Rust spots on grayscape roof

[fluffball]

I was washing my LC and I noticed rust spots on the grayscape roof and above rear quarter window!

I live in Austin Texas and I’ve only had it for a couple months! Must be a manufacturing defect, but no clue is there’s any warranty coverage. Anyone else see something similar? Thoughts on what to do about it?

There are two rust spots in the attached photo (the other specks are dirt ).

 

[LunarCruiser]

I've had this on my Lunar Rock and best way to tell if its not dirt and rust for me was to spray the rust remover and it'll remove the rust. Turtle Wax makes a rust remover you can spray and remove the rust. Then if it bothers you take it to Toyota for pictures.

 

[EOD Guy]

That looks to me like metal specs on top of the paint that has rusted, not rust that has come through the paint.

You should be able to remove it with a polishing compound.

 

[fluffball]

Gotcha I’ll try some stuff. Hopefully it’s on the surface! Thanks!

 

[LC510]

It’s rail dust. Get a clay bar kit from the auto store and it will come off. I had a bunch on the rear hatch.

 

[fluffball]

Looking better after taking a clay bar to it and scraping some specs with my fingernail.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[uraniumrich]

Part of my decontamination process with any new car is to spray it down with iron remover followed by a mechanical decon like a clay bar. Given the amount of time that these cars spend on the rails, it's always likely that you'll have some iron on the paint. Be warned - products like Ferrex have a nasty smell due to the sulfur content, but they are effective. Just be sure to wear gloves and don't let the Ferrex dry on the paint. I always finish up the decon process with a final wash. In other words - wash, rinse, iron decon, clay bar, wash, rinse. Anytime you use a clay bar, it will mar the paint slightly. Once I finish up with the decon process I do a paint correction and ceramic coating. All told, it usually takes me close to a week to get the paint on a new car up to my specs.

 

[NoMe cruiser]

Looking better after taking a clay bar to it and scraping some specs with my fingernail.

Thanks for the tips!

Be sure to wax after using the clay bar

 

[TakaraLC]

You can also use IronX to remove it.

 

[schuhfly]

I was washing my LC and I noticed rust spots on the grayscape roof and above rear quarter window!

I live in Austin Texas and I’ve only had it for a couple months! Must be a manufacturing defect, but no clue is there’s any warranty coverage. Anyone else see something similar? Thoughts on what to do about it?

There are two rust spots in the attached photo (the other specks are dirt ).

I believe that is what is called rail dust rust spots . I had that on a white ford pickup . It’s from either on a train. Or in my case the truck was parked right next to a rail way and the trains roll by and the wheels shoot out hot dust that melts into the paint and then rusts. Our truck had more on it than your condition. But the truck had to be sanded down and re seal coated and that was done by the dealer under a warranty at first they refused to do it but we found others that had the same issue and it was shown that the truck still on the lot all had the same issue.

 

[Area 51]

When the vehicle is new new, does the ceramic coating process accomplish the same as the process described in this thread?
Mine sure came out good.

 

[uraniumrich]

When the vehicle is new new, does the ceramic coating process accomplish the same as the process described in this thread?
Mine sure came out good.

Most of the real work in ceramic coating is all about the paint prep and correction. You can apply a ceramic coating without doing the prep and correction, but the results and longevity will not be as good. Having said that, I have coated a new car after doing the prep, but not a paint correction. I didn't have enough time to do both, so I did the best I could given the circumstances. The coating application was pretty much flawless since I did the prep work (minus the clay bar - didn't want to impart any swirls to the paint before i coated it.)

 

[Area 51]

What is paint correction.?

 

[uraniumrich]

What is paint correction.?

Perfecting the paint using either orbital or rotary buffers combined with the right pads, compounds and polishes. The goal is to get rid of any scratches, swirls, and/or imperfections in the paint. Plus, you can bring up the gloss level of the clear coat. For a vehicle the size of our LC, this took me somewhere between 8-12 hours to finish.

 

[TakaraLC]

I believe that is what is called rail dust rust spots . I had that on a white ford pickup . It’s from either on a train. Or in my case the truck was parked right next to a rail way and the trains roll by and the wheels shoot out hot dust that melts into the paint and then rusts. Our truck had more on it than your condition. But the truck had to be sanded down and re seal coated and that was done by the dealer under a warranty at first they refused to do it but we found others that had the same issue and it was shown that the truck still on the lot all had the same issue.

It doesn’t need to be transported or parked next to a railroad. The most common source of rail dust is brake pad shavings that get splashed onto the paint when the road is wet. Those eventually etch into the clear coat. All cars will have these around the wheel wells, especially near the mudflaps. There are specific products that remove etched iron from clear coat.