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edwardjelley

Hi There,

I have just purchased a brand new 2017 Nissan Navara ST D23 (Manufacture date December 2016). I received it a week ago and on the day, after 20km of driving from the dealer to home, I noticed some surface rust on the chassis near the rear wheels then looking further found it to be on almost all chassis welds and throughout the front suspension. As of collecting the vehicle it had done only 30km's. For a new vehicle this seems extremely unusual and I'm worried even if they so called 'fix' it I could have problems in the future. How should I be going about this? Photos are in the attached link.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/q7remhsyqnuleb9/AADF9G_-uxEp1xku_eQXKI4qa?dl=0

Also to add the vehicle has never been offroad.

Thanks in advance

Anon

Hi there, While it's disappointing to see, this would appear feasible in a vehicle of this type (utes and SUV's), the exhaust is untreated steel and will rust in the elements, but not usually develop harmful corrosion due to the heat generated.
The other components are also not painted to the same extent and will see a little bit of surface rust as the vehicle underside is exposed to the elements, you can't really get away from it. It can be treated, or painted over to stem the corrosion, I would not expect it to affect the long term vehicle life.
But make sure it is noted and documented with the dealer just in case there is ever an issue down the line.
It would be interesting to know where the vehicle has been sitting all year (coastal town?)