I noticed this strange wear around the driver side front inner wheel/ rim when I bought ‘15 is350 awd f-sport, and I have no idea how it got there. It’s only on that one wheel and that wheel also makes a fair amount of noise at 70+ mph speeds.

My car is CPO so hopefully they can help resolve the noise, but I wanted to get some insight beforehand and see if this wear is an issue from driving.

 

That is bizarre beyond words...I have never seen or heard of anything like that. It almost looks like that car's wheel was rubbing against something and while I am not even sure what could have done this, but could going through the rails of a car wash be an explanation?

In any event, that is not normal at all....How long ago have you bought your IS? It is hard to go back after you have owned the vehicle to claim that you bought it like that as they could claim it happened while you had it unless of course you have a great dealer and will do the right thing....I know hindsight is 20/20 but that is part of teh reason people always suggest you have a full inspection done prior to buying a used vehicle...

 

This was my thought as well. Look as if they didn't line up correctly and just drug the inside of the wheel all the way down a car wash rail. You would think there would be damage to the same side rear as well though, but perhaps they had the rear wheel replaced at some point.

 

I bought the car a month ago and did see this wear pre-purchase but didn’t realize issues with noise until after the purchase. The dealership has been great so far in addressing concerns as they come up so I’m lucky in that regards.

I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a currently ongoing issue causing the inner wheel to wear in that way.

 

I have to agree with everyone else so far, it looks like curb rash but on the inside of the wheel...since the inside of the wheel will never touch a curb, the car wash rail seems like the most logical explanation.

 

OP - I hope that you have documented your observation with the dealership when you bought it - While I agree that if you thought it was just cosmetic, where no one would see it, I could see why you didn't make a big deal about it but if it is causing a noise issue, I would push for the dealer to replace.

If you could ask they put another tire/rim as a test to see if that is truly the noise issue, and if it is, then you could push for a replacement....

My 2 cents