FRUSTRATING I KNOW...I owned a 2004 crossfire coupe from 2006 and it also had rust around the lock handle/latch so i paid a visit to my nearest dealer and after a photo being taken and waiting for a couple of weeks they agreed to replace the rear hatch ...happy days.....I now own a 2006 srt 6 convertable and yes in the last few months rust appeared round the latch so i went over to my dealer who is now Lookers and doesn't deal with Chrysler sales but is still a agent for service and repairs after chasing the guy up who dealt with these issues he said quote " you wont get anywhere with this as since Fiat had taken them over you are wasteing your time" Nice ...i must say the guys attitude "STANK!" so three weeks later i rang back as he obviously could not be arsed to let me know and was told by him "Chrysler had been in and totally refused to do anything about it" maybe this is true, but anyway i rang Fiat/ Chrysler and had them give me a e-mail address as i can send my own photos and have a written record as to what the outcome might be ? so will just have see what happens...

I believe the problem to be with a poor amount of paint around the latch itself as it looks very thin and as i have not disassembled the latch too have a good look round it ( i wont do this until i found out what Fiat has to say) maybe a seal issue at this stage i just dont know..i dont think it is a water drainage problem as the coupe and roadster are very different but the problem is the same...one theory i do have is as the car is driven along in the wet, water is drawn around and under the latch mechanism by vacum and getting in that way.......as i said just a theory, mmmm.