W211 with rusty arches. Worth repairing?

[crowned]

Hi all, I come to you with a question about corrosion on rear arches.

Last year I bought a mark 3 MR2 after some very clever phers recommended it I was looking for something that was rear wheel drive limited slip differential manual convertible and it has been a fantastic fun car that puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.

After a year bombing around country lanes in the MR2, I'm ready to cruise the motorways in silence and would like to explore more of the UK and Europe.

I would like a w211 estate, diesel, with a sunroof. This has been a very hard thing to find. I went to see one today without too many miles. it drove beautifully, but had a cracked windscreen, was on off brand tires, and needed an alignment. The interior was great but most worryingly...


It had rusty rear arches !

Would the pics below put you off buying the car ?

A W211 expert said he'd figure on 400 pounds per side to repair them.

A knowledgeable friend said I could sand them down myself, put on some rust-remover, then get color-matched paint and probably be able to do a reasonably good DIY job.

What has been your experience with rust repair like this ? Would it put you off buying this car ? If not, how much do you think it would cost to repair ?

I'd hate to spend a grand fixing it and have it come back a year later.


Any thoughts much appreciated! Thanks.

[paul_c123]

Who the hell tries to sell a car with a cracked screen?

[Dog Biscuit]

That arch has seem paint before.

Rust will always come back eventually - it needs to be cut out and replaced

You 'knowledgable friend' is talking about a bodge job

[crowned]

Do you think it would be crazy to pay 2400 for it ?

[Deep Thought]

crowned said:

A knowledgeable friend said I could sand them down myself, put on some rust-remover, then get color-matched paint and probably be able to do a reasonably good DIY job.

No.

It'll look exactly like what it'll be. Rear arches with an amateur attempt at fillering them, then noticably sprayed with a rattle can.

[Belle427]

You will probably find when you start rubbing it back it will get much worse and some holes will appear, sadly the only way to deal with it is to cut it out and weld in new.
A diy repair may mask it for a few more years but you can never get the paint match quite right which shows in one of the pictures.
I would not pay too much for the car based on that as you could be looking at £500 a side at least for repair.

[paul_c123]

Honestly I'd leave the rust, they all go rusty eventually. A DIY repair might extend the life a little bit though. Obviously, you need to factor into your price the fact that the screen is cracked (which renders it unroadworthy).

Without age/mileage/spec/reg number, nobody knows enough details to advise on price.

[finlo]

You might get away with cleaning up/treating the arch lips like the chap with the red 740 Volvo in readers cars has done.

[DickyC]

We were going to keep my wife's SLK as the forever car. It was well maintained but needed age-related work like rusty wheel arches. So I project managed an end-to-end refurbishment. It cost about £8,000. Now, a couple of years later, with the car still looking immaculate, we've decided it's not practical and we're going to sell it. Value before refurbishment, £3,500. Value after refurbishment, £3,500.

[steveo3002]

as said its not its first time , someone has been at it already

forget £400 that wont get it done to a good standard , maybe fluffed over by a chips away bandit

wants all the arch liners off , blasting both sides and see whats lefts , id expect some welding , then paint both quarters and blend the doors after stripping all the trims and handles off etc

[steveo3002]

Deep Thought said:

crowned said:

A knowledgeable friend said I could sand them down myself, put on some rust-remover, then get color-matched paint and probably be able to do a reasonably good DIY job.

No.

It'll look exactly like what it'll be. Rear arches with an amateur attempt at fillering them, then noticably sprayed with a rattle can.

at that age /value its all thats worth doing , weekend doing some neat patch ups and accept it for what it is , just try and hold off the rot for as long as you can , not worth spending the price of the car doing the arches

[Wheel Turned Out]

I would say if you're looking for a non garage queen W211 without evidence of rust, or somewhat tacked together rust repair, your search is going to be quite a long one.

[Panamax]

crowned said:

Do you think it would be crazy to pay 2400 for it ?

How long do you want the car to last?

I'd file that as 3 years cheap motoring at £800 a year if you leave it as it is - even if you throw the car away after 3 years.

Painting the wheel arches won't stop it breaking down. But it will need an MOT, and my understanding is that some old Mercs can get written off by chassis corrosion. To know what you're buying you need someone to put it on a ramp and take a look underneath. I'd be tempted to get an MOT on it right now and ask the inspector to report on corrosion with a 3-year time horizon. Could be £50 well spent.