Q: Lots of rust on a newish car, what happened?
I was in the shop just the other day with my 2006 Nissan Altima getting an oil change when the mechanic called me over. He pointed to the floor under the driver and passenger sides of the vehicle that were just covered in rust. The driver side was so bad that I feel nervous placing my feet fully on the center of the floor. I don’t know how this could happen to such a new car. It has 140,000 miles on it but that is no reason for so much rust. Maybe if I drove 140,000 miles through the ocean, but not on the highways! What can I do to stop this problem?
Unfortunately, there is no stop to rust. It happens to all cars that are regularly exposed to the elements, but some parts of the country are worse than others. But don’t worry, Nissan is aware of the issue and has a repair for it. Technical Bulletin NTB15-059 outlines a procedure by which a replacement floor panel is secured and sealed in place. It take a couple of hours to do, plus drying time, and most dealers should have the parts in stock. The downside is that the warranty on this repair has only been extended to 5 years with unlimited mileage.
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