unfortunately, when you see rust bubbling paint like that it is often he tip of the unseen iceberg when you start removing paint to assess the extent of corrosion.

Here's to hoping that's not the case.

That's ridiculous. Tape off, sand to metal, clean, epoxy primer, base, clear done. Can get all this for $100 or less. Put license plate back with silicone frame.

that's actually not bad and I'm sure is regional dependent when it comes to price. Us canadians are used to paying ridiculously high prices for anything automotive. is it a complete sand down, prime and repaint the whole hatch or just the spot and clearcoat the whole hatch?

I'm in Canada as well. They said just paint the spot and clearcoat the whole hatch. This quote was at Maaco, by the way, who supposedly are on the lower end of the price scale as they cut a lot of corners.

Ok... I got the license plate off, and there is more rust around the bolt holes. It is definitely a bit worse than I thought

Some new pics:

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that really is not THAT bad. in canada you see that all the time on vehicles. honestly what I would do is use some polish/rubbing compound/light sanding to get as much of that rust off as you can, maybe a pick for those tricky areas around the bolt holes. then I'd use a touchup paint pen with a small paint brush and cover the exposed areas as best I could. 3 coats, heat gun in between coats to speed up drying. then 2 coats clear coat as well over the areas you painted. fluid film around the holes, be generous and switch to stainless bolts and get a rubber plate frame

is it a perfect solution, no. will it work, yes if you take your time. I don't think this is worth body shop work . paint pen with base / clear is $20, small brushes $5. $25 fix + another $10 if you don't have any fluid film lying around

Agreed. Since those holes are threaded, better to clean them out with a tap. Then treat as above.

Even though I have had stainless bolts in mine for years, the holes were still rusted and the bolts nearly frozen.