Right on the seam between the strut tower and fender. Some discoloration that isn't bubbling. This is left side, I can't check the right side right now because the fender liner on that side is different and bigger. Any idea why?

Should I be worried?

 

Honestly, I would take it to a reputable body shop and have a pro look at it. I never saw rust of any kind on my 2000 Boxster S and I had 197K miles on the chassis and drove it in snow and salt as my daily. I did have pitted aluminum shields and some of them just rotted out rattling as they went, but I never saw anything on my chassis.

Let us know what you find.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

 

Agreed. Take it to a professional. Is it possible it's not rust but some dried substance that you ran over?

Did you have a brake fluid leak?

 

Was the car ever in an accident?

 

yes thats real rust and it only gets worse. I think it is going up under that plastic lining. if you take all the lining out you may be able to see how far it goes. you could maybe fix it yourself

 

Has this always been a California car? How would it have gotten exposed to any road salt?

 

Is that rust or cosmoline?

 

Car spent some time in Montreal, where it was exposed to salt. I'll talk to a body shop. Right now it's surface only but I'll take care of it if I need to.

 

It's a bit of surface rust that's crept in through the seam probably from the salt on the roads if it was in Montreal. Winters are pretty brutal there from what I have heard. It doesn't look bad now but it will get worse albeit slower in CA. Pull the lining, sand it down and paint it with POR, that will stop it and make sure it doesn't come back.

 

I was thinking there was no way that car was in California all its life.

 

I doubt it, though I bought the car used and anything is possible. Most likely it's a Montreal car and the few years of salt abraded away a bit of the protection on that seam. I'd be surprised if that side was hit, since the radiator and AC condenser are original, and they are the first components to go in any kind of frontal collision. Looking more closely and wiping with citrus solvent, most of the discoloration goes away with a cloth. I'll pull the fender liner, hit any rusty areas with a brass dremel brush, then POR-15 it. I doubt it's a serious problem, but may as well nuke it from orbit- it's the only way to be sure.

-n.

 

consider it serious untill you find the end of it, dont stop untill you have shinny metal.
dont cover it up and think its gone. chase it under every adjacent panel

 

They don't call that area the "Rust Belt" for nothing. No way would that happen on a California car unless you lived very close to the ocean, and even then, very doubtful. That's from road salt. It will not improve on its own. That's typical of what you can expect to see on a car that lived in Germany...road salt.

 

Montreal is notorious for salt-driven rust. That being said, it seems very minor. Track it down to its source, eliminate it and you should be good to go.

- Renato

 

I thought these cars were galvanized, so not possible like that.