Is a little rust a deal killer?

WOW.... We're talking the same thing.. Thats what I meant by "interior", being behind the door. They did a lousy job on painting those. The "Fog" paint mentioned above is a perfect description.

I've since primed and repainted all of mine and replaced all screws with matching painted SS screws. How people can let it go to what you describe is beyond me.

(Edit iPhone spelling)

SCVJeff wrote:
Where exactly is the rust. On the door or around the interior steel paneling ?

Those doors are aluminum.

Hey Jeff,
We might be talking apples and oranges here. I'm pretty sure what the OP is talking about are the compartment "face frames" as we old cabinet builders would call them. When you open a compartment door, you reveal the framing around the face of a cabinet. And those, on most if not all, Winnes and Itascas are steel. Ours has some superficial rust in various spots too. Nothing to get excited about for sure.

While riding through a camp ground over here in Lake Havasu one day, the wife and I noticed an '04 Itasca Horizon, 40' model, that had the exact same "Slate Grey" color scheme ours does. So, us being us, stopped in for a chat, to maybe get the owners to talk about their unit so we could compare what was what, to ours.

Well, the wife went inside and the man of the house and I walked around outside. He opened up various compartments and all I could say is Wwwwwwoooooooooooowwwwww!. Over 90% of his face frames on his compartments WAS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In many case, his door latches, latched into NOTHING because there was no face frame and catch, for them to latch onto. Man, what a mess. I'd never seen anything like that before. I forgot where he and his wife had spent most of the RVs life but, where ever it was, was seriously hard on that coach.
Scott

As the owner of an '07 Winny, I'm taking a break while spending another day under the thing, dealing with rust and sealing issues, where caulk has failed and allowed water to penetrate the skirt. Bottom line with Winny is that they have no real rust resistance when it comes to any sheet metal they installed on the Ford chassis.. They appeared to have fogged a coat of paint on, unprimed, unprepped, bare metal underneath, and it comes off in big sheets, it's a joke.

Is it a deal breaker, not at all. But there are going to be darn few Winny coaches of that age that do not have at least a little surface rust.

Marvel Mystery oil is great to rub on rust. It takes a lot off. It's not a deal breaker if it is only cosmetic, not severe, and the cosmetic part won't drive you nuts.

Where exactly is the rust. On the door or around the interior steel paneling ?

Those doors are aluminum.

Owned a Winnebago pusher and it had some rust develop on the thin, poorly coated metal around some of the storage compartment doors. I media blasted it, treated it with Rust Seal and painted it. It held up well for another 7 years.

Should not be a deal breaker in an otherwise well maintained coach. I would inspect the under carriage well before making any final offer.

Rust on a cargo door on a MH that is not made of metal such as a car is is NOT a problem. Just means the paint has been rubbed off the metal edge which is not part of anything but the metal edge. :C

To me, a little rust on a 2007 would not be a deal breaker.

However, if other units have a similar problem, I would investigate further to see if it's a major problem or just an annoyance.

I would check on a Winnebago Forum, maybe it's something relatively minor?