Hey all, first time posters, probably be looking around a bit as bought my first polo today. When i got it home i noticed that the rear wheel arch had more rust than i thought at first, didnt have anyone to go with me and hoping i haven't made the wrong choice in buying it. It cost £1000, runs lovely and smoothly, only real problem i can see is the rear arch, very rusty. Is it going to cost me alot to get this fixed or should i just try and put something on it to stop it getting worse? Hope i haven't wasted my money any advice appreciated as I'm a typical girl who knows sod all about cars and thought i was being sensible by checking the oil and sills. Dealer told me not to worry was only rust from stones etc.. but looking at it in more detail at home me thinks its slightly worse.

No one know?

Just wanted to add its kind of the lip that faces inwards towards the wheel that has rust, paint on it has near enough disappeared (can pick bits of rust off too), dealer told me just stone wear. Is it worth me taking it somewhere to get it repaired or should i just rub off as much as i can n seal it with something. Passed its MOT 2 weeks ago so i thought it would be ok, just on closer inspection the rust looks worse than i thought. Thought the car would of lasted me a few years at least but now wondering if it will pass its MOT next year.

Does anyone know a roughish price of taking it to a body shop to get fixed, will it be stupidly expensive? Dont really know anyone that knows much about cars to ask

pics?

Any flaky old paint and trapped dirt will need removing with a wire wheel on a drill,the metal treated with something like Kurust (Halfords),and then re-sealed with overpaintable stonechip paint/sealer/primer - followed by a blow-over with paint. This is something you could do yourself,though it needs to be done properly to ensure it doesnt grow back quickly - so it might be worth looking into a 'how to' guide on bodywork repair in library,bookshop,online etc. Or of course,a bodyshop could do it for you - but the price could go into three figures per arch,compared to less than fifty quid to do both yourself.

hi i got to work mate and is a felow mk3 gt owner like me and my boss owned a mk4 polo and that had bad rust of the front passenger and rusting bonnet and my mate new a sparyer and it cost 400 qued to get a new bonnet and the arch rust free and fillerd up and sprayed

so i wounldnt have though it would cost to much to get it re dun

just a matter of finding a guy that sparys to do it

hope this helps

alex

Cheers guys, i dont think it is structural damage but need to get it sorted so it doesnt get any worse. Had some help from another forum and am going to have a go at rubbing it down and treating it myself, I'm pretty good at decorating inside the house and am a bit of a perfectionist so fingers crossed it wont look like a complete bodge job! Car only cost a grand so dont really want to be spending a lot of money on it, plus there isnt any body shops locally to where i live. May pop it in to my local garage first though and see what they say. Although as i remember when i had to get sills (spelling?) welded on previous car they gave me a number for a mobile welder and he couldnt give me a quote until he saw it which meant paying out for call out fee regardless if he did the job for me or not, doubt he would spray it too though. Ened up finding my own welder who was a total creep, text me at 1 in the morning to tell me he had finished and he did a crap job so dont really want to go back to him!

Well if you do it yourself,you can take your time.

Mine's worse,I've had to sort it out,been patching mine up of all the surface rust and rotten sills,inner arches etc during the good weather,but the weather has now turned before I've been able to paint it - its currently got patches of filler-primer all over it. But i can just add the odd coat here and there whenever the weather permits (if the neighbours will quit hanging their washing out next to it),and wet-flat it smooth once enough coats have been applied.

Bodywork on a car is a harsh working environment compared to a house,but if you've got the creative hand and short fingernails (mine are usually pretty camp),you'll do fine.