I just purchased the Excursion and have noticed some rust on the roof. The rest of the vehicle is flawless.

Should I be concerned about this rust? I intend to keep the vehicle for a long time as it only has 50K miles on it. What can I do to stop or repair this rust?

 

Ahh, yes!

You need to have that sanded, primed and repainted.... ASAP.

It won't take long for the rust to totally consume the metal!

 

I assume we are talking about the whole roof panel being repainted? I wonder what that will cost?

The rest of the paint is flawless.

 

Any rust like this need to be repaired as soon as possible.

Rust is just like a tooth cavity, it will never get better only worse.

The sooner you get this repaired the better off you will be.

My guess is in the 300.00 range depending on where you live.

 

Yeah man that don't look good!!!!!!!!!

At a very minimum take a wire wheel to it and shoot with some white primer that will hold you over until you can get it fixed by a pro.

 

It will be cheaper to get it painted now than to have the rusted roof cut off later, and a new roof welded back on and repainted LOL

Take it to a Economy auto paint shop, it wont cost much, and just have the roof repainted,

 

that rust needs to be sand blasted and primed and repainted, thats bad

are you close to Austin TX

Auto Body Shops in Austin

Econo Auto Painting
Austin, TX 78741
442-8999

Econo Auto Painting
Austin, TX 78758
832-1722

 

Ok, I got 2 estimates today to repair this.

Estimate #1 - Maaco; $600. Paint up to the molding at the top of the windshield.

Estimate #2 - Independent shop, highly regarded; $1,100 + cost of new windshield. Shop recommends removing the windshield and painting under the molding, rather than right up to it. Shop says that about 90% of the time, the windshield will crack upon removal, so be prepared to purchase a new one. Shop will also repaint roof rack as part of the deal.

 

the rust is not in the windshield Channel, no need to remove the window and poss. break it, get a few more est. Maaco seems a little high in price at $600.00 Take care, Chellie.

 

is that on the front of the roof?

 

If I understand the picture correctly.....the rust is in the "channel" that runs lengthwise. That rust does not look that bad to me.

If money is tight....since it is so high up and in the channel....at least to get by this is my thinking.

Mask off the area surrounding the rust. Mask along the ridge of the channel on both sides...and a couple inches past the rust in the channel (perpendicular).

Get a scotchbrite pad or sandpaper and sand out the rust. Shouldn't be a be a big deal. Remove the masking, clean it all off.

Mask again, this time cover a bigger area with paper and tape. Lightly prime
the area, carefully "blending" into the channel. A tape edge will not be all that noticeable on the ridge, but will be on the perpendicular tape edge.

Then, do the same with some white spray. You could even tape it off in the perpendicular tape edge with several layers and simply do a light spray...pull the tape off to the next tape edge, etc.

You don;t need the paint to be an inch thick...and in that area...so high up...you;re likely to be the only one to know.

The roof rack. MAsk it off and spray it too! If it comes off with a few screws...remove it for painting.

 

I think this rust is about the length of the rear side window. If I am correct it will be a fairly easy and cheap fix.
I have an 03 Excursion and I just went out and looked at mine. Mine is bone factory stock as it left the plant and the channel from the back of the rear door to the rear is:
Filled with an almost plyable filler and painted. The is from the factory and has not been added.
My suggestion for a fix would be grind the rust, prime the grinded area fill with a seam filler and paint. I stand by getting this fixed in the 300.00 range.
Now if this rust is in front of the rear door it would still work and the only problem may be that if you opened the door you may get a little extra run off. But if I put the hose on mine that channel fills up so quick that it really dosen't do much.

 

I agree, about $300.00 is a fair price to get it repaired, keep looking around, or do it yourself, get a mini sand blaster, if you have a air comp. your set, mask off the area, if needed use a lite coat of bondo, sand smooth, use Rustoleum primer and paint, hold the sand blaster flush with the surface, so no sand gets out, hope that helps, Chellie

Abrasive Blast Gun with Bag

$10.00 for a sand blaster

Abrasive Blast Gun with Bag

 

Sand blaster is overkill, that rust can be removed pretty easy by hand. Mine is doing the same thing - I am gonna clean, prime, mask, and spray with parts store spray. It's the roof - nobody will ever notice.

 

I'd fix it myself like others have suggested. Then install a lift kit to keep your roof away from road salt.