So I have a small rust bubble on the rear door of my 2013 T4R, just under the license plate...

I have been pretty anal about washing and otherwise maintaining my T4R, as I have just hit 200,000 miles and hope to double that if I can... What do you guys suggest to fix this? I have only had small rust dots up until now (from paint chips), and I've used sand cloth and touch up paint to deal with those. This is a little different though... I am thinking of talking to a body shop, but I expect them to give me a pricey quote. What do you guys think should be done?

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The real problem with rust bubbles like that is they start on the inside, thus the inside will be much worse than what is apparent on the outside. Thus the only solution may be to replace the door with a new shell, sorry to say.

live with it.

Can you take the license plate off and take some pics?

When I tried to unscrew it, it didn't seem to want to go, so I didn't force it. I was able to lift it up a bit though, and it looks like all the rust was starting at the bottom of the license plate, like you see in the pic.

hmmm. I'm not sure if its coming from the inside without more pics. when the metal license plate sits right up against the paint it will wear out the paint, especially if sand gets trapped in there

you're going to need a way to get the plate off. if it wasn't installed with stainless bolts they probably rusted in place. if it's not coming from the inside it's a pretty minor body work job. just make sure to install some PPF where the plate goes and use a rubber plate backing. then it won't happen again

We had the lift handle loosen, which I addressed by pulling the inner panel and tightening the nuts. I noted rust on components in there and ours is a California car. My conclusion is bad design making this rear lift door prone to rust on the inside. Going anal on the washing only hastened the rust process.

Here are some better pictures. In better lighting, I can see how the plastic license plate frame has been rubbing or otherwise damaging the paint...

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If it was mine with those miles, I might try applying lightweight oil periodicallly. My thought is that it will seep in where it can, and coat/saturate the rust, and help slow the rust by blocking air and moisture.

Honestly it looks like it's just on the surface. I would tape off a clean line, sand off all the rust down to bare metal, and then spray it with some matte black paint or something in a pattern that matches the license plate so it's not noticable.

I could do this with sandcloth/emery cloth (might be the least invasive, I don't want to take off more paint that necessary), or a wire wheel (might take too much paint off). I have Rustoleum Flat Black spray paint like this (link below). I would think that would match my paint well? It is a matte black enamel spray.



RUST-OLEUM Enamel Spray Paint, Black, Matte, 15 oz., Aerosol Can KP391 (V2178838) | Shop Solvent-Based Paints & Coatings | TENAQUIP

ok this doesn't look too bad. step one you need to get that plate off. I would start with least invasive methods and work up. a light polish and a microfibre cloth. try polishing off that surface rust. I do this with stubborn fallout spots that I cant get off just using my fingernail, this is obviously a much bigger spot, but start with that. maybe move up to a rubbing compound. see how much rust you can remove before sanding, you might be surprised - you might have to rub pretty hard

now if you're pretty skilled you can probably sand down to bare metal if the polish/rubbing compound doesn't work and then apply touchup paint. if you don't prime and paint and do this whole process perfect it's going to end up worse lol. the paint will peel and it will be a mess. if there are just a couple areas where the plate broke the paint then hit it with a touchup pen when it is as clean as you can get it, some clearcoat and then put some fluid film on there like thennen said. fluid film is great - it will work into the metal and stop rust from forming and penetrating. then put some PPF over the plate area and fluid film on and around your bolt holes so they don't rust again

I have a 2016 TE which I purchased in 2021 and I noticed the rubber window seal on the back hatch rose up sometimes with the window. It looked in pretty bad shape and so I replaced it to avoid water to seep in the door. These are very easy to replace and I think I paid about 65 bucks for the OEM seal. I also had some intermittent problem with the doors staying locked after press the lock button on the remote. It eventually went away after some dry weather so I suspect there's some type of water damage in the door that caused this.

I would definitely replace the window seal especially if it has never been replaced before.

I would use "navy jelly" which dissolves rust but does not touch the metal. Then use zinc rich primer, sometimes called cold galvanizing compound. That will put a zinc layer on it to prevent future rust. Then use a rust resistant color coat on top.

Navy jelly and zinc rich primer are available at hardware stores.

Talked to a body shop today. ~$600 US$ just for that little spot. They said they would have to take the whole hatch apart and clear coat the whole thing to do it properly. I may just try and fix it myself