FishBike

When I sold my previous 11 year old car, the bodywork was completely rust-free except for the top of the rear fender lip area, which had rusted through completely on both sides of the car. Basically the lip made a nice "shelf" for salt and dirt to get stuck on, which I'm sure made it rust out a lot faster.

My slightly more than one month old GS has the same sort of fender lip, which I noticed today does the same thing where salt and dirt just sits on it. I'm sure eventually the paint will get chipped by road debris or something, and then rusting will begin.

What suggestions do you have for preventing rust in this area? So far all I can think of is to clean it once the weather allows and then apply a really thick coat of wax to it. You can't see it so it doesn't have to look nice. Then do the same in the fall to ensure it's protected before winter starts.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

pic of the exact area you are talking about?

FishBike

Sorry for the slow reply, here's a pic of the area I'm talking about. This is with the camera inside the wheel well (sitting on top of the tire) looking out. You can see both the lip I am talking about, as well as the problem with it - look at all that dirt on it!

Jetfire

iTrader: (3)

I usually just spray it out with a hose. Whatever is left I use a gloved hand to scrape out whatever is there.

jfelbab

You could clean it well and add an undercoating. I have used these on an older winter DD and it seemed to hold up for a few years. Good prep and adhesion are imperative though as I suspect if water got under the undercoating it may just accelerate rust. Once you begin to see rust I'd grab a can of POR15 and paint it on liberally. POR15 has proven to be very effective at stopping rust from spreading.