Rust affect on re-sale value

[tfreeman303]

Hi guys, been trying to sell my '07 Spec. B that unfortunately has rust damage from living in New York and Pennsylvanian until late 2015. The rust has gotten into a little bit of the body, mostly in the back right of the car since rust has started to bubble the paint above the right rear wheel (picture attached). Last person to check out the car (who is a mechanic) that was interested in the car passed on it because he says the shocks and struts will need to be replaced soon and will be a pain in the ass because of the rust.

 

The car has 122,000 miles on it.

 

Do I need to lower the price because of this? Started trying to sell for around $11k, and have dropped it all the way to under $9k. Haven't had much interest posting it for sale locally.

 

Thoughts?

[jrho]

Rust scares off a lot of buyers and unfortunately the only work around is to lower the price to a point you start getting interest. You can buy replacement metal arches but the time and labor to cut out the old arch, weld in the new arch and then paint is not worth it for the majority of buyers. That rubber trim piece around the arch is the worst design as it traps moisture.

[awfulwaffle]

Yes, I would. I got a discount on my first wagon because it had a bit of dogleg rust. I walked away from every rusty car I looked at when finding my second one because, as the mechanic who backed out on you said, it's a pain in the ass and there's no guarantee that it won't rust again if you just knock down the rust and paint over the spot. Like jrho already mentioned, you'd have to excise the bad section or entire panel and weld/paint. Consider getting a quote for rust repair including paint job, and subtract that plus a little bit more for convenience from your asking price.

 

Struts are cake - you could buy decent OE replacements like KYB (with new top hats) and replace them yourself if you are able, since it'll probably be a bonus selling point. Though, people buying a used car with that mileage shouldn't complain about wear and tear parts being worn, if you ask me.

[Keepinthatempo]

Rust scares off a lot of buyers and unfortunately the only work around is to lower the price to a point you start getting interest. You can buy replacement metal arches but the time and labor to cut out the old arch, weld in the new arch and then paint is not worth it for the majority of buyers. That rubber trim piece around the arch is the worst design as it traps moisture.

 

 

You think best option is to remove the rubber trim and prevent the rust? Or is that something you can just clean out occasionally?

[KRYPTO]

I removed the rubber insert on mine once I noticed rust under the paint. Damage was already done and kept getting worse.

They don't make replacement panels for these.

 

I'm in the same issue here in MN, the rust cancer is on every Subaru wheel wells here and. I'm down to a selling price of $5k for my '07 lgt manual and my rust isn't even that bad.

It's the typical Subaru community wanting to pay dirt bottom to buy and asking full new retail to sell lol

[BoozeRS05]

I think someone is offering replacement rear arches/panels. Met up with a forum buddy Code cpl weeks ago and he said he found them somewhere. Make these repairs much easier.

[Infosecdad]

These are probably what you are looking for:

https://www.subiesavers.com/legacy

 

I got a set for my RS at one point, have heard good things about them.

[moral hazard]

.

 

Struts are cake - you could buy decent OE replacements like KYB (with new top hats) and replace them yourself if you are able, since it'll probably be a bonus selling point. Though, people buying a used car with that mileage shouldn't complain about wear and tear parts being worn, if you ask me.

 

 

I'm guessing in this case they aren't complaining about worn struts, they are complaing that with rust in that area the job to replace struts is more of a PITA.

[tfreeman303]

I never did understand the rubber insert on the wheel-well to "stop" the rust from spreading. Always wanted to rip it off, now I just might. Being in Colorado I never worried about it getting worse, and it sure hasn't.

 

I got hosed when I bought this from a dealer. Live and learn, I guess.

[Holla]

Well, it’s not to stop the rust from spreading, it’s to prevent moisture from getting in between the inner and outer quarter panels. That rust is pretty bad for a 4th gen, you’re pretty much just going to have to eat it on resale value or try and fix it. And it will continue to get worse.

[subisubisu]

I've been looking hard for the past couple of months. With these Gen 4 cars at or nearing 16 years old, there are some available but they are not common, so I have been looking (online) at cars from across the country. In every case I have rejected examples with rust. On the one hand I don't want to deal with corrosion on the body and frame especially, even if some rusted parts could be replaced, because it makes for an uncertain attachment of new parts and you can't always be sure that you have stopped or removed all of the rust. And on the other hand, I didn't see much difference in asking prices between rusted cars and non-rusted, when you consider the rest of the condition. YMMV, of course, and as always the problem with car prices is that you can easily see asking prices but it's very hard to know what they actually sell for in the end. Anyway, that's the view from one cash-in-hand buyer currently in the market. Well, until a couple of days ago - what a salesman said was a corrosion-free example is waiting to go on a truck to get to me.