Rust on rear wheel arches on my IS250

[Surebet]

Just noticed rust starting to appear on my rear wheel arches, is this a known issue with Lexus, rust was a really bad issue on my previous car, a Mercedes ( vowed never to buy another one). The bodywork on the Lexus is fantastic for the age and I would be loathed to get rid of it as it has been so reliable and with less than 50K on the clock I was planning to keep it for a long time. Has anyone else had this issue and if so can you advise me on the best course of action.

[ColinBarber]

10 minutes ago, Surebet said:

Just noticed rust starting to appear on my rear wheel arches, is this a known issue with Lexus,

It can be an issue with the IS250 if stone chips are left untreated or wet mud builds up on the inside of the arch lip. We don't see that many with this issue here, whereas the series I IS200 is common for the seals to rot at the wheel arch. Best to get the arches repaired before it gets to the point where major work is required.

 

[Surebet]

Thanks Colin for the quick response, is this a job that I could tackle myself or is it best left to a body shop specialist. 

[ColinBarber]

27 minutes ago, Surebet said:

Thanks Colin for the quick response, is this a job that I could tackle myself or is it best left to a body shop specialist. 

It depends how good you want it to look 🤣

You could give it a go. Rub it down, apply rust killer, a bit of filler if needed, primer and top coat. If it is just the lip and the inside surface then you can mask off the rest of the bodywork and it wouldn't matter too much if the paint colour didn't fully match. But if any repair is needed to the main vertical panel then you would want a bodyshop to properly blend in the paint.

[Bluemarlin]

With low mileage and everything else working well then I'd  be incllned to get a quote to get it professionally fixed. Hard to say how easy it is to do yourself without pictures. 

I've done similar myself, and it's not too hard. The most important thing is to get rid of all the existing corrosion first, otherwise it will just reappear.

[Vintagesixtysix]

I’m also fighting rust in this location.

At this age I can’t grumble too much.

I found a half inch of crud ( dry to the touch) inside the wheel liner on the inside of the arch lip.

Using an inhibitor at mo to stabilise.

Waiting for better weather to tackle…. I’ll diy it for this location.