Rusty Door Sills - 2013 LS
#1
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
Rusty Door Sills - 2013 LS
On my 2013 with 37k miles I noticed rusting door sills. Looks like surface rust on both rear door sills and the front passenger door sill- around where the word LEXUS is inscribed. I’m headed to the Dealer in a couple of days and will mention it - I am under CPO warranty and surface rust is not covered by that warranty so I’m not going to hold my breath for warranty work.
I find it interesting there is no rust on the driver door sill - I speculate the reason why is that door is used often and the other doors are not. Maybe water sits trapped by weatherstripping on the doors infrequently used.
Maybe I now have an excuse to spend silly money on the Japanese LS illuminated door sills!
Anyone else out there encounter rust on their door sills?
I find it interesting there is no rust on the driver door sill - I speculate the reason why is that door is used often and the other doors are not. Maybe water sits trapped by weatherstripping on the doors infrequently used.
Maybe I now have an excuse to spend silly money on the Japanese LS illuminated door sills!
Anyone else out there encounter rust on their door sills?
#2
Pole Position
Can you post some pics of the rusty sills? I haven't noticed anything obvious in my car, but will take a close look.
#4
Lexus Fanatic
Thats very odd...
#6
Lexus Fanatic
Have you tried cleaning them with a metal polish like Eagle One Never Dull?
#7
Pole Position
Thanks, Dolph. I checked my car carefully, and did not notice any rust. My car has lived in NY/NJ and MO for all of 68000 miles, so the conditions are comparable to yours. That piece looks like stainless steel or Aluminium, so it's surprising to see rust. I hope a good polish with "Never Dull" will take it right off. Good luck!
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#8
Lexus Champion
I have the same on my '13 4GS. It was then that I noticed I still had some of the pre-delivery plastic on the sill so I chalked it up to the plastic retaining moisture over that particular piece, causing it to rust.
#10
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
The door sills are stainless steel -says so on my Lexus invoice. The dealer confirmed this was surface rust-they attempted to remove it for me as goodwill - on two doors it is less evident but I can still see it, they forgot to give it a try on the third door.
I will just try to remove it myself.I’ll try the eagle stuff or the cleaner some of you use to clean your exhaust tips- I remember reading a thread on here where some of you long timers recommended a product to clean those tips.
I have no experience removing rust but I can say that when I run my finger over these marks it is smooth, you can’t feel them at all.
I will just try to remove it myself.I’ll try the eagle stuff or the cleaner some of you use to clean your exhaust tips- I remember reading a thread on here where some of you long timers recommended a product to clean those tips.
I have no experience removing rust but I can say that when I run my finger over these marks it is smooth, you can’t feel them at all.
#11
Lexus Fanatic
It looks like some other sort of stain.
Stainless steel can't really rust, and if it were surface rust it wouldnt be smooth when you run your fingers over it.
I would try the Nevr Dull wadding polish.
Stainless steel can't really rust, and if it were surface rust it wouldnt be smooth when you run your fingers over it.
I would try the Nevr Dull wadding polish.
#14
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
I stopped at Pep Boys today and picked up Eagle One Never Dull. I treated the door sill the dealer forgot to treat and I can report that the sill came out much better than the ones the dealer treated. It is 98% perfect. Only I could find the outline around the outer edge of where the marks used to be - impossible to see now if your getting into and out of the car. I then treated the sills the dealer tried to repair and quickly improved those too. The sills could use a second treatment to get those bits I only know are there but I need to probably put blue painters tape around the plastic surrounding the sill to protect it from the chemical before doing more.
I really appreciate all the help this community provides. I haven’t done my own detailing in probably 30 years so very thankful for the advice here.
When rubbed off the marks did leave a rust colored stain on the Eagle One cloth. If not rust, hmmm....the remnants of some nasty liquid that evaporated?
One last thing on the Eagle One for anyone that has never used it. The directions are simple, a few sentences, but on a quarter inch piece of a rear sill I rubbed the cloth against the grain of the stainless steel, don’t do this. I can see the cross grain rubbing when the light is reflected a certain way. The directions are silient on this, to some it may be common sense, but you should rub with the grain.
I really appreciate all the help this community provides. I haven’t done my own detailing in probably 30 years so very thankful for the advice here.
When rubbed off the marks did leave a rust colored stain on the Eagle One cloth. If not rust, hmmm....the remnants of some nasty liquid that evaporated?
One last thing on the Eagle One for anyone that has never used it. The directions are simple, a few sentences, but on a quarter inch piece of a rear sill I rubbed the cloth against the grain of the stainless steel, don’t do this. I can see the cross grain rubbing when the light is reflected a certain way. The directions are silient on this, to some it may be common sense, but you should rub with the grain.
#15
Pole Position