Rust through above rear wheel wells

That's pretty normal anywhere there is a lot of salt. My '93 Impreza had the same. Here is what I did: cut out loose rust, sanded the rest, painted over with "Rustbullet" (it's basically a superglue mixed with zinc oxide) and then filled the holes and the "rust protected" areas with copious amounts of marine epoxy (it can actually be sculpted when it's half way cured). Painted over the epoxy with the cheapest Walmart autopaint. All in all, looks ugly but for about $30 total and absolutely no signs of speading of the rust from the affected areas after three winters I don't care how it looks :-)

DK

I don't know what goes on in the paint shop part of the Subaru factories but one problem in the past with other car makes was that in the rustproofing process, the car body is dipped in rust proofing agent which is then baked on. Sometimes bubbles would form in the wheel wells and rust proofing would not be deposited making these areas prone to rust.

My 95 has cancer that has started in the rear wheel wells on both sides. I also have a huge hole that has come through on the bottom of the drivers door. That is partially my fault though. I have opened the door into snow banks in parking lots when I parked in the end slots that other cars didn't want because they had snow piled up in them. The subie climbs it fine, but then when opening the door, it hits the snow, ice and salt, chipping the paint on the bottom edge, and starting the ugly process that years later is a rusty mess. Live and learn. Now I don't use my door as a snow plow.

Pretty much normal. They seem to rust above or just behind the wheel wells. Honda accords do, in the same places. Interesting, but Toyotas don't.

The corrosion treatement problem that I mentioned. Bubbles form in the parts in the bath and they do not get coated with the rust proofing. Problem has been around for decades and I would have thought most manufacturers would have solved by now.

Interesting.

My last couple cars I have taken to 'undercoating' with Hydraulic oil. One is an old Mazda from Florida, body in extremely good condition, coated before it's first New England winter, and every fall after that. Three years and no sign of rust yet.

The second is a 2005 Scion tC I bought in 2006. I don't know how much road salt it saw before I bought it, but it got coated when I bought it, and coated again in the fall. However, this car does NOT see the road or salt in the winter.

Sometimes a cure for one perceived ill IS the problem. The 04 Forester is not rusting (yet), but the 03 Jetta is, and this was due to sound deadening material on the inside of fenders (to keep them from sounding tinny)--however, still not making allowances for roadsalt in Canada. So, salty water collected in the SD material and stayed and it rusts slowly in spite of galvanizing/rustproofing applied by factory, just enough so that the paint de-adhers (word?) and comes off in patches and the rust really begins. I would tend to think that the 'bubble' theory might have a bit more cred as the reason, if the effect was random rather than localized. I could see it possibly happening if the body panels were being cradled at those exact points and somehow a bit was missed or scuffed off. The good news in Canada at least is that most manufacturers 'worth their salt' provide pretty comprehensive corrosion warranties...for VW, its 12 years unlimited distance. The Subaru problem is likely similar in nature, in that salty water is collecting and not draining/drying .

Jim B

I've seen several soobs with not just wheel well rust, but in a specific 2" spot. I've decided that it is a design flaw. On my 1970 chevy malibu I learned that water-flow, including inside the fenders, is an essential design concern to inhibit rust. that spot at the top- front of soob rear wheel wells has what looks like a pooling area that would promote rust.

Anybody want to put me in touch with the designers? I'm sure I could find another fault to help them with.

Nils K. Hammer

Haven't paid attention to other Subarus, but it is in the exact same (mirrored) location on both sides of my car so I suspect you are right.

While you're at it, tell them to stop using bare metal for all the external latching hardware tucked onto the rear door. (Maybe these have since 1997).

JK

So does that mean that that piece of rust on my rear door was never painted? So everyone else has a rusty hunk of metal hidden up under there too? Wow. Some parts of this car were so well designed and others... Not.