Minor rust/paint repair

rockford33

rockford33

New member
Just wanted some others knowledge/opinions.

I have a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT. On the drivers side, rear fender well, it appears that I am starting to get some rust. It looks as though the paint has slightly chipped (I could pull off a small piece flaking off if I wanted to), and there appears to be some surface rust and some paint bubbling.

The flaking paint is on the fender lip, horizontal to the ground. It is right where the fender lip rolls down to the rear passenger door, then there is a seam to a lower body panel. Along the seam of the piece, it looks as though the paint is bubbling slightly and the clear is lifting.

I tried to get a pic with my phone, but you couldn't really see anything... Will try and get the camera out and get a good pic.

Should I try to fix this myself, or head to the body shop? Obviously, I don't want the panel to continue to rust from the inside-out, and the bubbling has me a little worried that something is going on under the paint to the panel itself.

No longer under rust warranty either, I checked. :mad:

Thanks,
Neil
 
Neil

I'm not an expert in this area, but I would head for a body shop and see what they advice. Reason is if you have metal rust starting under the paint, then its going to spread and make it much worse over time. The only way that I've seen this stopped was to sand to the metal, prime and paint.

Its sort of like a new guy posts about something that is wrong with his paint or has a stain he can't figure out how to get out. My suggestion if I can't figure it out from his description is to head for a good detailer to let them have a look.

In your case you should have an expert look at this
 
Yeah, I am making an appointment for Saturday morning if they have a slot available.

It is just one of those small areas/problems that looks possible to tackle yourself that I hate to pay good money (which I am trying to hold onto in these economic times) for a fix. But sometimes what looks simple, isn't. Especially if you want it to look seamless.

-Neil
 
Give it a shot...Sand thoroughly so no rust is left. Use some rust reformer on the bare metal just to make sure it won't come back, then prime and paint. If you don't like the results you are only out like $15 and you can go bring it to the bodyshop. I had a little lip of rust in the same area and I touched it up myself, you can't even tell unless you are laying on the ground looking up because its at the top of the rear fender well
 
I would say it depends on your experience at these things and how bad it is and how good you want it to look.

I just finished doing a repair on my car to do it right takes a lot of time you will not be able to drive it for several days.

I bought the smallest can of POR-15 that I could get and it was $35.00
I also bought a half pint of paint and thinner $55.00 sanding blocks and paper I already had.
I'm talking about trying to repair it right not a half ass fix.
It may be faster and cheaper but it will not last and it will look like hell, take it to someone who knows what they are doing and see what they tell you.

The above don't take into account the $365.00 Devillbis spray gun and a air compressor and 3 filters to dry the air before it reaches the gun.

If you spray clear it contains Isocyanate's and if you don't have a pressurized hood to keep the fumes out of your eyes and lunges you will destroy your lungs.

So many things that people don't know about when they try to do a repair like this.
 
whats the warranty on paint and body with a Subaru?

i had mine fixed for free under warranty with my GMC, its also a 2005, something to look in to
 
Rust Perforation Limited Warranty
Rust perforation coverage for all vehicles is five years regardless of mileage. Since all Subaru vehicles are built to resist corrosion, the use of additional rust-inhibiting materials is not necessary and is not a requirement for coverage under this warranty.
 
Black Bart is right, if it is something that is visable you will need to take into consideration buying a spray gun if you don't have one, and a compressor, paint, a good mask, and tape....If that is the case just have it done at a body shop....But if it is something that is very small and you are catching it early, and is way under at the top of the fender well where nobody will ever see, just give it a shot yourself with touch up paint from an auto store....The spray can clear coats are not very strong and you should probably reapply every year for preventative measures....That is the cheap way (not usually the right way) but if it is something that is really small and you caught it early enough, you can take care of it yourself. But if it is starting to creep up onto the visable parts of your car, get it done the right way by someone at a body shop.
 
Well, the diagnosis from the body shop is not good. Basically, the inner and outer fender have separated, and that is where the rust is starting. A cosmetic repair (grind, prime, re-paint, and re-clear) was $1000. A lot of that cost is because there is no body seams nearby, so basically they would be re-clearing the both rear quarter panels and the entire roof. The guy actually told me that, if it was his money, he would just drive it through the winter and get a new car in the spring. Because of teh body lines, it appears that forming a patch panel wold be very difficult, and replacing the entire rear quarter would be more $$$ (it is one piece all the way up to the roof).

I am going to get another shop's opinion, but not really sure what to do. There really aren't any cars (that I can afford...) that I like at the moment and I paid cash for this car (through a fortunate circumstance), so I haven't had a car payment for six years and this car only has 76k miles, so I planned on having it for another 3-4 years at least (don't like the new Legacy body style, even though I bought one for the wife).

It just kinda sucks that I take pretty good car of my car, many think it is newer than it is, and it gets rust while others who never even wash their 10 year old car have no rust!

Here are a couple of pics of the offending area.
 

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Oh yeah you probably wont want to try that yourself....tough area...I thought you meant it was under the lip of that a little more. $1000 is a lot of money...I know this is a longshot but maybe you could find a Legacy that color at a junkyard and scrap that panel off of it. eBay also has good used parts, just something to look into
 
I didn't read all the replys but I had a small spot on my truck bed from where some paint chipped off. By the time I noticed it had some decent rust on it. I went and bought a sanding pen. The sanding pen is a small plastic holder with a fiberglass insert. I also got some rust remover chemical and touch up paint from a place online. I sanded the area with the sanding pen and got it down to metal and I even sanded a little larger to make sure I got all the rust. I applied the rust remover and let it set once it finished I had a nice finish to use the touch up paint. It has been great since and no sign of rust.
 
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