For long time owners, where do Prius rust first? I wish to know to protect those areas.

For long time owners, where do Prius rust first? I wish to know to protect those areas.

Every car seems to have weak points in the design where water, dirt, and
etc.. gets trapped causing rust once it makes it through the paint due to
a rock chip for example.

Please tell me where these points are if you are experiencing signs of rust
in any part of the car.

Or is the Prius still too new to be asking this question?
Or does the Prius seem like any other vehicle and the most obvious places
should be of concern? Wheel well areas, anywhere the paint surface gets
a chip, lower to the ground, etc..

thank you.

like any car, behind the rear wheel wells...

obtw, i dont have any rust. since salt is not abundant in our area like the midwest, we use sand. due to volcanos in our area, rock and gravel is very plentiful

2002 Prius 125569 Miles
Never garaged.
No Rust

prius does not rust...

5 salty & sandy winters in Minnesota for me so far. No body rust whatsoever, just tiny colorless chips on the hood and orange speckles on the frame underneath. The only actual rust is on the brake drums in back.

.

I'm seeing a little rust forming on the rear suspension part
on my New England '04, but not serious enough to worry about yet.
Nothing on the body that I've detected.
.
_H*

I noticed when I rotated my tires the wheel bearing castle nut under the wheel has no dust cover and at 10K miles on my garaged 07 was very rusted. Reports of wheels rusted to hubs also. You will experience that in NH I'm afraid. I greased mine up and expect no more issues.Search my last few threads.

i dont know about rust, but my prius seems really sensitive to rock chips. maybe you should just get one of those clear bra installations and call it good, the ones that cover the hood area mirrors, etc

keep in mind that the prius rust warranty covers 60 months and unlimited number of miles

I live in the rust capitol of the world.
Western NY.
Some of us beleive they spread salt all year round, just because the unions get overtime spreading salt and rebuilding roads and bridges.
My Prius is too new to have any rust yet.
But I have a 98 Subaru...........
What rusted is just about every fastener underneath.
They may have had some plating on them at one time, but it didn't last.
Also, on the Subaru, both the engine oil pan, and the Transmission oil pan rusted through. They get stone chips and develop rust.
Also, my brake drums rusted so bad, they rusted through, so did brake lines, and dust shields
Don't know if any of this effects a Toyota.
Anyone had problems in an extra salty area with a Toyota other than the Prius?
Body rust is not all that can happen........there is plenty of other metal components under these cars.
I've already emptied a couple cans of clear spray paint on shiny fasteners under the car. The metal part of the brake lines, backing plates etc..........anything to protect them.
Does anyone think these cars need to get the $300 rustproofing?

That happens to almost all cars with alloy wheels as galvanic corrosion forms between the aluminum wheel and the steel hub. Next time you rotate tires, place a bit of anti-seize grease on the hub. That will prevent corrosion from sticking to the wheel.

Worst case scenario if the wheels are effectively fused to the hub is to slightly loosen the lug nuts and drive back and forth in your garage. The weight of the vehicle will break the corrosion.

thanks all for the feedback. i will consider everyone's comments and see how this winter goes.

I got some rock chips on my hood and on the front window pillar. The ones on the hood didn't rust (aluminum hood) but the chip on the window pillar rusted unbelievably fast. I cleaned it up and put some touch up paint on it and have had no further problems.

GT

The only rust (so far) is on the gas stations I no longer frequent . Seriously, I had my previous cars rustproofed annually and after doing some research on the Prius decided not to do it.

Just take always take good care of it. Have a regular wash.

I discover some rust start to form around the licence plate light bulb (behind the plastic triming) when I replace the licence plate bulb last year in my 2001. The rust area is just about half of the size of the penny and some sand paper and some touch up paint can take care of it. Maybe because I live in Ontario, Canada and they use alot of salt?

- The rotors will get a bit of rust, mostly from under use
- I second the wheel rust comment. Had to bash one tire with a rubber mallet to get it off last time I rotated the tires.
- The one place I have rust that I've not seen anyone else post is the front of the seat mounting rails. Not sure why, it isn't like I whack them with a hammer. I should probably take them out, clean them up and put some rust-o-leum on.
- I also have some rust on the 2 bigger screws that hold the top of the grill down under the hood.
- No body rust

Massachusetts? A lot of cars seem to rust in Massachusetts, at least last time I was there, back in the 70's.

anybody get any rust this winter?

I guess, nobody got any rust this winter??

nope, no rust, but pretty rare in WA State. we have too many volcano's are here. they dont erupt much any more (crossing fingers, eyes AND toes!!) but in the past they created a lot of rock which has deteriorated into sand which is what we use most of the time.

now we did have one of the worst winters ever and chemicals were used a few times. but alas, still no rust