How to fix small rust spots on a car yourself
Small rust spots often appear as bubbling paint where moisture has gotten underneath the metal. Treating these spots early prevents the corrosion from spreading further across the body panels, saving you from expensive professional repair bills on your first car.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Taking the car to an independent body shop instead of a dealership to reduce repair costs
- 2Using an online paint match marker
- 3Using a generic white paint marker
- 4Applying rubbing compound and polish
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Hi! I brought this car on friday and its my frist one and I wanna learn how to maintain it myself. My dad said I should get these rust spots fix. Any tips on diying them?”source ↗
“I just noticed some rust on the wheel arch of the right rear wheel of my 2020 Ford Fiesta 1.1 C&C with around 45,000 km. It also seems like the paint at this particular spot is starting to lift away from the body, forming a gap/bubble.”source ↗
“Since this is my first car (and, actually, the first “real” issue I’ve had with it), I wanted to ask for some advice on how best to handle this and roughly how much it might cost to fix.”source ↗
“Got this scratch on the front of my wife's car. I'm trying to see what the best way to go about fixing it is. Is it better to fix it or will that make it worse? Please advise.”source ↗