Rusty Golf wings-any aftermarket trims available?

[vanordinaire]

I used to have a mk 4 Golf, my brother has a mk 5. Mine was and his is plagued by rust bubbles round the front wheel arches. I rubbed my down, treated and resprayed a few times over the years until the car was eventually sold, he is looking at doing the same but is worried he won't get a good finish with the spraying or if he goes to a professional, it'll cost him more than the car is worth. I've never seen such a thing on a Golf, but was wondering whether there are any aftermarket trims available and if so are they any good?

PS. He doesn't want chrome trims like you get on trashy old Mercs, matt black or similar.

[vanordinaire]

ManOpener said:

Depending on the vehicles history you may have some luck getting VW to contribute towards or pay for replacement under the "12 year" corrosion guarantee.

No, my brother's has got aftermarket alloys fitted with 225 profile tyres which come out in line with the outside of the wheelarch I suspect the rust has come from stonechips caused by pushing too hard on gravelly country roads. Too late for my car which went a few years a go.

[vanordinaire]

ManOpener said:

To be honest affixing a trim over the top of the existing scabs is probably just going to make the rust worse.

Thanks for the advice although we are planning to take it right back to bare metal and treat and repaint, just not confident in the finish we'll get so are looking for something to cover it. Two new wings plus respray is probably not economical for a 10 year old car. Might just have to do the tidiest job we can and he can treat it as a shed till it dies.

[vanordinaire]

steveo3002 said:

do they not rust from inside out?

I've heard that from other people but with mine and my brother's , the problem seems to have been caused by stonechips which corrode the metal at point of contact. The corrosion expands under the paint if not treated and causes bubbles in the paint. If the paint is scraped off at this point and the (small amount of) surface rust treated, it goes no further. If not treated at this point then the rust will spread under the paint and give the impression that the metal is rusting from the inside. I didn't care too much about the appearane of my car so when this happened, I treated the rust and hand painted the edge of the wheelarch with smooth matt hammerite. It lasted for years like this. My brother is more particular about how his car looks so wants some kind of trim to cover the repairs.

[vanordinaire]

Thanks for the info, my brother has phoned his local VW dealer and asked about the 12 year corrosion warranty. They sound relatively positive and have said that as long as there hasn't been previous damage then they should be able to fix it under VW's warranty. They're going to look at it next week give him a decision.