that started the rusting, if it is indeed rust.
Pop the top panel inside the liftgate and see if anything is visible from the inside. That top panel is held by 4 metal clips.
Also check around your liftgate handle. I have rust starting along the edge of the cutout where the handle fits in the liftgate. I noticed it while disassembling the handle to remove the chrome trim with the plate lights/reverse camera. If you're venturing into chrome trim/handle removal, you have to remove the lower interior panel to gain access to two 10mm nuts holding the handle and chrome trim.
@Max Blast - I have not 100% used to pick to confirm it to be rust. I observed it the other day and haven't been back in my garage since. I will investigate further Thursday. I live in St. Louis Missouri. We get weather very similar to Chicago.
@expl0rer - Odd that you mentioned the window being replaced at some point. I bought my GL in 2017 and went through the GL throughly to make sure the previous owner didn't leave anything behind. I removed the spare tire to check, and observed a small amount of shattered tinted glass under the spare tire in the compartment. My GL is from Florida and I'm not sure of the exact time of replacement. I'll investigate further in Thursday and report back with my findings.
As always, thank you all for your comments/suggestions.
That's definitely rust. The pictures are good enough to be able to zoom in and see it clearly. It's certainly an odd place for rust to, normally, show up. I was going to add "second" to the glass being replaced at somet time due to an accident or something hitting the glass. The "accident" could have very well nicked the paint as well, creating a small area that may not have been noticed, but enough that moisture worked it's way in there over time and got between the metal and paint, causing the paint to lift. Since you found broken glass, that seems an even more likely scenario. In fact, look closely at the dark spot directly above the black SUV. That appears to show worse damage - maybe that was the impact point? Regardless of the reason, though, the fix is to remove the glass, clean and inspect, body filler if needed, and repaint.
I was thinking that the paint damage may have occurred during removal of the glass remnants and sealant. Sometimes in their haste, techs do some damage which wasn't there initially. But damage could also have happened from and accident, like Dennis said.
I was thinking that the paint damage may have occurred during removal of the glass remnants and sealant. Sometimes in their haste, techs do some damage which wasn't there initially.
That could be, too. It's that one spot I mentioned that looks more suspect - but that could just be a spot where the rust is worse than the rest, too.
If this is rust, im wondering if that rust goes down into where the window seal and hatch meet, meaning I may never get a proper even surface for the seal to seat properly.
I have auto body experience, but I will admit I'm not that experienced in applying bondo on a corner like that.
I'm wondering if there's another way to tackle this....
If it comes down to it, I'll have a bodyshop take care of it.
Like I stated previously, I'll investigate further tomorrow and report back with my findings.
As mentioned, it's definitely rust. It's very easy to see that.
You only need bondo to fill in holes/etc to repair missing metal. For the corner, you're just going to sand/smooth/fair/prime and paint. For the area that I referenced, THERE you can use bondo. Fair/shape it to match after it kicks.
Ok, plain to see what happened here then - window tech made a scrape above the window sealing surface when replacing the rear window, over time water collects above the window and corrosion begins.
Does the rear hatch currently leak water?
Is it through?
If it’s bad I would replace the entire hatch with a good used one from a dry state. No shortage of white 550s in wrenching yards these days.
getting rust completely removed from a window sealing surface is a race against time that you’ll be rewarded with repeating over and over unless it’s completely gone or treated. A new hatch might just be cheaper.
Last edited by Max Blast; Aug 25, 2021 at 04:43 PM.
After further investigation it was determined it is rust.
In order to remedy this, I'll probably just go with a used hatch.
I purchased the vehicle and found the shattered glass in 2017. My GL was always parked outside from 2017-2019. Rust can appear within 5-7 days. It has not been involved in any other collisions involving anything remotely close to the hatch. Something obviously caused it though.
Thank you all for your replies and information as always.
Ok, plain to see what happened here then - window tech made a scrape above the window sealing surface when replacing the rear window, over time water collects above the window and corrosion begins.
Does the rear hatch currently leak water?
Is it through?
If it’s bad I would replace the entire hatch with a good used one from a dry state. No shortage of white 550s in wrenching yards these days.
getting rust completely removed from a window sealing surface is a race against time that you’ll be rewarded with repeating over and over unless it’s completely gone or treated. A new hatch might just be cheaper.
No water or remains of water anywhere in the hatch area. Here are some other photos I took
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