My car is a 2001...and I have rust water coming out from under the drivers side rear door trim just below the window . This is where the trim meets the sheet metal on the very right side of the door, just above the handle. You can see the stain on the paint. You can still rub it off (good wax), but something is rusting under there.

Stopped in at the dealer and they told me that it may not be covered!! I am still under warranty! I am going to another dealer on Monday the 5th - I have dealt with them before and they are much better at dealing with problems.

Anyone have simular problems?

I am thinking this might be something as simple as a screw or clip under the trim that is rusting causing the stain...but who knows? I cant see any easy way to take that window trim off.

Any ideas?

I thought GM had like a 6 year rust protection warranty...am I mistaken here?

yeah only if its rusted through.. might wanna drill out the rust.. I didnt say that...

Ya, aren't these rust thru warranties a load of crap.
The only way your car is not going to rust is if you don't drive it in the rain, snow and salt or if you completely wash and dry it everytime it gets wet.

Ashes to ashes and dust to rust.

Rust is one of those things that you can be successful at slowing down if you maintain the exterior of the car.

Don't let the car sit for long periods of time coated with road salt or dirt. Also make every effort to park the car indoors, including at home in your garage. At home, try to keep the humidity down in your garage. Select the option to have the underbody of the car washed at the car wash a few times during the year. Make sure the car is dried well after car washes.

Improvements in steelmaking (double-sided galvanized steel) have prevented more rust in recent years.

Bonneville dad'* case appers to be unique, possibly some sort of a water leak.

I have no doubt that in some way they will tell me it is my fault...even though the car gets washed at least once a week!

It has to be something that has not been properly protected.

I find the rust warranty is a load of crap anyway! We will see what they say.

tsk tsk, this shouldn't happen to a bonnie especially those newer ones I just love those space shuttles (00+ SLE/SSEi)

I know it has been a while...but I just got the car back!!

Let me explain...

I took it in on January 5th and gave them a short list of things that I wanted fixed:

rust (as explained)
rattle in drivers air bag
engine turning over slow in cold weather (I wondered if this had to do with the prvious altinator problem, and as a result it might have over-cooked the battery)
passenger side climate control going to cold after 1-hour or so of driving
rear winder defoger not shutting off on its own
left front wheel grinding of brake (though I might need pads)
slow coolant leak after they performed the GM recall to replace the intake manifold nuts

They gave me a 2004 Grand Prix GT (series III engine!) as a loaner car.

Day 1 - no call.
Day 2 - I called them and they explained that the new altinator that they put on after the original went to full charge and stayed there - was no good. It was not fully charging the battery, and they were going to replace it as soon as it came in. Other than that, they had not been able to get to anything else.
Day 3 - no call
Day 4 - I called and they did get the part in, and the altinator was now functioning well and the battery was replaced. They discovered that the intake manifold gasket was leaking and had to be replaced. Still had not been able to get to the rest of the list.
Day 5 - I called late in the day and they said the car was ready...here is what they did.

-re and re altinator and battery
-re and re intake manifold and gasket
-air bag removal and replace - turned out to be a metal sticker on the back of the air bag that and pulled away, curled and was rubbing against a metal bracket
-front brake - cleaned only - pads were fine
-climate control and rear window defog, now working well (they think this may had to do with the faulty altinator and/or battery not producing correct voltage even through the volt meter in the car was showing more than 14 volts

and the rust????

Well that is not covered by warranty, and the suggestion was that it is a rusting clip under the trim and I should just clean the water stain and forget about it. The new trim for the window is "very expensive" and not worth the effort.

I picked up the car yesterday and the temperature read out said -31C and the car started fine, so the battery thing obviously is much better.

I am going to call GM warranty on Monday and see if there is something that they can do about the rust...one way or another, I want this fixed. I know it is there...and that bothers me.

When I get a copy of the invoice that they are going to send to GM, I will let you know how much the total bill was...I can imagine that it was hefty...including my car rental with me putting 2150km on the clock!

I will post my comments on the '04 GT shortly.

I hate half assed efforts like that...you begin to lose your faith in a manufacturer.

I'm interested on hearing about house the Series III was for you....to bad the new GP is not all that attractive

Thanks for the call back Dad
So they got most of it but not the rust issue? it could be a clip on the trim, never thought about that. you could pull the door skin off for a closer look?