Rust on an SC?

[onewhippedpuppy]

This all brings back memories of my T.......rusty pictures make me all sentimental.

[Tim K]

"I dont what part of canada your car is from but, I've seen cars from canada with only 3years on them and rust started on the fenders and quarters....."

This was a Texas car

Tim K

[Tommy B]

i'm gonna throw my two cents in although i'm no expert.

my car had "rust issues" that most of you would walk away from.

the fenders were replaced and resprayed
the door jambs were replaced and resprayed
the little spot were the bumper meets the body still has a little spot of rust
there's a little bubling on the passenger side under the plastic piece
under the carpet by the battery it appears some rust was repaired

but, the car ran and drove better than anything i had driven and was in the best condition(minus the rust) that i could afford. i was looking for a 10k SC and the fact that this one only had 56k miles when i got it made it worth the "rusty" history.

did i make the wrong choice? I'll never know. I now own a car that i drive every day, love, and if a shopping cart dents my fender i can shrug it off and say "Oh well, the paints not original anyway".

My .02 cents is that you need to look at a car as a whole. if repairing the two rusts spots you show costs you 600 bucks, it's better than having a car with a crap tranny that'll cost you 3500.

[ASD]

I would get under the car and look at everything for evidence of rust. The spots in the photo look like rust from the outside going in, possibly as they are not bubbling out. This is just an educated guess from the photo.
In any event I agree wiht the poster who said take the car as a whole, and see if it stacks up. Mechanicals, interior, all together.

[aigel]

Don't walk, RUN! I would never consider an SC with even a spec of rust. There is no need to even bother, as others have said, there is plenty of completely rust free examples out there and they are not any more expensive than what you are looking at here. It is impossible that this car has only been in TX, unless it sat through every Amarillo winter, right in a salt pile. Rust this bad is an indication that the car has been beat around and not cared for at all.

George

[Tim K]

"It is impossible that this car has only been in TX...."

I've got the CARFAX info, and it appears that it spent its whole life there.

Tim K

[Joeaksa]

Please do not forget that a Texas car can be from the Gulf area and could have been in the ocean/salt spray for a long time. My 911 was sold in Austin and moved to McAllen TX entire life and not a spot of rust but I checked it over very well before buying it.

Also any metal that has been repaired or welded will have the zinc coating removed, which usually allows rust to form if the surface is not prepared properly.

JoeA

[Aussie]

[My .02 cents is that you need to look at a car as a whole. if repairing the two rusts spots you show costs you 600 bucks, it's better than having a car with a crap tranny that'll cost you 3500.

Yes but usually after you fix the two rust spots you will often find that they were the tip of the iceburg and whole life of the car you find rust spots breaking through in other areas.

Being from Canada snow and salt on the roads is a cocktail for rust especially the underside of the car and wheel well areas, which are often very expensive to fix.

I know if i lived in Canada I would be taking a drive down to California and make it a mission to by a car from that area, of low humidity and rain fall.

A crappy transmission will be cheap compared to fixing lots of bodywork.

Being a cheaper car to buy will often work out far more expensive in the long run.