A warranty battle is brewing after a customer reported rust that the dealership won’t acknowledge or fix
June 1, 2025 at 16:30
- An Alfa Romeo Tonale owner reports tailgate rust and paint bubbling after one year.
- Dealership allegedly denies defect, claiming that such paint issues are “100% normal.”
- Customer’s Reddit post sparked debate over SUV’s long-term durability and paint quality.
Some cars earn a reputation the hard way, and Alfa Romeo’s isn’t exactly built on sterling reliability. Now, a Tonale owner in Vancouver, Canada is raising concerns over some rust forming on their SUV, and the dealership’s response isn’t exactly reassuring. Whether this is an isolated case or the start of something more widespread isn’t clear yet, but the dealer’s refusal to take responsibility doesn’t inspire confidence.
The Canadian owner of this white Alfa Romeo Tonale says there are issues with the tailgate drains of the compact SUV, and that this has caused rust to start forming after just one year of ownership.
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“The dealer will claim that this is how the car is built, but a brand new 1 year old car will rust on you and you’re just left to either duke it out with the dealer, or fix it out of pocket,” the owner wrote on Reddit. “Stellantis will NOT repair this under warranty as their rust warranty only applies if the rust has rusted through the paint.”
A photo shared to Reddit shows that an area of the tailgate near the reversing camera, tailgate light, and opening switch has small areas of rust and pieces of paint that have started to flake and fall off. Look closely, and you may also notice some bubbling in the paint.
Several other Alfa Romeo Tonale owners in the thread suspect it could be a production defect on this particular example, as no others have reported finding similar areas of rust and chipping paint on the tailgate. Now, production defects aren’t unusual in new cars. Just ask Tesla. But, dealerships should be happy to rectify any defects free of charge. That hasn’t been the case here.
The poster claims Stellantis declined to offer any repair, citing a technicality in the rust warranty, which only applies once rust has actually eaten through the paint. They also shared a screenshot of an email from the Assistant General Manager of Alfa Romeo Vancouver.
“I’ve been warned that due to the way the drain is built, that this will just keep reoccurring and there is not much that can be done,” writes the owner of the Alfa Romeo. “The drains are capped by two plastic stoppers, so the water in the trough on the tailgate would have to be a quarter inch or more before it’ll drain out.”
Read: Alfa Romeo’s 2025 Tonale Debuts In Paris With Subtle Interior Refresh
In response to the flaking paint of this Tonale, the manager says, “That’s actually 100% normal and not bubbling paint. It is the same for all the Tonales.” He then requested a dealer staffer to send the customer a photo of another Tonale for comparison.
Normal Isn’t Always Acceptable
The gaslighting here is clear. The photo of the Tonale’s tailgate shows part of the paint has started to bubble, and this is often an indication that there’s rust underneath or moisture was trapped underneath when the Alfa was originally painted.
The issue could be fixed by simply replacing the tailgate, but it seems the owner will have to keep fighting the dealer to get a repair done.
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