If its any consolation my supposedly galvanised 6 year old Audi is starting to rust on the front wings and behind the rear number plate!
That sill looks past its best and will likely fail an mot in 12 months time - its probably had rust on it for 2 years more but being hidden you wouldnt notice it. I would be concerned about the amount of rust underneath the car as well looking at that picture.
Can you not get rid quick as the box sections, inner sills etc will be next - even if Ford do sort out the cosmetic bits.
Unfortunately we stopped our search for a Puma as even relatively young ones were starting to rot.
Although our Rover we have had for years is almost dead, its barely got a spot of rust on it - 12 years old, 140,000 miles and not exactly looked after underneath either.
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Hi Tyro - that's definitely a new sill job, there won't be any clean metal left, you would grind it all away!
If you can't get anywhere with an appeal, why not have a friendly word with the bodyshop manager and explain the predicament and ask if any of his guys would like the extra work over and above the petrol flap for cash, it may not cost much seeing as they are already doing some welding anyway and will have pain mixed etc.
I've had work done at one of the big local bodyshops a few years ago, I paid the painter directly in cash and he kept a little bit back for his boss. I'm sure if you're friendly he may be willing to consider the work. Also, ask if you can supply your own sill from an aftermarket company as this will be much cheaper. (My work involved new sill section, two arches and some assorted small patches, the parts alone would have cost nearly £400 at Ford but I got the whole job done for the same price!) If you stress that you aren't bothered about getting a receipt then they may be willing to do it.
I know it's not perfect due to lack of warranty, but if they're sensible they may be flexible. If they also rustproof the new sill then it won'trot again, a lot of garages still offer Schultz or Waxoyl if you ask.
Failing that, is there not a small backstreet bodyshop nearer you? Living in a city I find it hard to comprehend there been NO bodywork facillity in 100 miles radius! The one that did my Mondeo don't even have their own premises, they work from within a normal backstreet garage but his work was excellent. He even covered the arches in stone chip shielding before painting to ensure that they don't rot again. (OEM arches on the MK2 aren't protected in this way)
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Result
I hope you are all sitting comfortably. Here?s the story.
I decided that since Ford had offered to do some work under warranty, that I would get a quote from the Ford Dealer for doing the lot - with Ford picking up the tab for their bit, and me picking up the tab for the rest.
The estimate arrived in December, and read as follows:
Areas to be repaired: Replace R/H sill
Areas to be painted: Paint R/H sill and L/H/R ¼ panel
Parts Required: R/H sill
Our estimate is submitted prior to dismantling and a more detailed examination. Consequently, any further repairs or parts required will be the subject of a supplementary estimate and we will seek further approval before proceeding with the work. . . .
The cost was going to be just short of £700 (including VAT).
At this point I hesitated. I went back to the dealer after Christmas, and the chap in the bodyshop who had been dealing with my claim had been replaced. The new chap told me that the basic reason why the Ford Warranty department had not been willing to do everything required was that there were no stamps in the service book to indicate that the annual bodywork check had been done. This was news to me.
I decided, more out of frustration than anything, to go and speak to the manager of the dealer?s service department, and tell him how disappointed I was that even though I had brought my car in to them once a year for a service, not a single stamp appeared for the annual bodywork check. He assured me that the work would certainly have been done since he became the service manager, and told me that their records would be able to prove this. The records were filed away, and it would take a few days to locate them, but if I left my service book in, he would find the records, and have the stamps put in my book.
Well, that happened - though it took a couple of weeks, rather than a few days. He also photocopied the book, and passed it to the bodywork department so that they could send it to the Ford warranty department. When this finally happened, the Ford warranty department got back to him and asked them to supply the paperwork from the service department to prove that the work had been done and that these new stamps in my service book were valid. I phoned back every week or two to ask what was happening, and was told they were still waiting for the service department to dig out the paperwork. Eventually, I telephoned the service manager myself, and within a fortnight, the paperwork was passed to the bodywork, who submitted it to the Ford Warranty department, who agreed to do the work. By which time it was May!
Anyway, the car was booked in for June 1, and I brought it in that day. I was told that it would be ready in two days. I found this difficult to believe. I was right. The car was finally ready for me to pick up today.
What I learned was that even though the R/H sill looked bad, it was not actually perforated, so they only buffed it down and repainted it. However, the area around the petrol cap was so badly rusted that they decided to replace the L/H/R ¼ panel. (That was what took the time).
I asked the gent at the bodyshop, who has been quite helpful, what this work would have cost had I been paying for it. He did some quick mental calculations and indicated that it would probably have been between £800 and £1000.
I also asked how long it would be before the rust started coming through on the sill again. He indicated that it was difficult to know. It could start coming through in under two years - or it might be OK for 5 years. Not great, but since I didn?t have to pay anything, I guess I?ll not complain.
Oh, and one small footnote - or perhaps I should say confession. I have owned one Ford before - a Fiesta Mk 3. It too had a rust problem, and I managed to get remedial work done on the warranty.
And it soon started rusting through again.
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nice to see you got it sorted after 11 months
however if you read this www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=75...6
according to this guy you cant put a rear quarter on unless you put the whole b post on too and weld it to the roof
unfortunately ive never seen a ka rear quarter section that comes complete with this so maybe you need to talk to ford to see if according to thatcham the strength as when it left the factory has been restored
ps im quite confident your ford bodyshop did a 100% proper repair by the way
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" also asked how long it would be before the rust started coming through on the sill again. He indicated that it was difficult to know. It could start coming through in under two years - or it might be OK for 5 years."
Not very confident in the quality of their workmanship are they?
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Victorbox:
>>Not very confident in the quality of their workmanship are they?
Well, I took it that they were just being honest and realistic. I am under the impression that with this kind of work, it is inevitable that unless one actually cuts out and replaces the affected metal, the rust will reappear, no matter how good the quality of the work is. But I may be wrong.
bell boy:
Thanks for that. Interesting, but not encouraging. If I get around to asking them, and get a coherent answer that I can understand, I'll report back
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