Yup, under that blingy driver door trim. Both front doors.

 

Had the same problem last year on my drivers door ( your passenger door ) it's because water gets in between the chrome trim and the gap holding it on. Lexus decided to bolt the chrome trim on and not properly seal behind the trim. On mine it looked awful on the inside of the door, the amount of rust comming through was unreal. I managed to get a decent body repair shop to fix it and you would never know it had any rust before. Mine was like a rust scab comming up on the outside. On the bottom of the doors it appears it looks metal it's actually plastic over the metal bottom of the door, lexus did a good job of that so you should never get any rust on the bottoms of the door panels.

 

No rust problems here in the Sunbelt (The Bayou State).
My son lives in Chicagoland. You have my condolences.

 

I see this is a common problem on the LS. The rust right above the lower trim on the front doors. Does anyone know if whatever causes it has a fix? I know I need to replace the skins but there must be an underlining cause because it is on almost half the cars I see like mine. I'd like to prevent it from happening again as it is very expensive to fix and Lexus pretends there is no defect.
Yes I'm in Chicago and there is road salt etc. however that is no excuse since we also have a 2000 Ford Focus with twice the miles and zero rust through. Salt on the roads has not been a valid excuse since the 1980's! Plus why would it be the exact same spot on so many LS cars.

If anyone has a fix I'd appreciate your help. Thanks!

 

Yep.... Rust, passenger door right above the trim... Looks like there are several LS's that have this issue. About the size of a 1/2 dollar coming from the inside out.

2001 Lifetime Colorado car with just over 195,000 miles.

 

Seems to be very common in Illinois. Paint bubbled from rust on both front and rear passenger side doors on my 04 LS - just below the upper chrome trim. Garage kept at home and at work with 100K miles at the time. This was 2 years ago.

By the time I took it to a body shop it had rusted through - had to replace both skins. $1000 with a lifetime guarantee.

 

Exact same problem here in Minnesota. Rear driver's side door. Just below the chrome trim, under the window.

At first I thought it was surface. Went to sand it down today, but turns out it's completely through the sheetmetal. About the size of a fingertip, right where sheetmetal curves into the car under the trim.

Judging by the cost of a door skin, I'm hoping it's repairable with strips and bondo....

 

Curious
When I was looking for a LS, there were 2 cars I saw advertised with dealer that showed the exact spot on the driverside door, middle, above trimline.
Seems that is a weak spot right from the factory. I wonder what is behind the panel.
Best treatment I used on all previous cars that showed even the slightest sign - POR 15. Stops rust and will never rust on that spot again

 

I think #32 identified the problem correctly.
Offwith the trim and properly seal it

 

You mean rust like this.....

I have had this issue for at least 3 years now. I have taken it to a couple of different body shops and they have passed on repairing being that they don't know what they are getting into. And then my issue: what's my return on investment on the repair for a 2001?

It is pretty embarrassing to be driving this nice of a car and have door rust coming through. About every 4 months I spray some Rustoleum Silver into a cup and use a small paint brush to cover.

Not my preferred method but I’m not spending $2K to fix Lexus’s issue either. Lexus if you are watching, you have an issue.

 

For whatever reason, the Japanese car companies have struggled with rust issues. Maybe it's because American car companies tend to come from the rust belt, but that seems to be one area that the Big 3 do a better job on.

I know Toyota had a pretty large recall with Tacoma truck frames rusting out. You would think that was a problem from a bygone era.

Not a problem where I live thankfully. You would think by now somebody would have a better solution for dealing with icy roads than salt.

 

Rust around the door trim, wheel opening moldings and trunk trim over the license plate tend to be areas that are prone to rust in the "rust belt" states - confirmed by a Lexus parts mgr. I think the issue has been reported more on '01 - '03 LS's. Fine dirt/dust and salt mix and collect in the door trims, wheel opening moldings and trunk moldings, creating a dirt/salt paste that doesn't dry out - a perfect environment to eat away at any weakness in the paint/body. I periodically use a high pressure water sprayer on those areas to remove dirt under those moldings.

 

For everyone's future reference:

Front right door skin 67111-50030
Front left door skin 67112-50030
Rear right door skin 67113-50030
Rear left door skin 67114-50030

 

To update this thread. My 2005 has rust starting in the exact spot as others here have experienced. The rear drivers side upper door under and around the chrome trim. Definetly a design flaw. Will be getting quote from body shop to reskin door when i get the car painted. Cant complain too much though at this age and 144k miles.

 

I guess I might be a lucky owner. All original, no paint work anywhere on metal, no rust anywhere. Is this rust issue predominantly on cars up North?