Rust on my car need advice please

Is this the front fender? If it is it’ll be cheaper and better to replace it. However for a proper job it’s going to require blending in the adjacent panels as well. Not a cheap fix if done properly.

What year is your car and any previous accidents?

2011 S40 and previous accident

its the back one and the dealer said replacing that piece isn't an option

Pulled the fender liner and see where the rust is coming from. If it's just that sharp edge, I'd do a DIY repair and make it look half decent. It's an 11 year old car. Sand, prime, mask, paint, clear.

Evie99 wrote: ↑ its the back one and the dealer said replacing that piece isn't an option

How can this not be replaced? it's the front isn't it? The metal has eaten away...

my car is discontinued its above the rear wheel which is a large part dealer said its not an option

you gotta decide if this is gonna be a beater or if you're going to spend money on it. spending money on 11-year-old mass-produced cars doesn't make any sense to me.

what i do with my beaters is, grab a wire wheel attachment for a drill, and get as much of the rust off as you can. should be shiny metal. then cover it with some rust killer paint, and then get a colour matched spray bomb from cawthra automotive or another source.

if you tape off just the part you need painted, it will look ok from 10ft. this will cost you 40$ in parts, and will last 3-5 years until you have to do it again if you do a good job.

what about sourcing a new fender from a junkyard and repainting that?

TrueToy wrote: ↑ you gotta decide if this is gonna be a beater or if you're going to spend money on it. spending money on 11-year-old mass-produced cars doesn't make any sense to me.

what i do with my beaters is, grab a wire wheel attachment for a drill, and get as much of the rust off as you can. should be shiny metal. then cover it with some rust killer paint, and then get a colour matched spray bomb from cawthra automotive or another source.

if you tape off just the part you need painted, it will look ok from 10ft. this will cost you 40$ in parts, and will last 3-5 years until you have to do it again if you do a good job.

This. Similar thing on my wife's 2009 Pontiac Vibe. Did it two years ago and rust is slowly making it's way back through, so got to do it again soon. Car had previous damage in that area and if it rusted once, there is no fixing it, rust will always make it's way back.

This is what my wife's car looked like:



Sand it all down, door and fender


Body filler + primer


Paint + Clear


Also installed these rubber wheel well protectors thingies, to cover up the imperfections in the repair work and protect all other fender edges from this type of damage.
Before and after


I will never buy a car anymore without some sort of fender protection from factory. Some people hate the plastic cladding, I see it as a necessity.







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Garest wrote: ↑ what about sourcing a new fender from a junkyard and repainting that?

It's a rear fender, would need to be cut out.

mxthor3 wrote: ↑ Pulled the fender liner and see where the rust is coming from. If it's just that sharp edge, I'd do a DIY repair and make it look half decent. It's an 11 year old car. Sand, prime, mask, paint, clear.

Use rust inhibitor when it's all sanded down. A good product will convert any remaining rust to ferric tannate which is more stable. Fill and prime over that and proceed as normal.

RIP car

eblend wrote: ↑ It's a rear fender, would need to be cut out.

Get a chunk of copper , put it in behind there and then fill with weld to fill all the gaps. Cut out rust and fill and keep going till it’s all new material, should be quick and easy job

Anyway to fix surface rust, from what seemed to have originated as rail rust?

mxthor3 wrote: ↑ Pulled the fender liner and see where the rust is coming from. If it's just that sharp edge, I'd do a DIY repair and make it look half decent. It's an 11 year old car. Sand, prime, mask, paint, clear.

I did this with my 2007 Toyota Rav4 3.5L V6 270hp.
It turned out well actually.

This is advice if the OP plans to keep this car beyond another two years: Go to a body shop that will cut the rusted metal out and weld in new steel. Since it's a rear fender, that's the only option. Once they cut out the rusted metal, they can see between the sandwiched steel layers and address any rusting from underneath.

And then get the entire car rustproofed.

I'm a heavy user of POR15 to combat rust but the best I get is 2-3 years. I had a rusty front fender and I just bought a new OEM one and had it professionally painted. That will last probably 10 years before it rusts. The rest of the car, OTOH...

Racecar destroyed!

LOL j/k.

I'd say to either DIY or get it professionally repainted there--either spot repair or panel refinish, blend surrounding, etc. Either way probably better to do it sooner rather than later, 'cause that rust ain't gonna wait around for you to decide what you want to do Personally I DIY pretty much everything I can but honestly body work is a bit outside my "zone" and it's the one thing I won't DIY. Detailing, up to wetsanding is about as far as I go heh. Up to you what you want to do, how much you trust yourself for a good result or how much money you have to throw at this.

eblend wrote: ↑ I will never buy a car anymore without some sort of fender protection from factory. Some people hate the plastic cladding, I see it as a necessity.

Maybe if you're rally racing all the time, lol. Keep it on the pavement and shouldn't be a huge deal. Though I see you have those same pictures on an unpaved surface so if you're having to drive on dirt roads a lot, then yeah.

For us "city folk" it definitely comes down to looks more given it's not really an issue to be "sandblasting" from driving off road, on gravel/dirt, etc.

However even when protection is required, one could always have PPF installed and keep the non-plastic look.

Wow guys, this is a Volvo that probably came with 12 year corrosion warranty, not some shitty Toyota or Pontiac made out of low grade steel and coatings.

Take a look below. I don't believe there are any spot welds, this panel is probably bonded so it's not rusting inside out like that other post. The rust appears to have started at the fold and propogated up and down along the curve.



This can be repaired and IS worth it. This appears to have been caused by external factors such as poor collision repair.


As for this...



This is rusting from the inside out, from the spot welds. As this car is a disposable (Toyota/Pontiac), the only way to repair this is to remove the whole panel and replace as an assembly because it contains a huge amount of hidden rust.

On the Volvo? Zilch.

Also, don't add rubber protectors, they trap in moisture and salt and accelerate corrosion. Wash the area often in the winter and you'll be fine.