Weber is suppose to be the “Lexus” of grills. What I have experienced, in as little of 4 years, the base that supports the grill of my Spirit 310 NG grill, as well as the storage door is severely rusting. Weber says the base is only warranted for 2 years. In conversation with them, they were happy to sell me $350 worth of parts to fix a $550 grill. Since it was purchased at Home Depot I attempted to have them guide me to someone who would assist me at the company. They basically said that the "customer service " at Weber is not what it used to be. If the rest of the grill is warrantied much longer, they must know the base is substandard. Buyer beware.
If you don’t get help, you can bite the bullet and use a rust paint that bonds and stops the rust.
My Weber Genesis is 14 years old and the only sign of “rusting” was the “flavorizer” strips. But there hasn’t been any rust on the rest. I keep the grill on my patio with a grill cover over it.
Any chance Home Depot would take it back? worth a try at least.
There is Weber and then there is Weber. I bought my Genesis 5+ years ago as a Christmas present to myself. I usually keep it covered (who puts a cover over a hot grill, oops it’s raining now, sigh). But it’s done fine. The only thing I’ve needed to replace are the shields over the burners.
I wonder if the $500 version is some submarket cheapo version? I simply got tired of replacing the damn grill ($400 version) every 3 years.