Rusty Wheel Hubs

[wheelwright]

Anybody elses wheel hubs going rusty and horrible like mine:-

This is the N/S front and the other 3 are just the same...!

I was going to sand them down and paint/spray them BUT then i thought maybe
i could get it sorted under warranty??

Just to add the car is a 3 month old FR TDi with 18s

 

[Schiller]

I don't believe guarantee will cover, here in Greece at least...

 

[DandB]

Yes i think it's the same with all the Leons, even though your pics do show the hubs looking more rusty than mine!

I did read somewhere on here that someone took the wheels off and painted/
sprayed the hubs with some anti rust stuff??!!

 

[Tam]

Yep, standard fault, although strangely some are worse than others.

Personally i think its a pretty poor show of seat, i've not seen a single vw or audi thats done it.

 

[Jace]

A good excuse to uprate the disc IMO


Do you use a wheel cleaner on them ?

Maybe the acid in it has caused the rust ?????

 

[DanGB]

I walk past a new bmw 3 series that has this everyday. so its not just seat.

Its never done it on my car though!

 

[alx_chung]

Not a warranty claim I'm afraid. My previous Hyundai Coupe was the same too but then again I suppose it depends on how much of the wheel hub gets exposed to rain and air.
Alex

 

[flakmunky]

My Golf had it... I read on a Golf forum that the cause was acidic wheel cleaners such as Wonder Wheels or even supermarket jet washes with a specific 'Wheel Clean' program... And I used to use WW all the time... Not now!!!

 

[wheelwright]

Never used any wheel cleans on the alloys just a bit of autoglym shapoo in a bucket of water!

mmmmmmm, not a warranty claim, i will ask dealers "are hubs designed to rust and go like this then?"

I guess they will say "well no not really"

FIX IT THEN!!! got to be a warranty issue If its not supposed to happen, break down of materials used by Seat would be my case.

 

[Eccles]

Mine's exactly the same and I'm just wondering whether to whip the wheels off and paint the hubs. My car is a March '07 and I don't use anything other than Halfords car shampoo; certainly no wheel cleaner, or even worse that jet wash stuff with its incredibly caustic blend of cleaners.

I'm not quite sure which paint to use though; presumably a high(ish?) temperature silver paint would be best and personally I'd rather use a brush than have to mask. Taking the wheels off also gives me a chance to copperslip the wheels where they meet the hub to avoid them sticking solid through corrosion.

This leads me on to where to jack the car up - I have a trolley jack but it has a 'cup' with four sharp 'tags' and I'm not sure where to position it; I did see a post regarding some pads just inboard of the sills - are these really ok? Where can you put the axle stands?

 

[wheelwright]

Eccles,

If i have to do the job i would use Hammerite paint either rad or BBQ (both are ok for heat generating surfaces)
and brush application.

I'd jack the car under the chasis not on the sills......and do 1 hub at a time without axle stands....

But hey thats just me

 

[rv2583]

i have noticed it on other leons but ive been lucky

 

[Eccles]

wheelwright,

Yep, I'd like to jack under the chassis not the sills using a trolley jack (possibly with an old car wheel slid under for 'insurance') and I'd wondered if smoothrite was ok (it should be fine for the rears but a trackday or a mountain descent may cause it to bubble at the front maybe). My real question is, just where on the 'chassis' can I jack it and what should I put on the jack (wood perhaps?) - presumably a multi-skinned part of the chassis rail but where?

Cheers, Eccles - PS where in Birmingham are you? I'm in Shirley

 

[Jedimaster65]

This is grim. It just looks terrible !
I have noticed this problem on a number of second hand Cupras now on the market, as the more open wheel design seems to show it more.
I mentioned it to a dealer and he said it seems to affect cars kept outside more than ones kept in a garage (mine is ok but garaged).
Surely this is a widespread problem and SEAT should recall / fix under warranty.
If we all kick up a stink, they will have to do something, surely ?

 

[Chuckie]

I had a Toyota Celica prior to my Leon and I had an issue with the rear hubs rusting after about 18 months, took it too my local dealer, girl on service reception came out looked for about 5 seconds and decided that they needed changing. There was no questions asked, no fighting or arguing.

Wouldn't it be good if Seat could be the same!!!

Fortunatly mine hubs are ok at the moment, this is on a March 07 car with 9K on the clock that has never seen the inside of my garage (it wouldn't like it, too much cr@p in there).

CH

 

[Daz_25]

Surely they have to replace them under warranty, they shouldnt rust like that. I'd kick up a fuss with them and tell them they arn't fit for purpose. I had to do this on my clio when the steering wheel started to fall apart and in the end they replaced it free of charge.

 

[wheelwright]

Right then, should be going to the dealers one day this week and i will post how i get on.....

Eccles in Sutton mate......

 

[Stiggy]

I picked up my brand new Leon FR DSG yesterday & it had the dreaded rusty hubs. Admittedly not as bad as some of the pics shown but still slightly rusty . Had a word with the stealer & he seemed to think it was a common fault but couldn't find me an example of this common occurance. He checked 5 cars !!!!! So I have now have to photograph the hubs & send the stealer a letter complaining as he said it wasn't a warranty issue. Migth try Seat uk as well. Has anybody had them changed under warranty ?

 

[phil3012]

I had this same problem on my Celica and low and behold at least one of the hubs on my Cupra has started doing the same.

With the Celica I complained several times to the dealer and the response was "They are all like that due to the type of metal used". This was the one thing I could never get Toyota to do anything about, they even changed the alloys 3 times due to rust but not the hubs.

I would be interested to know if anyone gets SEAT to repalce them under warrenty.

 

[wheelwright]

Went to 2 different dealers and both said they would not be replaced under warranty!!
(Best they could offer was they clean them up with wire brush)

It appears to be a common problem though and even cars in the showroom have rusty hubs!!!

I was adviced to ring Seat and tell them, but i'm gonna rub hubs down and fix it myself.

I did go to a local VW garage and mooched around the cars and they too have rust problems.

A brand new R32 with hubs that were worse than mine sitting in the showroom as well!!!