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2013 Silverado excessive frame rust

7K views 22 replies 18 participants last post by  Daly 
#1 ·
I'm considering purchasing a used 2013 Silverado from a dealer. It has less than 10k miles. The only thing that's raising any flags for me is the amount of rust on the frame.

The wax coating is bubbling off with rust underneath it the crossmembers, at some other frame holes, and all over the bottom side of the frame. The box brackets are pretty rusty too. It's all surface rust, but seems quite excessive for a one-year-old vehicle. Photos attached.

Has anyone seen this before? This thing has more rust than my 9 year old Colorado... Is it as big of an issue as I think it is?

By the way, is there supposed to be inconsistency in the frame wax thickness? In one place where it peeled the wax was 20+ mil think, and in other places just a few mil think.
 

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#4 ·
Is it really worth having the dealer do it or just take the time and do it yourself? Will it flake again after the dealer does it?

Bob
 
#6 ·
"If Its Free Its For Me" I always say.
 
#7 ·
I just hate the hassle of having to take it to a dealer for something, then turning around and keep having to do it. Free ain't always "free". Sometimes just easier to take care of it yourself.
 
#8 ·
wildchevy said:
if the dealer will do it free why would you want to lay under the truck for hours eating rust? Have them do it as part of the purchase terms.
Yup, I dropped mine off on my way to work, had them take me to work in the courtesy van, than had them pick me up at 5pm and it was done.
 
#9 ·
My 2013 is even worse than the OP's pics. I keep debating on having the dealer do a probably "temporary" fix or just wait for all of the loose stuff to drop for another year or so and then fix it correctly myself. If there's a TSB on it perhaps it's a known issue which has a "correct" fix??
 
#10 ·
GM sells the coating in an aerosol can under part number 12346501. I had only a couple of minor spots on my '13 that were bare. I removed any loose wax, cleaned the steel, and applied the wax. It is an excellent match.
 
#11 ·
Dealer did mine. Only noticed it a couple weeks after buying it new. They cleaned and patched it up but it's falling off in different spots. Think I'm going to get it rust checked. Only apply it once a year but theirs a guy in town that does good work. Apparently a mechanic i got my wheels from says it'll kind of eat into the undercoating for full coverage.

That stuff just won't last in north east Canada.
 
#13 ·
The exact undercoating product used from the factory is Daubert Nox-Rust® X-121B. You can order it online in spray cans or bigger quantities.

I also have patches that came off, just doing it myself as dealing with the dealer is more time than it's worth. I can get the job done in an hour at the worst on my own schedule without going through the hassle.

Where it's thick and not getting battered by road spray, it is actually pretty good at repelling water and has some serious testing behind it as far as resistance to road salt- but apparently that's not working out so well...

At the rate I see recent GM trucks with failing undercoating, they may be eventually forced to handle it like the Tacoma recall where they were replacing entire frames. Or buying back trucks. My dad had a 2000 Tacoma and the dealer said the rust was so bad they bought the truck back for 1.5x the Blue Bool value at the time (in 2007) for $17k. It was an underpowered POS anyway, so that worked out well.

So anyways, my 2 cents is too keep up with it yourself. One spray can should be enough to handle patching up a year's worth of issues, then you have the satisfaction of known got was done right and not just covered up.
 
#16 ·
I brought mine in. Service technician called the body shop foreman. I sale and around the back. Had it in the next day at 8 am, got shuttled back home and picked me back up at 11. It was still gooey when I got it back. Not a long process. Said to bring it back again if it happens again.
 
#23 ·
I mentioned the Dealer fix first because it's out there. I had it done last year and there "fix" is already peeling off in areas where theres high rubbing from snow and water (around the front suspension)… As stated in other post, the best way to stop it is to undercoat the truck annually…
 
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