If it is steel (anything made with "iron"...hence "iron oxide" which is rust), it can and will rust.

 

You can always paint the hats to stop that area from rusting.

 

They're going to rust. It's the nature of the material. Only way I know of to not have this happen is to either turn the vehicle into a show-only car that doesn't move and have the rotors coated, OR upgrade your brake system to one with graphite rotors at about 5-6k a set with a 15k mile burn time. Enjoy.

If it bothers you, take the wheel off, get a wire brush and clean it off. Soon as any moisture touches the iron it will rust again. You can actually watch it happen. Chances are you won't even get all the way around the rotor with your brush before the universe b!tchslaps some chemistry reality back into place.

 

...or just paint the hats...

echo

echo

echo

 

This was clearly an oversite on the part of the design team. The center of the wheel on the 20 inch sport rims is smaller than the rotor surface. The result is a very visual orange rust ring. Take this to the dealer asap for painting. The Escape has a simular problem and Ford came up with a trim ring to cover it but only if you returned to the dealer and complaigned about it. Make sure to include it on your survey and take it to the dealer. I am doing the same.

Guys, yes rust is normal on underbody castings which are not seen. Yes rust can and will form on the areas not coated from the factory. The issue is the factory did not coat far enough on the rotor hat area to hide the rust on the 20 inch wheel. It is completly covered on the 18 inch wheel. This is only an issue on the sport package with the 20s.

Rough44

 

Nope, non-car guy thing.