I have two questions about the exterior of my new HCHII. My dealer told me both were normal and every HCHII they get in is like this but I want to double check. They didn't have another HCHII on the lot for me to inspect.

First, I removed the wheel caps and the center hub on all 4 wheels was rusted pretty bad. The rest of the wheel appears fine but the center hub is covered in rust. I read a few posts of similiar complaints but just wondered if every car was like that. It doesn't make much sense to me for the wheels on a brand new car to have that much rust. If I didn't know better I would think it had been sitting on a flooded Honda lot in New Orleans or something.

The second issue is there are two pale yellow dots on the front hood of the car. The dealer said these are glue spots from the protective coating that is applied at the factory and that they will disappear with exposure to sunlight. I have had the car sitting outside for a few weeks now and the spots don't appear to be fading any. They aren't really noticeable unless you are looking for them but since I know they are there it is kind of bugging me. It isn't something you can wash off because I have tried that. It looks like it has just discolored the paint.

Anyway I just wanted to check and see if these issues were a problem on all HCHII's or just some of them.

I have not looked but I will tomorrow and get back to you...

Definately I do not have this problem.

Jessica

I just went out and checked mine. There are no yellow dots on the hood. My wheel hubs look silver but do have a couple of rust stains (not eaten into, easily wiped away) that were apparently from a few droplets of water that got behind the wheel caps. I'm sure that in a years time they will become a uniform, oxidized orange. My understanding is that with certain alloys (hopefully the ones we have on our cars) the oxidization process stops once the surface is completely orange because it creates a barrier. Only your neighborhood metallurgist knows for sure!

The rust under the wheel caps are normal

when i went to test drive at honda last month,
They allowed me to test drive an 06 HCHII with 21Km on it which has not been PDI'd yet.

therefore, there was tape all over the car and the wheel caps were not installed yet. That's when i noticed the rust in all four wheels. The salesman and the one of the mechanics verified that it was normal.

so no worries, the rim caps will cover them


regards,
gj

Glue spots ... that's a good one. They must still be laughing about that one. Take a picture and post it. I doubt anybody has seen this one yet. I haven't.

Support the Troops - Drive a Hybrid!

The rust is normal but the yellow spots I have never heard of. I have not seen anything like this and I have washed my car a few times.

Where are they on the hood ? No matter what, that is not a normal thing to have on a brand new car.

I'd love to see a picture (if one would show the yellow spots). Even if you do not POST a picture for us, take some, for potential future evidence.
This sounds very odd to me. I know there are lots of transportation protections put in place to fight corrosion, scratches, etc. Especially on cars shipped across the ocean, like the Hybrid. It's possible that some glue/glue residue is on the cars before they're prepped for owner delivery, but it should be gone AT delivery. If it doesn't "clear up" in another week or two, I'd take it to another dealer for a second opinion (at least).

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL

I don't have a digital camera with me at the moment to take a picture but the spots are on the front hood of the car about 2 inches up from the front edge of the hood and about 6 inches to each side of the Honda logo on the front grill. They are brownish/yellow in color and almost look kind of like a cigarette burn but the paint is smooth and it doesn't wash off. It looks like the two spots are discolored paint but I don't really see how it could happen.

The "glue" excuse didn't sound believable to me either but I didn't have a better explanation at the time. I saw the car when it still had the protective material on it and it didn't appear to be "glued" down in specific spots it just kind of clung to the car like it was sprayed on. It was this semi-clear gel like material instead of the white plastic I am used to seeing on cars.

Normal on the wheels , center...after removing the center caps .

From the replies it looks like the rust in the center of the wheel is typical. Anyone know why that is? I haven't run into this on any other car.