The molding (or door ding guard?) across the driver’s door exterior fell off my Honda CR-V. It was supported by seven plastic hanger-like clips that screwed into something inside the door itself. Hence, I now have seven holes where these clips once penetrated the car door.
Will my car door start to rust if I don’t get this fixed right away? In theory, the whole door should have been painted and finished so as not to rust, including hole penetrations, correct?
I would presume the door was painted before any molding was put on. OTOH putting the screws in may have taken some of the paint off. Can you see bare metal in there? If your concerned, maybe you could pick up a bottle of touch up paint and paint theads of the holes. Even some car wax might would probably protect the holes from water.
If there are no bare metal spots around the holes you should be OK. Doors, since they have windows that slide up and down, can’t be made perfectly watertight from the outside. They are designed with the expectation that some water will get in, and have weep holes in the bottom to let that water back out. Now, you will be getting in more water than normal, so I wouldn’t let it go forever, especially since trim is a pretty inexpensive fix.