Guys this is totally true...above is the answer to this entire post....Try washing your car and notice your brake rotors get surface rust almost instantly. This is all the same concept. The EVO is not going to be a rust bucket! I hate how on these fourms... a guess at a problem becomes "fact" by the end of the post. Do you honestly think that would build a car that would rust out in a few years? This isn't the 1970s! And by the way... Most of the body of the EVO is aluminum...and aluminum has a much higher toleration for rust than steel or iron. So Honestly there is no need to panic.

Tom

 

Hey Al, seriously you are a lawyer, you should contact the NHTSB about this problem, especially as it has been seen on two cars now, and I suspect in the next few days many more. Let the govt take a bite out of Mitsu's ***. I understand that you personally don't want them to touch your car, but it sure would be nice to force them to pay a little attention to the Evo.

And people, take a closer look, that is more than just a little surface rust. That **** is very close to starting up on some damage, it is not the light color that you see on your brake rotor after a day.

 

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with people that think that the above picture is "normal".

Normal is your rotors rusting, normal is your manifold, turbo and block getting a bit of surface rust on it. Normal is a screw getting rusty. The above PAINTED body panel rusing like that IS NOT NORMAL.

Maybe on 10-15 year old car it is normal, but not in this case.

I wonder if Mitsu's rust warranty is like the others that I came across. They will not fix it until it is perforated, and at this point it is too late as the entire body panel will be damaged beyond repair. So again, if you want your car in good shape, you have to fix it out of your own pocket...

 

the picture is not a painted body panel. Al mentioned it is a piece under the rear bumper beam, not painted surface

 

Two cars? I think only Al's. I disassembled mine and had no rust. Whose other car are you referring to?

 

Just because the panel is behind the bumper does not mean it is not a body panel or that it is not painted. When you take the bumper off, you still have sheet matal covering the body of the car, therefore I would call it a body panel. Take a closer look at the picture, it sure looks like it is painted to me. If this panel would be unpainted, it would be redish brown all over, not just in the two defective spots.

 

I believe that ALL the body panels that are not aluminum, are galvanized steel. Surface rust, if any, should be as far as it goes.

Plus, did anyone think about the possibility that the rust is actually coming from the piece he took off, at not the part in the picture?

 

Once again, it isn't a big deal. Trust me.
The nitpicking on this board gets a little ridiculous. The small issues with some of the Evo's bothers me less than some of the Evo owners themselves. I've seen more rust on a two month old M3 than what Al has in that picture. But it wasn't a big deal either.

 

Hey Noize, go back to page one and read what bryans2k wrote. That is not including what chinalfr wrote as that is a different area. I have had 8 differnt cars, some 20 years old, and I have NEVER had rust like that. On the block, yes; on the rotors, yes; on the body anywhere, NO. This **** is NOT supposed to happen on a car that still smells new inside!!

 

I'm guessing you didn't disassemble those previous cars looking for rust though...did you? This was under a brace. It's not like it is on an area that is easily seen. If you completely disassemble every car (or most cars) you've owned after it was 6 months old I bet you'd find surface rust somewhere.

 

We should get some European EVO owners to comment on this. There's a lot of salt usage during winter time in a lot of countries there. I haven't heard of EVOs falling apart over there.
It could be true that this is a US problem only due to the heavier bumper assembly...

 

I took the bumper off today and mine is the same. I would stress anyone with an Evo to ahve this checked out ASAP ! ! I drove in the rain, but not snow or salt on the roads.

 

omg these evo's are no joke

 

...Not with one or two isolated incidents, they won't...

 

Are you going to let Mitsu look at yours stvbreal? I am curious to hear what the dealer has to say.

And Broeli, I have had my various cars apart for different reasons. One BMW I sectioned from two wrecked cars putting the front of one on to the rear of another. (same model of course) Not even on that car which I had COMPLETELY stripped down was there rust like on the two cars above. I you want to live with it then that is fine, I choose to have Mitsubishi fix it if my car starts to do the same.