We had nice weather this past weekend up here in Southern Ontario and I decided to wash the car in the driveway (usually we go to a touchless car wash). After washing it I noticed many (more than 100) tiny rust spots all over the car. Some were easy to wipe off with a rag, others wouldn't come off. I freaked right out! This is only a 4 month old car! My wife called the dealer and they told her it's something to do with "ozone" in the air and will come off upon waxing it, but they advised not to do this until the winter is over. This sounds like horse manure to me. I'd like to know if anyone else has experienced the same thing before I cause a big stink at the dealer.
Tiny rust spots all over the car!
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Thank you. I just googled 'clay bar' and found that Canadian Tire sells it. Should I do this asap or take the dealer's advice and wait until spring? I'm afraid that the existing spots will grow bigger and start eating into the body.
On a different note, is this something I'm going to live with for the rest of the car's life? Is there something I can do to prevent this? It just sounds unreasonable to have to do this every few months. We had a 4Runner for 12 years and a Corolla for about 7 years and never had this problem.
You shouldn't have to do this very often. I would say that if you do it now and then "wax" your car every few months this type of crud should not reappear. BUT if you park near an industrial area and it comes back you may have a claim against the polluter for what happens to your car. I don't think it is really rust, but it could be so make sure you put a decent coat of protectant on your paint after you clean out the existing spots.
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Alberta weather is colder then Ontario weather, I would be shocked if this is anything more then a surface feature, you can't have rust in four months.
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IMO, drive the car to the dealer, and get them to take a look at it.
They can say anything over the phone, but in the flesh, it will be harder to come up with the same ozone reason. And not convinced still, get their on-site lexus technician to explain this.
I'm in sales management, and I am fully aware of what salespeople can say and will do to avoid a problem.
They can say anything over the phone, but in the flesh, it will be harder to come up with the same ozone reason. And not convinced still, get their on-site lexus technician to explain this.
I'm in sales management, and I am fully aware of what salespeople can say and will do to avoid a problem.
No worry, your car is not rusting. Some type of metalic polutant landed on the car and the small metalic particles oxidized. I found this on one of my cars when it was parked next to a railroad track for a period of time. I had heard of "rail dust" before, and I found it hard to believe trains emit metallic dust, but they apparently do. I imagine any metal dust from whatever source would do the same. The tiny rust spots easily came off by using a clay bar before waxing, followed by a good coat of wax.
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I have had same problem on my vehicles as all have been white, it is rail dust as i park near railroad tracks and the spots have appeared on plastic portions of the car ,as suggested clay bar will remove the spots and a good coat of wax will help reduce the amount of spots
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Never heard of rail dust but when i was a toyota service manager (retired now)
in the back of the warranty manual is a section on paint defects with pictures
and the one that comes to mind is angle grinder particles which are as described
but these dont all rub off,if they are and depending how close you were they can actually melt
into the top surface of the paint or lacquer.
my advice is go see the service manager at your Lexus dealer and have it properly inspected.
brian
in the back of the warranty manual is a section on paint defects with pictures
and the one that comes to mind is angle grinder particles which are as described
but these dont all rub off,if they are and depending how close you were they can actually melt
into the top surface of the paint or lacquer.
my advice is go see the service manager at your Lexus dealer and have it properly inspected.
brian
Hi there, I am guessing your CT is a lighter colour? I have the same issue with mine and with my last car so when I saw it on my CT I didn't panic. The spores are sometimes caused by brake dust when you apply your brakes. The fine particles land on the surface of your vehicle and that particle oxidizes thus causing it to rust. The rust is actually on top of the paint surface and not in the paint.
What can you do to prevent this? You need to wash your vehicle and make sure you apply a good wax like others are suggesting..it does help. You can use a clay bar but I find this takes forever if your the perfectionist type but it does work. I used the mothers brand and Canadian Tire sells it.
It shouldn't be of great concern because it is on the surface. I've owned all white vehicles from Subaru, Acura and Honda and all of them do this.. The lighter the color easier it is to spot.
What can you do to prevent this? You need to wash your vehicle and make sure you apply a good wax like others are suggesting..it does help. You can use a clay bar but I find this takes forever if your the perfectionist type but it does work. I used the mothers brand and Canadian Tire sells it.
It shouldn't be of great concern because it is on the surface. I've owned all white vehicles from Subaru, Acura and Honda and all of them do this.. The lighter the color easier it is to spot.
I also just encountered this problem. I live in northern wisconsin and it finally warmed up enough to wash my new white toyota sienna, purchased this last fall. We paid extra for a protective coating and I am not believing this reply about it just needing to be waxed because I have had white before and never had this kind of problem. There is somthing going on with the finish and toyota has to step up and fix this. I am not paying the price of our first home for a vehicle that is already having paint issues!
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