OEM Roof Rack Rail Rust

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2018 CX-5 GT
My 2018 CX-5 GT's OEM roof rack rail holes are rusting. Is this typical?

Mazda roof rack rail rust.jpg
 
Some more details would be helpful. Has the vehicle been exposed to road salt or near the ocean? Is it regularly washed and or waxed?

Regardless, I would address the rust now. There are products such as rust converter.

I am about two miles from the ocean, park inside a carport, and salt stains will appear on my car after one day because there is salt in the air. I use a high pressure hose attachment as a regular hose spray will not fully remove the salt stains. I undercoated the vehicle when it was brand new.

The likely solution for you is to use Rust converter from Home Depot, then paint to match. Unless you can get it covered under warranty.
 
Mazda Customer Experience representative:

Rail dust is not covered by the corrosion warranty.
Even if the roof rack rails were installed by Mazda at the port or a Mazda dealer when you bought the CX-5? I’d definitely talk to higher authorities at MNAO.

I believe there’s a TSB for this?
 
I think port-installed accessories are covered by 1yr warranty only.
Correct me if I am wrong here.
 
I think port-installed accessories are covered by 1yr warranty only.
Correct me if I am wrong here.
I believe all port-installed accessories are covered by 3-year / 36,000-mile new car warranty as they all will be listed on the new car window sticker.
 
The port-installed rails are covered by warranty as Mazda did not indicate that as an issue.
So Mazda North American Operations told you your port-installed OEM roof rails (and listed on your window sticker) are covered under new car warranty, but the rusted holes for rails are not their responsibility?
 
So Mazda North American Operations told you your port-installed OEM roof rails (and listed on your window sticker) are covered under new car warranty, but the rusted holes for rails are not their responsibility?
That's correct. Thanks for the clarification.

Rail dust is apparently surface rust and not covered by warranty. Rust-through would be covered. Surface rust or not it looks horrible and is unacceptable.

This issue aside the CX has been a great vehicle.
 
That's correct. Thanks for the clarification.

Rail dust is apparently surface rust and not covered by warranty. Rust-through would be covered. Surface rust or not it looks horrible and is unacceptable.

This issue aside the CX has been a great vehicle.
I remember all new vehicle rust warranties are “rust-through”, i.e. body sheet metal panels against perforation due to corrosion. But surface rust eventually will develop into “rust-through” damage. And those rusted holes definitely are not acceptable to me in a 3-year-old vehicle.

In search of Mazda North American Operations’ website for warranty information, I couldn’t find any for rust warranty. But I did see all Mazda genuine accessories installed either at port or by Mazda dealers before delivery, are indeed covered under 3-year / 36,000-mile Mazda New Vehicle Warranty. May be you should argue the cosmetic defect on those rusted holes, like paint peeling problem, covered under new vehicle warranty, not the rust warranty.
 
May be you should argue the cosmetic defect on those rusted holes, like paint peeling problem, covered under new vehicle warranty, not the rust warranty.
I discussed the cosmetics with customer service but they said it's rail rust. And rail rust is not covered. I then tried to escalate the issue to a higher level of customer service and received this response:

This is not covered by warranty as there is no defect present.

Disappointed but it does detract from my enjoyment of the CX-5.
 
I discussed the cosmetics with customer service but they said it's rail rust. And rail rust is not covered. I then tried to escalate the issue to a higher level of customer service and received this response:

This is not covered by warranty as there is no defect present.

Disappointed but it does detract from my enjoyment of the CX-5.
Ha ha, so the rust on the rail is not a defect, very funny! 🤬
 
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