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Tiny Rust spots on back bumper, need help

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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 12:32 PM
  #1  
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Default Tiny Rust spots on back bumper, need help

Hey Guys,

Happy Easter!
Before anyone blames me for getting rust spots, to be honest, I wash my car and keep its so clean almost every 1-2 weeks. Due to the beautiful spring sun, I realize that there so many multiple 1mm-2mm size rust spots on my back bumper. I am so pissed since Michigan puts so much crappy salt on their roads due to the bad winter we get. I am not going to blame the Lexus paint but I might since I don't get these on my german cars. Anyways, How do I remove these spots? Are there any special cleaners?
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 12:38 PM
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Depending on if the rust penetrated the paint, you might want to try a clay bar or a good paint cleaner to remove the contaminants in the paint. Meguiars Body Scrub is a good paint cleaner to try.
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 07:43 PM
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Interesting...can you post pics of this?
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 10:05 PM
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yeah, pictures?

rear bumper is made of plastic, i wonder how you can get "rust" spot? i would also suggest try clay bar, it might take off a lot of contaminants
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 01:48 PM
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I will post some pictures later today or tmw. I was very surprise to see these, and I have never ever seen them on any other car except for my old american cars back in the 80s-90s.
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 01:56 PM
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Yeah...your old american cars of the 80s-90s had metal bumpers....todays are plastic...pretty darn sure that its chemically impossible for plastic to rust.
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 04:38 PM
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Do you live or work near a factory or a steel mill? Industrial fallout is not unheard of.
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 05:42 PM
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typically those tiny rust spots are referred to as "rail dust"

Can come from a number of sources: literally from rail road cars (friction caused by wheels against the rails - hence the name), brake dust (due to metallic and semi-metallic pads), s#it they spread on roads in winter, industrial "fall out", etc.

You probably don't see the spots as easily on your German cars b/c of the paint color, but believe me they are there. I get it on my German car, my American car and both of our Lexus (shouldn't I be saying Lexii? ).

Anyhow, a clay bar or bug & tar remover will be the most effective way to remove them provided they are still on top of the surface (bug/tar will still work when below/in surface too). The rule of thumb is to use the least invasive method as possible to remove which in this case is clay. The longer you leave them there, the more invasive a proceedure you will need to remove which over a long period of time [read years] would require a repaint.

So, jump on it now w/ clay or b/t remover and remember to wax/protect the area when finished to help reduce future clean-up/occurrences.

Here's a picture of an extreme example w/ a lovely bee to show size comparison. On a white car, they show up plain as day - ask me how I know
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 05:59 PM
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very helpful burg!
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 08:58 PM
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Originally Posted by rominl
yeah, pictures?

rear bumper is made of plastic, i wonder how you can get "rust" spot? i would also suggest try clay bar, it might take off a lot of contaminants
I was thinking the same thing. And isnt rust damage covered by lexus under warranty. I have no clue when it comes to this bec I have spent most of my life in CA and AZ
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Old Mar 25, 2008 | 07:36 AM
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Hey,

Thanks! Thats exactly what I have. I will try to get them off this weekend. I have a mercury silver metallic and I couldn't get a nice picture of the back bumper with these spots.

Originally Posted by BurgBoxstr
typically those tiny rust spots are referred to as "rail dust"

Can come from a number of sources: literally from rail road cars (friction caused by wheels against the rails - hence the name), brake dust (due to metallic and semi-metallic pads), s#it they spread on roads in winter, industrial "fall out", etc.

You probably don't see the spots as easily on your German cars b/c of the paint color, but believe me they are there. I get it on my German car, my American car and both of our Lexus (shouldn't I be saying Lexii? ).

Anyhow, a clay bar or bug & tar remover will be the most effective way to remove them provided they are still on top of the surface (bug/tar will still work when below/in surface too). The rule of thumb is to use the least invasive method as possible to remove which in this case is clay. The longer you leave them there, the more invasive a proceedure you will need to remove which over a long period of time [read years] would require a repaint.

So, jump on it now w/ clay or b/t remover and remember to wax/protect the area when finished to help reduce future clean-up/occurrences.

Here's a picture of an extreme example w/ a lovely bee to show size comparison. On a white car, they show up plain as day - ask me how I know
Reply
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