Splitting roof seams near back window, water leaking into rear quarter panels

[JasonGiudici]

I didnt even realize they split at the bottom too, but yeah...your car definately has it. I would get it to the dealer while still under warranty.

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[Idaho2018GTPremium]

My 2018 GT I bought new in Nov. 2018 is garage kept at home AND at work. It barely sees the sun, basically only when I go to the gym or while I'm driving - and since mid-March that has been ~1x per week. That said, I checked my car and the seams are cracking in the upper corners as well. They are hairline at this point, in fact one crack really looks like a small hair stuck in there, but it's obviously not a hair. I will consider talking to the Ford dealership to repair it. I just hate brining my car to the dealer for any type of work.

 

[JasonGiudici]

I think all s550 mustangs will have this at some point in their life, just a matter of when. Poor design or poor execution, either way I'd call it a defect. Ive owned 6 mustangs and never had an issue like this before, and I'm talking about 10-30+ year old cars.

 

[Interceptor]

Why don't these cars have proper rubber moldings around the perimeter of the glass, to cover the gap? Some designer thought this looks sleeker?

As mention in earlier reply, rubber gaskets are out of date. The primary reason that they are glued in place, glass is stronger than metal for body flexing issues. So with glass locked to metal you stiffen up your vehicle. Look at all the little windows on the sides of vehicles, they are protecting the roof from colasping should you roll you vehicle.

This may be the reason seams are cracking. Body flex

 

[JasonGiudici]

Heres the 2017 ecoboost....looks like a long crack spreading up the drip-rail.

 

[celica0774]

The cracking and leaking is almost guaranteed to be a rust problem
Is it just cracking the seam sealer, or has anyone seen cracking in the base metal?
Is there a spot weld joint under there?
Did Ford switch to a more brittle seam sealer?
There are a lot of examples. Does it happen to ALL of these cars?
How different is this joint S550 vs S197?

 

[Elp_jc]

Damn, these stupid cars seem to have the structural integrity of tin foil then. After seeing those worrisome cracks, I also agree they're due to body flexing. Will try to avoid any inclined ramp and such from now on, to hopefully prevent that. But that shouldn't happen, especially on a new vehicle. Disappointing. But more disturbing, the car has to be half dismantled to fix some of those cracks. Geez.

 

[JasonGiudici]

I'm pretty disappointed too. I saved up a long time to buy this car, and kept my last mustang for 13 years. I was not expecting this issue at all. Ford messed up in this area. Definately not something we should have to deal with on newer cars. Im afraid even if they do repair it, it will just come back in a year or two if everything does move and flex enough to cause this.

 

[Bikeman315]

I'm pretty disappointed too. I saved up a long time to buy this car, and kept my last mustang for 13 years. I was not expecting this issue at all. Ford messed up in this area. Definately not something we should have to deal with on newer cars. Im afraid even if they do repair it, it will just come back in a year or two if everything does move and flex enough to cause this.

Funny, the S550 is now in it's sixth model year. I'm not recalling this issue coming up before at least here on this forum. I've done a couple of quick searches and haven't come up with anything yet. I'm not minimizing the issue but I do not think we have a major structural problem with our cars. The pictures, of course, do not look good but do we know for a fact that these areas are actually causing leaks into the interior of the car? Or is it just slopping finishing.

For anyone who is experiencing this issue I would certainly recommend having the dealer look at it. But I believe some of the reactions on here are being a little overly dramatic.

 

[JasonGiudici]

Funny, the S550 is now in it's sixth model year. I'm not recalling this issue coming up before at least here on this forum. I've done a couple of quick searches and haven't come up with anything yet. I'm not minimizing the issue but I do not think we have a major structural problem with our cars. The pictures, of course, do not look good but do we know for a fact that these areas are actually causing leaks into the interior of the car? Or is it just slopping finishing.

For anyone who is experiencing this issue I would certainly recommend having the dealer look at it. But I believe some of the reactions on here are being a little overly dramatic.

I didnt find much online either, other than a rare mention here or there, mostly from people who didnt even see or know about it, but only knew the dealer pulled the glass to fix seams. Thats why I started this thread, because it wasn't mentioned much or even known. Once I knew what to look for, it actually seemed quite common. 3 out of the 3 I looked at that day. The main reason to start this thread was to inform people of this possible issue, before they experienced rust and real damage, and hopefully while still under warranty. More of a heads up than anything. Of course I'm not happy about it though, and I am a bona-fide mustang fanatic. The only vehicle I've owned that wasn't a mustang was a lincoln mark viii. I'm not here to bash ford, just wish this wasnt an issue, but unfortunately it seems to be something many of us will have to deal with at some point.

 

[celica0774]

Damn, these stupid cars seem to have the structural integrity of tin foil then. After seeing those worrisome cracks, I also agree they're due to body flexing. Will try to avoid any inclined ramp and such from now on, to hopefully prevent that. But that shouldn't happen, especially on a new vehicle. Disappointing. But more disturbing, the car has to be half dismantled to fix some of those cracks. Geez.

Almost certainly NOT a structural problem.
Have you heard of anyone's car actually breaking at this location?
Structures flex when loaded.
Engineers need to be careful in detail design for spot weld joints in a visible location, including materials and processes for the seam sealer.

 

[JasonGiudici]

Im still waiting to hear from ford. I opened a case using their 1-800 number (sorry, dont have it on hand). Then I had to take it to the dealer and have them "find" the leak for 100 bucks, even though I had already found it myself; a necessary step to document the issue for the case.

If ford won't help, the dealer quoted me 1500 if they replace the glass, 900 if they manage not to break it and can reinstall the glass. He said they pull the glass, remove all the old seam sealer, install new sealer, paint (I'm assuming just the channel), and put the glass back in.

I'm not sure how differently they would handle it as far as warranty/case if the sealer is cracked and split open but no water is actually leaking into the car yet....and not sure what they will do about the paint cracking in the drip rail on the white car I posted.

 

[HeelToeHero]

2017 Canadian car here built in late April of 2017. Summer car only but does see some sun as I drive it to work frequently.
I also have cracking in the sealer. I'm not sure that means there will be a leak though. The seam sealer is more flexible than the paint.
I checked the saddles of the trunk and I don't see any sign of water ingress. That said, I'll check it after I perform my next wash.

 

[StangTime]

We are driving Skittles. Hard thin shell of paint over a soft squishy center.

 

[Sig556]

Just a side note to those of you without Jacking Rails. If your vehicle is improperly jacked up to change wheels you can get your car body to flex big time. The same is true when using a car lift.

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