What is your climate? Rust happens so there is little you can do about it.

 

Where do you live?

I am lucky not to have rust.

 

I'm in Chicago. I've owned several cars in my time and I don't believe I've seen this on any previous car before; where rust was occurring on nuts under the hood of a car that's just two years old.

I know rust can happen anywhere anytime, but I was curious if any other 8th gen Camry owners had seen this same thing. Where maybe it's a design flaw? Where excess moisture is getting in under the hood and causing rust to occur prematurely?

 

No such thing on my '18 SE in a NY climate...

 

Just spray it with some Rust Check and call it the day

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I sprayed all bolts under hood with anti corrosion protectant as same thing happened to my 2013 and 2016 camry. It turns into waxy substance, works excellent.

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I drive in the salty Canadian winters. In rust we trust!

Here there is an entire industry for rust proofing cars. They will spray the inside of them every year with oily products. Even the ENTIRE ENGINE and engine bay.
I literally passed on cars with that mess in the engine bay, but otherwise nice cars....

On my new 2018 Camry SE, I manually applied grease (electrical white-translucid) on every unprotected piece of metal in the engine bay.
In winter, every time the temps goes over 0°C, I wash the car at a contactless automatic station to remove some of the salt.
I NEVER KEEP THE CAR INSIDE IN WINTER! The lukewarm salty water eats the metal! Better leave it in cold temps when it has salt on it.

I bring my car every spring on an elevator and thoroughly pressure wash the under body. This also allows me to inspect everything for damage.
I clean and apply some protection paint where needed looking for the most sensible parts which are the brake and fuel lines (you don't`want those rusted to holes after 10 years).

You can`t avoid rust, but you can maintain your car to reduce it.

 

Thanks for the responses

I'll have to replace the nuts and then spray them with an anti-corrosion protectant.

 

No need to replace just knock them down with a wire brush and apply.

 

My CPO 18 SE has identical rust on the center strut bolt. Scary rust in the wheel wells and control arm mounting bolts. Going to the dealership for an unrelated, well at least hopefully unrelated issue tomorrow and I am going to be sure to mention it. I regret not looking under there sooner but I'm not physically able to and only just had the idea of reaching a camera under the car

 

I popped my hood to check the oil last night and saw thea same centre bolt rusted on both left and right side. The outside bolts surrounding were not rusted though.

I just sprayed with a bit of rust check

Noticed some of the other bolts are purple just like in your picture. Those must have a special coating since no rush at all



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I lived in Chicago for 38 years before I got smart and left for Arizona. There is NO WAY you'll EVER have a car long term in a Midwestern climate, and not have rust on it. As long as they salt the roads, your car will rust and corrode when you drive on it.

I can see the white, dried salt in spots on the paint surrounding the shock tower. Wet your finger and touch it. you'll be able to taste it.

 

I think OP Is comparing those bolts with others within the same region that show no corrosion. Higher quality components can be significantly more resistant to corrosion. I live in Western NY and we have salted roads for 6 months of the year. Previously I had a Pontiac and my wife had a Corolla (both same model years). I switched to the Camry because after living the same lives, her car had almost no corrosion, except for a few bolts, and my Pontiac had corrosion all over.

I can only hope Toyota did not cheap out on their components for 2018+ MY. If this Camry turns into a rust bucket my next car will be a different brand.

That being said, clean your engine bay with the engine bay de-greaser of your choice, then finish with some engine detailer (basically silicone spray) to help keep the corrosion down.