Hey guys, I gave my car a somewhat-overdue washing yesterday and noticed this rather large ding just above the headlight:



I normally wash, and then use a polymer sealant and/or NXT wax after washing, but since it's been a while since I've washed I'm going to wait to do that until after I get another chance to wash her... besides, I want to try to address this before waxing.

I've found numerous other dings while washing (they collect wax and so tend to look rather white), but I've not really noticed anything this bad so far. Does it look like this area is starting to rust? If so, what should I do? Either way, I'm assuming that I should apply some touch-up paint but didn't know if there was something that I should do before that.

Oh, also, any advice on how to clean out the wax from the smaller dings (if that is even necessary)? I'd think that the dings would need to be wax-free before attempting to touch them up.

Thanks.

 

You know, I have a couple of spots on my 2003 Sheer Silver SE and I was wondering the same thing... I dont like rust!

 

That looks like a nasty stone chip to me. Will it rust? Sure it will. You'll need to use a prep solvent like P21S Total Auto Wash on it, and then sand as much rust off as you can with a sanding pen, prime it, and then apply the touchup paint.
If you use touchup paint over rust, it won't really help anything. For one thing, the paint won't adhere well to the rusted metal, and also, the rust is still there, and will continue to spread if left alone.