Poll: Rust, it never sleeps, so fix it or not?

[pillboy]

2002 Outback (wife's car) with 80,000 miles (nothing special about it other than the care it has received). Plan was to keep it until it dies. Both my wife and I like to drive a vehicle that doesn't look like a rolling scrapyard. While waxing it a week ago, I found surface rust creeping out from under the rear bumper cover by the wheel arch. It wasn't visible the last time I waxed a few months ago. So far I have two estimates from body shops I trust. First one was $858 (worst case scenario, may be less), and the second one was $647. Neither shop will guarantee a rust repair. The car has a private party value of about $11,000 and a trade-in value somewhere in the low to mid nines. So, what would you do?

[pillboy]

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[laz]

If that bothers that much, then I think you should look into selling it now before it gets worse, and worse it will get!

 

X

[meier motor sports]

how much for a new pannel and repainting it. replacing the panel might be less $ then grinding out the rust and what ever they need to do. just another idea. i have to small rust spots on my roof from rock chips

[pillboy]

The "plan" is to remove all the trim on the quarter panel (including the window as the molding and the glass come out together), sandblast the affected area, apply a professional rust converter, apply a small amount of body filler to even out the surface, paint the affected area, clear coat the entire quarter, and MAYBE blend the paint into the rear door. NOT blending into the door (and having to remove all the trim pieces on the door) are what might make the $858 quote less. If the color match is acceptable, they won't touch the door. That shop also told me that greens and blues are the easiest colors to match.

 

Yeah, rust does bother me and it only gets worse and takes down the value of the car quickly. At this point a dealer would probably ignore it (or not even see it) on a trade, but I would feel obligated to point it out to on a private party sale.

 

I need more opinions...I know there are a lot out there. Thanks.

[Bitumen Bullet]

I am terrible at body work so try to ignore rust until it gets real bad. Then I wire brush it and use a spray can to apply lots of paint so it soaks into the rust. Pretty rare to be broken down on the side of the road because of body rust.

 

But if rust bothers you then you should consider it a mtce item and get it fixed. I would suggest fixing the cause of rust at the same time. Looks like you have some moisture issues, fix those and the repair will last the life of the car.