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How to control rocker panel rust on 2007 Prius?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by bnprius, May 23, 2024.

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  1. bnprius

    bnprius Our Prius at 200K

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2007
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    Location:
    Ypsilanti Michigan, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Our 2007 Prius that we bought new, which just reached 200K (see 200,000 Mile Club | Page 40 | PriusChat), is running very well and we hope to eventually join the 300K club. I think the main challenge will be rust, since we live in Michigan, where salt is used to melt snow & ice in winter. We had the Prius rustproofed at 138,000 miles by a Canada-based company called Corrosion Free, which has a local dealer in Ann Arbor. They spray a fine, oil-like treatment underneath the car and inside most body panels. They recommend re-treating every 18 months, which we've done. This treatment has worked well on two cars we owned before the Prius. But the Prius is showing some rust on the rocker panel just ahead of the rear wheel on the passenger side. If any of you have had experience treating rust on Gen 2 Prius, what would you recommend? Is rust at this location a structural problem, or just surface-superficial? Is a new replacement part available from Toyota? Am attaching a photo of the rusting area. DSCN4256_20240519_38194.JPG
     
    #1 bnprius, May 23, 2024
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    My body guy would say you want to get that DA sand it out and then treat the metal with good God don't even get started there are a million ways to tackle it talk to body people in Ann arbor that do this kind of work and see what they can come up with some kind of metal treatment with 3M body schutz like stuff etc The technology is certainly changed quite a bit since I had to deal with rust prevention and rustproofing in those states where it was prevalent It's ever changing so you'd have to get with other people in areas like same and talk to a well-equipped body shop that makes their bread and butter doing rust repair and things like that on vehicles that people want to keep.
     
    #2 Tombukt2, May 23, 2024
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