Guidance on treating light rust on a undercarriage

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Messages
50
Location
North Carolina
Hello all,
I'm considering purchasing a 2013 Lexus RX350 F series locally here in NC. Went to look at the car being sold by a private party and everything was great until I looked underneath. Light rust covering the rear diff carrier and along the shock towers, lower control arms and so on. It is a unibody and shows no sign of any corrosion anywhere else. I've seen and passed on several vechicles that look the same. This was a very nice car and was wondering if there was anyway of stopping the rust? It's by no means really bad but I don't like it. Thanks in advance,
Randy
 
Last edited:
Sounds like they backed a boat into salt water and did not clean it well. Same issue on my 03 truck. It will continue to rust and i would worry about the rear diff having water intrusion. There is no where around here that i know of that sprays fluid film, like the places up north.
 
Since you've seen several others like it, I'm going to guess the high humidity caused it.+1 on the Fluid Film. I use Krown. Up here, practically everyone has light rust on the lower control arms and shock towers. Not a serious problem.
smile.gif
 
Last edited:
some of he old farmers up north here used linseed oil on some equipment, boiled linseed oil take a few days to dry but stays there for awhile , wont tend to wash off fast , just my 2 cents
 
I doubt you would be fine with just spraying with fluid film or other recognized rust prevention spray, if this already bothers you. However, if the rust is limited to moving suspension parts, you can relax that if it really bothered you, replacement of these parts is possible down the road.
 
Any of the rust treatment sprays will deal with the light rust. I would not pass on the vehicle because of it

Krown or CarWell or NH Coatings or Wool Wax or Fluid Film.

You can do it yourself or find a place. CarWell is around $100.

You can have it treated and then do touch-ups yourself.
 
I agree to point on the sprays like krown, FF, etc, although if it's in an area hanging out in the breeze, very little coating stays on those areas. Like said, we're talking mostly suspension parts anyway. Knock anything loose off of the areas that bother you and rattle can spray them with rustoleum, etc..
 
Light surface rust doesn't need removed, just anything flaky, providing the oil/fat/grease goop you apply is low enough viscosity to weep into crevices/pores/etc.

You can either start with something low viscosity that won't last as long, or thin something more viscous with solvent then have it stink for a week while you keep the vehicle outside to fume off.

However as KGMTech mentioned, those parts bolt on, can be replaced later if the rust ever gets bad enough. You should focus more on the unibody support and the shock/strut tower mounts, etc, anything structural that would need welding+ to replace.
 
Last edited:
had this problem with an earlier car. Used PQR on critical surfaces (body panel and some joints)
6 years and still good. on other surfaces, I'd scrape/brush off rust and use Rustoleum and redo
every so often.
 
I live in N.C. as well and my wife has a 2013 Lexus es350 that's pristine underneath. I'm wondering if the car you're considering might have sat in some flood water from the numerous hurricane/flooding events in N.C. over the last few years, but not deep enough to invade the interior. It might be worth asking the current owner if such an event might have happened.
 
It's a two owner car with the first owner living in the Kentucky-Tenn area. The current owner is in Bristol-Abington VA area. They were boyh mountain areas. It looks like it just saw winter useage with salt on the roads.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top