The Rust On My Poor Baby!

[bdonkersgoed]

haven't responded because i am not sure how much i want

how much do you feel like spending?

Well, I am going to go and check out a body shop first and see how much it would cost to fix the ones I already have or get aftermarket parts. I have rust on my passenger door and passenger quarter panel as well, so I would want to get all that fixed as well. I will see how much it costs to get the fender fixed compared to replacing it with a new one so that I can do a cost comparison.

It will probably end up being cheaper going aftermarket as I don't really have a need for both of the fenders, but I will get back to you once I find out. Although aftermarket may be more difficult to install, I would just let the bodyshop guys deal with that :)

Thanks!

Bryan

[bdonkersgoed]

I took my car to a shop in Brampton where we had work done on my Dad's S-Class Benz. They work primarily on higher-end cars (Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Porsche) and do really good work for really cheap. He wuoted me at $2500CAN to redo the ENTIRE car, fixing all rust and sanding down to the bare metal. He said the car would look absolutely mint by the time he was through. I am considering this offer . . . I feel it is a pretty reasonable price. I do have quite a bit of rust that needs repairing . . . Plus, if I get the entire car repainted, then I could get the plastic trim painted to math the rest of the car :)

Does anyone know of any other reputable body shops in Ontario that do good work for a cheap price?

Thanks!

Bryan

[Lexusfreak]

I have a buddy in the business that's a body shop manager but the problem is it's at a GM dealer Did this body shop guy give you any idea how long the body will hold out after the work is completed? Just courious what he mention's when the rust might start to come back & did you ask him about rustproofing it afterwards? So he quoted you $2500.00 for complete body work & a complete paint job? That's not too bad all things considered. My boss just got his 92 Camry V6 LE (575,000 kms) painted about a year ago.....still looks pretty good & I think it cost him $1300.00 but he didn't have much rust.

[SKperformance]

2500 is a good price

i payed that for my civic when i added the kit and fixed all the rust

too bad it was a bad job and has returned but i have never been happy with it since it was done , but oh well it is a winter car

[bdonkersgoed]

I asked him about whether or not the rust would reappear, and he said it wouldn't for a long time. I asked him if I would at least be good for 3 years, and he said, "for sure."

I know that they do pretty good work because they worked on my Dad's Mercedes about half a year ago and did a really good job. He said that it would take three full business days, with one guy working on it from 5:00AM to 8:00PM for each of the three days. He is also willing to take cash as payment with an obvious benefit :P

I am thinking that I could maybe get the price lowered a couple hundred bucks, and then I can afford to rent a car in case it rains. I woudl just ride my motorcycle to work, but with my luck, it will be raining for all three of the days that the car is in the shop.

I am thinking about getting this done. It would really like to get the car painted, but it will be tough to come up with the funds on a student budget :(

Regards,

Bryan

[bdonkersgoed]

Oh, and yes, the price is for complete body work and complete paint job. He said rattled off some kind of like 7 or so step process that they go through to prep the car. He would be welding new metal onto my fender where it is rusted badly. He woudl properly fix all rock chips and realign my hood (because he thought it was a little off, althoguh I had never noticed :P )

He also said something about baking it? Not sure what that means . . . something to do with the paint . . .

Regards,

Bryan

[SKperformance]

baking ensures a durable cured finish like OEM

much better for paint to stick to itself

[bdonkersgoed]

So baking is a good thing? It sounds like a pretty good deal then . . . now I just need to come up with the funds :(

I think I am going to wait and se how much my suspension costs me first (a knowcking sound in the rear). It goes in to the nechanic on Saturday . . .

Regards,

Brayn

[Lexusfreak]

Will you just stick with the existing fenders then bdonk? or are you going to replace them?

[bdonkersgoed]

Well, if I went that route, I think the shop guy thought the cheapest way is just to repair the fenders that I already have. Otherwise, he would probably just pick up and aftermarket one.

There's no point in buyig a used one if I am going to have the whole car repainted anyways . . . just creates extra work where they would have to strip in down, where as an aftermarket part is already primed and ready to paint.

Regards,

Bryan

[Lexusfreak]

Good point & I agree. B)

[90LS400Lexus]

Very interesting topic. I have heard that rust can be a really bad problem up there- as well as the northern United States. I have only seen one Lexus with rust and that was on E-Bay and it was in northern New York.

I live in the southeastern United States, where rust is not a problem (except on some older cars where the extremely high humidity -typically the most humid part of the USA- here has contributed to rust- not because of salt), so I have never actually ever seen any rust on a Lexus, or even a 92-up Camry around here- which is the norm. Also, what few cars here that have rust, originally came from up north. Example- I had a 1994 Lumina a while back that was originally from northeastern Ohio. The undercarriage was covered with a moderate surface rust on several areas- which was something I had never seen before. Since then, I said I would never buy another northern car again, because the undercarriage seems to take most of the damage- or at least it was on my "Ohio" Lumina. Since I am in the hills of northeast Tennessee- we do get some small, short lived snows here, but they rarely stay on the road for more than a day and not even on the ground for more than 2-3 days. Most are melted away within a day. We only average about 15 inches per year, but most recent years we have been lucky to get even 10 inches of snow per year.

My aunt that lives in Detriot, Michigan bought a new Cadillac up there in 1977 and it had rusted away by 1979.

Just wondering- does anyone here that lives up north have any problem with undercarriage rust on their Lexus'?

The person that previously owned my Lexus had a home in Michigan and Florida, but it must have spent most of its time in Florida, as the underside is still very clean and there are no signs of rust on my car thank goodness.

[90LS400Lexus]

And another of the undercarriage.

[90LS400Lexus]

One more.

[steviej]

let me guess, you use the cat to chase away the cor-rodents? :whistles:

I crack myself up sometimes.

sorry, it is late Friday night and I'm tired.

steviej

[90LS400Lexus]

let me guess, you use the cat to chase away the cor-rodents?  :whistles:

I crack myself up sometimes. 

sorry, it is late Friday night and I'm tired.

steviej

LOL. That is a good one. Just one of those statements that you cannot resist.... :D I actually did not even know the cat was under there when I took the photograph. :o I was outside taking a photo of the sunset last evening and I thought I would take photos of my undercarriage.

[bdonkersgoed]

Yes, I live up in Canada and rust is a problem on all cars here that are at least 5-6 years old.

My undercarriage does take a beating. Basically, everything under my car is pretty badly rusted fom what the mechanics say. The brake lines and fuel lines all need replacing :o I think the lines are liek $1200CAN, plus there is a bracket on top of the gas tank that usually needs replacing at the same time, and it is a $700CAN part :o

It is deifintely true . . . rust is a problem up north! Basically, the only problems that I have had with my car that are not general maintennance all boil down to rust as the root cause. I hate rust!

Regards,

Bryan

[90LS400Lexus]

Yes, I live up in Canada and rust is a problem on all cars here that are at least 5-6 years old.

My undercarriage does take a beating. Basically, everything under my car is pretty badly rusted fom what the mechanics say. The brake lines and fuel lines all need replacing :o I think the lines are liek $1200CAN, plus there is a bracket on top of the gas tank that usually needs replacing at the same time, and it is a $700CAN part :o

It is deifintely true . . . rust is a problem up north! Basically, the only problems that I have had with my car that are not general maintennance all boil down to rust as the root cause. I hate rust!

Regards,

Bryan

That is discouraging news. That is about the way my old Lumina from northern Ohio, USA was. It had a lot of rust scale. I was very suprised when I first looked under it, as I have never seen rust on a car like that before- then shortly after I remembered that the dealer I bought it from bought it in Ohio. Here is a small photo of the undercarriage of my 1992 Buick. I have seen these Buicks traveling down here from way up north (Michigan, Wisconsin, etc.), with a lot of rust, especially on the rockers. As you can see, mine is still like new- which I hope will be a good selling point when I sell it.

[90LS400Lexus]

And one of the rear undercarriage of my 89 Pontiac Safari. I know a guy in Canada, from the stationwagon boards that has had several of these wagons, that was very rusty. He obviously hates the rust up there too. This has always been a southern car. It was in eastern North Carolina until 2001, when I bought it and my uncle that lives over there drove it here to eastern Tennessee.

[Lexusfreak]

Actually controlling rust in the great white north when salt is commonly used for snow & ice conditions is quite simple. Salt on a car does not hurt the metal when the temperature is 32 F or below. When the salt does start to cause damage is above the 32 F mark........if the body on the car is in good condition when you buy a used car it's wise idea like I mentioned to get it rustproofed & undercoated religiously & make sure to wash the car often especially in the winter (if it's a drive thru car wash....make sure it has the undercarriage spray). Many cars (especially new ones that were rustproofed since they were brand new & as far as I know....Lexus undercoated all cars at the factory on top of the other anit-corrosion measures they use) here in Canada have body conditions as good as ones that never see salt or damaging chemicals used during the cold winter months. Rustproofing is also good not just for salt, but moisture in general as water is a large contributor to rust as well as salt (the salt just acts a lot more faster & over a shorter period of time compared to rain). A good rustproofing done correctly does prevent moisture from penetrating the metal inside the body panels making the body look better for much longer. B)