Crizz

We took delivery of our new 2012 Q7 only days after it was unloaded from the boat in Brunswick back in March. It now just turned 5k miles and less than 5 months old, and there is very unsightly and noticeable rust forming on the rotor hats. I have owned many cars in the past and understand rotors are steel and will eventually rust, but this takes the cake for the soonest!

The car has been stored indoors and driven in the rain only a handful of times. I also know that it was not on the dealers lot for more than 24 hours when it was new.

Anyone else had similar experiences? It's absolutely gorgeous otherwise.. just cant believe their anti-rust coating isnt more sturdy.

coupegt87

R u referring to the Rotors ? what is rotor hats ? The rotors itself is made of Carbon steel so any moisture on the rotors will start. When Iron molecules oxidizing into Iron oxide (Rust)

Jusforfun

Yeah, the rotors are soft which makes them more effective but wear at a faster rate and consequently shed more metal on the hub or hat as you call it. Solution; use aftermarket semi or ceramic pads or harder rotors at the cost of less power in your brakes.
There is a column in the spreadsheet listing what other members here have used.

bozack

yes Crizz you are right. Pretty annoying and a first for me too with all the cars I have owned and own now. Even my other German cars don't have this problem on the hats so just something different.

I pulled off all the tires when I got mine and did the brake paint over all my rotor hats so know they stay silver all the time!

Oleg Simakoff

Just use a light coating of T9 Boeshield on all the areas prone to rust (NOT the braking surfaces!). I got my '13 and that's the 1st thing I did - covered all the nuts, bolts, rotors and welding spots with the T9 - not a rust spot.

T9 looks like grease but after application just leaves waxy film that will protect the bare metal from corrosion. Thing is though you'd have to apply it every 4-6 months or so, but that's no big deal.