A question for car people (repair)

[rousseau]

I thought I'd ask this question here as we seem to have quite a few people who are knowledgeable about this type of thing, might help.

My wife and I bought a used 2012 Chevy Cruze about 2 years ago at a pretty good price because it had been in an accident, at the time we paid about 7k CDN, or 5.5k US.

No issues until lately when we noticed a few small rust / paint chipping spots coming through. From what I can gather some body work was done when the car was in an accident, and the repair wasn't done correctly. Being the naive person that I am I took it into a body shop to get a quote, thinking I could patch the problem for a relatively low cost (say < 1k). But I've now taken it to two shops who not only quote me in the ballpark of 2k, but they both mentioned they can't guarantee that their work will permanently solve the problem and ensure the longevity of our car.

So I'm wondering what some of the more experienced here would do:
- go ahead with the body work + some type of yearly rust/oil maintenance
- ignore the body work and try to maintain the rust as long as I can
- something else?

And if maintenance would be the way to go, what kind of treatment/frequency would I be looking at?

 

[TSwizzle]

Without seeing the damage it's hard to say. $2k for a repair that may be cosmetic (?) and may not be permanent ? Seems excessive, that sounds like an insurance quote. Keep shopping around. But if you can't get it done cheaper, it may be better just to maintain it. It's a five year old Chevy Cruze, I don't think their resale holds up even when in tip top. I got dinged on my car car passenger door. I got various quotes and decided just to live with the scratches and dent as the car was 10 years old and I was going to keep it for as long as I could. But we don't have to deal with rust in SoCal so the car will be fine.

 

[rousseau]

Without seeing the damage it's hard to say. $2k for a repair that may be cosmetic (?) and may not be permanent ? Seems excessive, that sounds like an insurance quote. Keep shopping around. But if you can't get it done cheaper, it may be better just to maintain it. It's a five year old Chevy Cruze, I don't think their resale holds up even when in tip top. I got dinged on my car car passenger door. I got various quotes and decided just to live with the scratches and dent as the car was 10 years old and I was going to keep it for as long as I could. But we don't have to deal with rust in SoCal so the car will be fine.

Yea, initially we just noticed the one spot which I thought would be a quick job. But both places we've taken it to now seem to have noticed a few other problem areas and suggest that it might be a bit more complicated to fix than I realized. The first quote came in at over 2k, the second one was at about 1.8k. I wonder if I just keep going around to new body shops if they'll just keep beating the old quote.

My real problem is that I know fuck all about cars and have zero frame of reference for these prices / quotes or even if I have a serious problem. But off hand getting an annual rust coat seems like the better option than dropping nearly 2k.

 

[TV and credit cards]

I would not spend money on body work. It will start rusting in other areas soon enough. Just keep it clean in the winter, especially warmer wet winter days, if you have any of them. Leave it when it's cold and dry. If the vehicle is valued at $5k US now, I'd have to think long and hard about spending $2k on mechanical repairs.
Some vehicles rust faster than others. My Toyota has seen eight winters now and aside from the frame (class action lawsuit), it does not rust, even the underside. Granted, I'm that crazy guy at the self-serve car wash on his hands and knees in the dead of winter washing the underside of his vehicle but, hey, you're not the poor guy waiting behind me so, no worries there.

 

[ZiprHead]

Can you post some photos for reference?

I took my car to a place Called Paint Bull Express to have some dings looked on the two doors on the driver's side. Ding repair and respray the doors, $550.

The repairs themselves aren't that difficult. It's the finish paint work where things get tricky. You could repair the rust spots yourself then take it to a shop for the finish paint.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

I thought I'd ask this question here as we seem to have quite a few people who are knowledgeable about this type of thing, might help.

My wife and I bought a used 2012 Chevy Cruze about 2 years ago at a pretty good price because it had been in an accident, at the time we paid about 7k CDN, or 5.5k US.

No issues until lately when we noticed a few small rust / paint chipping spots coming through. From what I can gather some body work was done when the car was in an accident, and the repair wasn't done correctly. Being the naive person that I am I took it into a body shop to get a quote, thinking I could patch the problem for a relatively low cost (say < 1k). But I've now taken it to two shops who not only quote me in the ballpark of 2k, but they both mentioned they can't guarantee that their work will permanently solve the problem and ensure the longevity of our car.

So I'm wondering what some of the more experienced here would do:
- go ahead with the body work + some type of yearly rust/oil maintenance
- ignore the body work and try to maintain the rust as long as I can
- something else?

And if maintenance would be the way to go, what kind of treatment/frequency would I be looking at?

Rust is like cancer and needs to be stopped. The main problem in such a repair is to make it look like new, especially matching the old paint. I have a Ford Ranger which I use as a third car for moving stuff, buying things at Home Depot, etc. It was sound mechanically, but cosmetically looked like a POS. I pulled out some dents, used some auto body filler and then spray painted it with primer. Not wanting to spring for a few thousand dollars to have it repainted, I elected to buy $70 worth of spray paint and stencils to camo it up (I'm in Texas). Obviously that won't work as well for you, but fixing the body work isn't too hard, most can be learned on Youtube and probably <$200 for tools and supplies. It's the paint job that is costly. You can just go with black or grey primer and leave it. It depends upon how much you care about appearance.

BTW, the best thing about DIY is that you learn a skill and end up with the tools to do it so you can do it again.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Definitely not worth spending 2K for. Save your money. Keep it in check as best you can. If it gets so bad that it won't pass inspection then maybe spend a few bucks but do the repairs yourself. Definitely not worth that much money.

And yes, rust is like cancer, except that the rust WILL return very quickly. Sometimes cancer never does.

 

[DBT]

Small rust spots and chips, just apply rust neutralizer, spot fill and/or touch up with the correct colour paint pen that you can get from an auto spare parts and accessories shop.

 

[steve_bank]

Depends on how long you want to keep the car and how much you care about how it looks in the neighborhood.

Stopping the rust is easy. Sand it down, put on a primer, and then some paint. Fill in with bondo if you have to, it us easy and plenty of how to in books and online. You could put it on with a brush if it is small. A Chevy dealer should be able to give you a paint ID. Make it a project for yourself.

Modern cars are fairly rust resistant.

It can spread if you do not deal with it. Especially if you live in an area that uses salt on the roads in winter.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

It can spread if you do not deal with it. Especially if you live in an area that uses salt on the roads in winter.

If one lives in an area where the roads are salted in winter the rust cannot be stopped, unless maybe you don't drive the car in the winter. This is what some people do with their prized possessions over the winter months.

Modern cars do seem to be better today than decades ago in resisting this but it still happens. Once it starts it is a never ending, losing battle.