Surface Rust on Steel Wheels

[Oldmandave]

Hi Everybody,
I own a 2005 Corolla CE; in the last few months I have noticed surface/flash rust on the steel wheels (they are not rims). The areas that are covered by the hubcaps (star shape design) have no rust, but the areas that are open to the elements do. I have the standard wheel/hubcaps that came with the 2005 Corolla CE. Some of my friends own 2003-2007 Corollas and do not have this rust problem with their steel wheels. Their cars are not garaged, like mine and we all take good care of them. I called Toyota at their 1-800 number to check if there were any Service/Tech. Bulletins on this problem: There were none. I called the dealer and they told me since the car is no longer under warranty it's not their problem. My question is; has anyone else experience this surface rust problem? If you did, how did you fix it? Thanks a lot for reading.
Dave

[LifeTech]

Originally Posted by Oldmandave

Hi Everybody,
I own a 2005 Corolla CE; in the last few months I have noticed surface/flash rust on the steel wheels (they are not rims). The areas that are covered by the hubcaps (star shape design) have no rust, but the areas that are open to the elements do. I have the standard wheel/hubcaps that came with the 2005 Corolla CE. Some of my friends own 2003-2007 Corollas and do not have this rust problem with their steel wheels. Their cars are not garaged, like mine and we all take good care of them. I called Toyota at their 1-800 number to check if there were any Service/Tech. Bulletins on this problem: There were none. I called the dealer and they told me since the car is no longer under warranty it's not their problem. My question is; has anyone else experience this surface rust problem? If you did, how did you fix it? Thanks a lot for reading.
Dave

budget steel rims are just that... budget.This will happen to most steel rims at some point. Steel rims are sparayed with very little paint .Most of the steel rims get wheel covers put over them. There is no incentive for Toyota or any other MFr. to put much effort into a QUALITY paint job just for a cheap steel wheel.

Solution:

Repaint them and they will look and stay mint looking. Just sand them and repaint. Use a final coat of clear acrylic. these rims will always look nice and rust free.

BTW, if yu use alot of harsh wheel cleaners, this will also cause corosion down the road. It just wears out the paint. Brake Dust by-product also deteriorates the wheel paint. Are yor front wheels more rusted than the rears? I notice this to be true most of the time. The front wheels always run hotter due to the front disc brakes being very hot compared to the rear drum brakes which are cooler running.

Question: have yu ever waxed these steel wheels when they were new?
I always treat the wheels like my body paint.

[bri]

My 03 CE has the same thing. Steel wheels = rust at some point. Very common here, not much you can do about it but repaint them.

[rama62]

my 07 v6 camry steel wheels rusted at 6,200 miles after 2 yrs. of ownership.
yesterday the dealer replaced all 4 steel wheels under warranty.

[nanapat]

Originally Posted by Oldmandave

Hi Everybody,
I own a 2005 Corolla CE; in the last few months I have noticed surface/flash rust on the steel wheels (they are not rims). The areas that are covered by the hubcaps (star shape design) have no rust, but the areas that are open to the elements do. I have the standard wheel/hubcaps that came with the 2005 Corolla CE. Some of my friends own 2003-2007 Corollas and do not have this rust problem with their steel wheels. Their cars are not garaged, like mine and we all take good care of them. I called Toyota at their 1-800 number to check if there were any Service/Tech. Bulletins on this problem: There were none. I called the dealer and they told me since the car is no longer under warranty it's not their problem. My question is; has anyone else experience this surface rust problem? If you did, how did you fix it? Thanks a lot for reading.
Dave

I have a 2007 Corolla and I have just started to notice rust around the trunk opening and edge's.. I have an appt. this week with the Toyota dealer about this.. Toyota just did a recall on Tacoma's with rust issue's and Tacoma's and Corolla's are made at the same factory.. one more issue..