Sunroof owners, do you have rust on your roof rack mounts??

[luvacoustic]

I have another thread about my roof rack coming off here: Car flex and losing a roof rack with bikes?

It appears the roof attachment mounts from the factory have rusted and contributed to the bolts coming out. I’ve heard from 5 others with similar rust, but wanted to find out if a lot of others with a sunroof have experienced similar rust on their rack attachment mounts.

If rust is a real issue, I want to bring it to Tesla’s attention to inform folks to check them so a catastrophic accident doesn’t happen.

My car is two years old this April and I don’t live near a coast or saltwater.

 

[nico180]

I have the seen the same on various model S cars.

 

[SierraUT]

Has anyone approached Tesla service for this issue? I have a Dec-2015 model S and just went to put on a whisper rack for the 1st time and can't mount it due to rust in the thread mounts. Very frustrating. They should have used stainless steel I think. Car is still under warranty but I fear Tesla will claim this is wear and tare and not covered under warranty.

 

[MJP.P3D-]

I have a rack currently installed on my Model S and, YES, the attachment points are rusted (2 of 4 have some rust and the other 2 of 4 have more although none are as badly rusted as your photos indicate). For reference, the car is a June 2016 build and the rack is used often during the summer (bikes) but is removed/stored during the winter months.

 

[murphyS90D]

I posted in your original thread. Don't count me twice. The grease I filled the holes with 3 months ago looks the same today as it did in April. It has not flowed in the high temperatures. I am almost certain it is the grease used to pack wheel bearings.

 

[Gixx1300R]

Stainless steel dowels would have prevented this, My mounting points look different. They are one piece, not pressed in dowels .

 

[SierraUT]

I ended up with a small steel brush and rush remover, getting most of this cleaned out. I have been able to threat rack bolts on with WD40 like solvent, which will hopefully prevent new rust from forming after a winter with snow, rain and salty roads. Fingers crossed.

 

[Kandiru]

The paint will rub off from the screws, one should at a minimum spray silicone (diver shops have large cans) or better Q-tip teflon grease into the hole after use.

 

[mmmk]

Mine are not that severe but i have rust on the mounting nuts. I had a small degree of rust there though before ever mounting the rack. I made sure it was recorded with mobile service. I do worry about the threads eventually rusting through but as of yet I haven't had a problem.