body work on rust spots

[trymonlam]

guys, i have a few rust spots on the exterior of the car. they are about 05" in diameters. the previous owner try to cover it with paint but it's wearing out. looking horrible now. how much would u think this is going to set me back if i want to get this fixed? there's 2 on the edges of the door panels, and 1 on the edge of the gas cap on the rear quarter. what do u guys think?

[loudandheard]

They will have to cut the sections where the rust is located and reweld in new pieces of metal. TheY will then proceed to grind it down and then put bondo over it to smooth out the areas to the contours of the body. Depending on where you go and if they are reliable it may cost upward of $1500 and that just a rough estimate, could be a lot more depending on the area and what all has to be done and where you go. I would not let an unexperienced body man do it, because they may not even put in new metal and if they do they could do it wrong. If the bodywork is done wrong you will be able to tell that work was done. Most likely they will also have to strip all of the paint and then proceed to paint the whole area to make sure the paint matches. I would only trust an ASE certified bodyman.

[trymonlam]

thanks for the suggestion, loudandheard. i will try to do this once i am back in the country. i will post the results then.

[benzdude]

I have a 95 c280 with increasing rust spots.

The trouble is that my car is old and the small nicks in the paint are letting in the elements. This causes the metal under the paint to rust and bubble out.

whenever I see an area begins to rust I take it in and have it repaired before it gets too bad.

The body shop doesnt cut out the bad spots, instead they sand blast the rust away, add rust protect and re paint the area.

The cost is usually pretty small, depending on the location.
about $300 on average.