Just started to notice that my wheel well is starting to grow an unsightly rust spot. I have no clue what to do. My first thought was to sand it out and just go over it with bondo then paint over it with the oem touchup paint i bought previously. Now im not too sure. Im on a budget as i am a college student but still dont want to see why first car rot away while im here for another three years.

Anyone have any help?!

Much appreciated !

Here are some pics.

 

Bondo will only make it worse. Cutting out the rust and replacing it with clean metal is the only real "fix" for it.

 

X2 the above, unfortunately... Wouldn't hurt to take it to a body shop for a evaluation/estimate, most will do that for free, then you know what you're looking at financially.

Mike

 

My 05 is starting to bubble there.

 

thats a common spot on these cars, yours is going to need new metal.

 

I also agree with Matt. I can see black plastic through that fender. Telling me it's all the way through in that one spot. A body shop will cut out the bad stuff, and weld in some fresh metal. Looking at your pictures, you're most likely going to lose part of your decals.

I understand you're in school and money is tight. But now is the time to get this taken care of if you intend on keeping the car for a long time. Rust spreads. And the sooner you get it taken care of, the cheaper it will be. Get estimates.

If it was just a winter beater, I'd tell you just leave it and spend your money on school. Ultimately it's your decision. You know what your expenses are, and how much money you have to spend. Sometimes priorities means you can't get all the things you really want.

 

You will have to cut all the rust out and weld new metal in as needed..
RUST NEVER SLEEPS

 

thanks for the help guys!

 

that was one of the reasons i got rid of my 03....it was doin the same thing as yours and got an estimate for 1200 for both sides to get fixed so i traded it before it got any worse and got a newer monte

 

If you don't mind my asking, where do you live? Climate has a lot to do with this.

Bondo would hardly fill a hole that big without falling out... bondo might fill something the size of a dime, but I have my doubts on it... half that size and you're generally safe.

The thing about the metal is that although it is only rusted out and a hole is only right there, the metal around it isn't perfect... the metal all around it has rusted thinner and just hasn't shown through yet.

If you want to be safe, you can prolong the life of the car without going to a body shop. What you need to do is get in there and get that black plastic splash guard out and buy a GOOD rust inhibitor... something like Ospho or Rust Doctor. Get yourself some sand paper, or a wire wheel if you have it, and get all the built up rust out from behind that. Treat the rust as well as you can, let it sit, and then if you did the bondo, it MIGHT hold for a couple of years. I did somethign like this to a guys pick up that was a work truck and that patch is actually still there.... and that was 2 years ago.

And if you do nothing to the side of the car that is rusting, at least go around and treat the other side right now... there is a good chance the other side of the car is not very far behind it.