I have some rust under my windshield at the top edge where the trim is usually black. The rust is showing through the windshield when looking from outside the vehicle. Should I be worried about this, and how can I go about repair? Can I just apply sealer from the outside to prevent this from getting worse?
This is for a 2006 Lexus IS250.
If you car has airbags I would not recommend just using a sealant. Airbags depend on the windscreen fitting securely in place.
If you do need to use a sealant ensure it is designed for vehicle windscreens. A normal silicone designed for bathrooms might actually increase the rust.
Rust is like cancer for cars, it will keep spreading even if you put sealant over it. For your own safety rather have this fixed now as the rust will get worse.
Have the windscreen removed, remove all paint from the effected area, see how bad the rust is and get a body shop to repair it. You could try repair it yourself but this depends on how deep the rust is. If it's just surface rust you could do it yourself however if the rust is already through a panel you'll need professional help.
What you show in the picture actually looks like the windshield is delaminating. As you are probably aware, the windshield is made up of two layers of glass with a layer of (something) in between which makes it so it won't shatter when impacted. And by shatter, I mean it will crack and all, but won't become a billion pieces of glass all over the occupants. Anyway, this is exactly what it looks like when these layers start to separate. The only fix for it is to get the windshield replaced. Even if there is rust behind where the delamination is taking place, you'll still need to get the windshield replaced at some point to fix the issue.
You cannot fix this with sealer. The windshield will continue to delaminate.
