Surface Rust on steering Linkage under dashboard

Well this is a bit weird.
2012 SE, premium package....no problems whatsoever. Detailing plastic under the dashboard,
And the steering linkage from the steering wheel straight down to where it goes through the floor/firewall appears to be covered in a thin coating of surface rust.
Yep. rust.
Inside the car, under the dash. No rust anywhere else.
This can't be normal, right
Steering itself behaves perfectly. Just rust on the rod. Go figure.
Anyone else having his?
Is it actually a problem?

Not a problem, just the nature of untreated steel--any moisture in the warm moist air in your interior volume will condense on any cold metal surface.

Surface treatments are available for metals to slow down or prevent rust, but that costs money and adds to the price of stuff. You can wipe the surface rust off with a rag doused in light mineral or petroleum oil. If the rust is thick you might need a steel brush to knock it off, then follow up with the oily rag.

Basically any steel that is not treated, painted or coated with lubricant will rust over time--the oxygen in the air is slowly burning the metal.

Thanks Ken...it's very thin....just extremely weird to see it....
Thanks for the info.

You might want to check out a post I made the other day regrading underbody component rust.
From the My i-MiEV Forum front page, click "Technical Discussions," then "General Technical Discussions,"
and then on the "Corrosion" thread, click the 2nd page. Here's a shortcut link to take you there directly . . .

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1638&start=10

Scroll down to see photos of the rear underside of my 2012 SE. The whole things is going to be steam
cleaned fairy soon to remove built-up dirt/grime. After everything is dry (happens pretty quick in Arizona,)
I'm going to steel brush the affected areas. The painted subframe parts will probably get the Rustoleum
zinc chromate primer treatment. The unpainted steel rear axles (I'm guessing you linkage rods look similar)
will get hand brushed with B99 biodiesel.

Biodiesel is a vegetable oil replacement for conventional petroleum diesel, boiled down with lye to remove
the glycerine that was present. It's an amazing effective rust inhibitor that can be brushed on. It will harm
some painted finishes and should be kept away from rubber. But, if you can find it locally, give it a try on
rust on unfinished steel.

Thanks, Benjamin!
As we are readying for our Route 66 trip, we get very jumpy when we find something totally unexpected.
Will check into the protectant.
Will be traveling through northern AZ on our trip.