I have a black RX 330 (6 months old) and I noticed today a little rusting near the edge of one of the doors. It looks like there might have been some chipped paint or a tiny scratch there, but I am surprised it is rusted. I thought that cars now were totally rust-proof. Has anyone else had the same problem? What should I do about it? Should I take it to the dealer?

 

Rustproofing on cars has come a long way, but these are all coatings. IF you ding the paint all the way to the metal and penetrate the (usually zinc) coating, the underlying steel can certainly rust.

Can take it to the dealer (maybe they'll comp you the fix) but any competent body shop should be able to deal with this. But DO deal with it!!

 

Yes, that is woth repeating:

DO deal with it.

The sheetmetal will rust just from humity in the air, let alone the rain and most of all salt! Up here in Mass there is plenty of salt used and my undercarrage is a testment to it's corrosion accelerating abilities (perhaps you've notice tha in my pics).

Once salt gets on the metal and rusts it the salt staqys there acting like a catalyst and keeps rustoing the steel (iron). It seems to have a nasty habit of working at the edges of the paint from the chiped out place and just keeps expanding the area as time goes on. Putting something on it doesn't really stop this salt action. It has to really be cleaned out (maybe sanded) and sealed. Just a chip can be takencare of with touch up paint, but rust at the sheetmetal surface needs to be done right.

 

Not too sure if the dealer would take care of it (comp). Does your situation fall into excessive wear/tear (door opened & hit something)? My '97 Prelude SH I had, had a rust spot on the lip of the trunk lid, right next to the rear glass. That was covered under warranty - maybe because it was obviously a factory defect??

The 6 year/unlimited mileage corrosion perforation warranty sounds like it would cover you.

Good luck!

 

tonyarous, try to get the dealer to take care of it, maybe it was there when you picked up the car and didn't notice it - let us know how it goes!

Ederny, what corrosion are you seeing up there in Mass.? I am concerned about rust/corrosion as these cars have lttle apparent overall sealant on the undercarriage. Are you seeing rust or other corrosion that concerns you? I recall Fern noting corrosion in the rear bumper on another CL thread.

 

Bob, the rust is only on undercarrage parts. I'm not really concerned with as it is unprotected suspension parts that one would expect to see some rust on. However, what concerns me is rust on any pieces of metal bolted together or welded together. So far, nothing beyond what is expected at this milage (66k), but I do inspect everytime I'm under the vehicle. The body intergrety is great so far.

My only corrosion complaint is the inner part of the alloy wheels, between the spokes. They have brown corrosion spots on all 4 wheels.

Anyone have anything like this happen?

 

Wow, that rim looks really bad Of my last 3 cars I've had, that has never happened to me, and I'm surrounded by salt water air!!

 

msilv,

yeah, really bad. must be the combination of salt and sand they through on the roads here. I've tried to scrub it off, some comes off. At this point, they need to be sand blasted and repainted....

 

Ed, that sure isn't pretty. I haven't noticed that on either car yet. I think I will try waxing the wheels to try to prevent that problem; I hit the shore area a few times a year.

Lexus told me a year or more ago they don't even make a touch up paint for the wheels! Seems odd.
I worked hard to find a way to repair my wheels on the '99 from some marks and nut scrolls from the Lexus dealers (only place I took my cars) apparently spinning the nuts into the paint in the nut wells (check your wells if you don't do your own wheel rotations) and all I could locate was someone whom I never did contact that did full wheel repainting/refurbishing.

 

it must be a salt water thing when u live near a ocean.

 

Hey everyone! I've noticed rust spots on my car too! They're little orange/reddish spots all over the hood and who knows where else! After getting my new RX, I've washed it practically once a week, and even keep it in the garage. So I don't know what's going on....any suggestions? cleaning tips, etc?

 

tinkr: are you sure it is rust??!! To have rust on the hood without damage is odd to say the least, my paint is fabulous looking - do you mean on top of the hood?

Ederny: to your comment about parts rusting together I noticed rust on the hitch mount bolts installed at the dealer, the bolts have a lot of rust so I am really concerned that the bolts are rusting into the frame of my new car and could affect the structural integrity of the rear-end frame and hitch attachment eventually. Any thoughts on what to do would be appreciated.

 

I just got my RX330 a month ago and after a few car washes and rolling down the windows the next day, i'll still get water marks on the windows.

Is that a normal case? Doesn't happen with my other cars.