$250 quote to fix quarter panel rust

Took my red Caprice to Maaco since they have free estimates. The guy looked at it, said it would have to be cut out and a new piece welded back in. He said $250 with a 1 year warranty. Anybody else had this work done by a shop? Does this seem like a reasonable cost?
Here's a pic of the hole to give you an idea of how much metal they will need to be cutting out.

Thats a lot of money to spend on Caprust considering what you paid for the car.
Jim

You better make sure they get all the rust, or it will be back a year, and a day later.

Flasheroo wrote:

Thats a lot of money to spend on Caprust considering what you paid for the car.
Jim

It's funny, when I bought the car, this was the only rust area I knew I had to fix. I found most of the others in the hidden areas later. And yes, I overpaid tremendously for the car, I know that now. Live and learn. Next time I find a car I like, I'm going to look at it myself. Everyone's method of inspecting a car is different, even if they are a wagon person.

Better yet get texas Mike to find you a wagon.May need a paint job and some interior trim work
but with no rust you are already ahead of the game.
Jim

Lynol wrote:

The guy looked at it, said it would have to be cut out and a new piece welded back in.

Piece should be changed into PIECES.

Looks like the inner wheel well has a hole rotted in it as well. Need to get it sealed up because lots of water can enter the cargo area through there.

Lynol,

Honestly, I think you could do the same with some fiberglass and sheetmetal yourself for a lot less. Especially considering the other spots that need attention. IMHO.

Cadet57 wrote:

Lynol,

Honestly, I think you could do the same with some fiberglass and sheetmetal yourself for a lot less. Especially considering the other spots that need attention. IMHO.

Yeah I can patch the holes alright, but I can't do the filling and smoothing for ****.

Well hey, here's a great opportunity to learn how.


Sort of like what I'll be doing with my car soon....

Stingroo wrote:

Well hey, here's a great opportunity to learn how.


Sort of like what I'll be doing with my car soon....

Oh I think I'll have plenty of learning time at that with my LeSabre...

I would say that estimate is reasonable, the real question is weather it is worth it to you to fix it.

Why not sign up for a local community college class in "auto body repair"?

You can do your car as your in-class project, learn skills that you'll be able to use on this and future vehicles, and be able to proudly say that you fixed it yourself.

JoeT wrote:

Why not sign up for a local community college class in "auto body repair"?

You can do your car as your in-class project, learn skills that you'll be able to use on this and future vehicles, and be able to proudly say that you fixed it yourself.

I was actually thinking about that. My parents nieghbor did that a few years ago, took a night class. A student could learn a lot of lessons on my LeSabre, lol. It would be a good skill for me to learn

If we move to Jacksonville like my parents are planning, I'm thinking of doing that very thing. It would be awesome, because it would even count as an elective credit for my degree.

Winning!

So what did you do and $250 is cheap. Also you get what you pay for.

I agree with Jarrod. That is dirt cheap. I had a piece put into mine (much smaller repair on mine and it was twice as much as that. But my guys will stand behind it as long as I own it.

I would imagine that the big issue is whether or not they rust-proofed the 'hidden' side of the panel.

I sold the car the next day, lol. Like you say Jarrod, you get what you pay for. I didn't get the feeling they would have done a job good enough to prevent it from returning right after the one year warranty was up. The rust that car had wasn't terminal, but I just didn't want to deal with it. When I bought it, I didn't realize the car had all the hidden rust I found later. I already have a big rusty project to worry about (the LeSabre), I don't need two rusty projects, so I sold it rather than get deep in time and money into another project. I decided I would rather save up and pay good money for a rust free Caprice later on.

jimbeau wrote:

I would imagine that the big issue is whether or not they rust-proofed the 'hidden' side of the panel.

there is a small drain on the drivers side that GM ignorantly filled with drip edge sealer on most cars when they welded on the rear quarter panel. Another good design overcome by ignorant workers.

thats not to bad id fix that my self not a real hard fix. but i just went to maaco to get a estament on painting my whole car $856 then after i scheduled to drop it off i saw a sighn that said its $100 more to paint each door jam thats 600 more including the back glass and 100 more if they pop the hood open for the fender lips and 100 for under hood thats almost 2000 bucks only a four year warrenty.

roadmastercouple wrote:

thats not to bad id fix that my self not a real hard fix. but i just went to maaco to get a estament on painting my whole car $856 then after i scheduled to drop it off i saw a sighn that said its $100 more to paint each door jam thats 600 more including the back glass and 100 more if they pop the hood open for the fender lips and 100 for under hood thats almost 2000 bucks only a four year warrenty.

It wasn't so much doing this quarter panel, it was if I did this, i'd need to fix ALL the rest of the rust in the car which I didn't have much time for if I did it myself, or money if I had someone else do it. And then I'm still left with a car that might keep on rusting. I just didn't want to go any further with it, I'd rather spend the money I would have paid to fix that car towards buying a new one without any rust. I know what you mean about the Macco; the price they give you is just what you see on the outside of the car, everything else is extra. By the time it's all said and done you'd end up paying more then a real pro painter would have charged. This spring I want to get repaint estimates for my OCC, we'll see how that goes...

roadmastercouple wrote:

thats not to bad id fix that my self not a real hard fix. but i just went to maaco to get a estament on painting my whole car $856 then after i scheduled to drop it off i saw a sighn that said its $100 more to paint each door jam thats 600 more including the back glass and 100 more if they pop the hood open for the fender lips and 100 for under hood thats almost 2000 bucks only a four year warrenty.

$856? Better than the $1790 a Maaco here charged me "Thats... uhh, a really big car there huh. Well, uhh, thats going to need a lot of prep" All the while a s**t eating grin across his face...

Cadet57 wrote:

roadmastercouple wrote:

thats not to bad id fix that my self not a real hard fix. but i just went to maaco to get a estament on painting my whole car $856 then after i scheduled to drop it off i saw a sighn that said its $100 more to paint each door jam thats 600 more including the back glass and 100 more if they pop the hood open for the fender lips and 100 for under hood thats almost 2000 bucks only a four year warrenty.

$856? Better than the $1790 a Maaco here charged me "Thats... uhh, a really big car there huh. Well, uhh, thats going to need a lot of prep" All the while a s**t eating grin across his face...

That's the problem with Maaco, the quality of work (and prices) are not consistant.

Bodywork prices vary vastly depending on who you go to and how long you want the repair to last. $250 is cheap. It may only last a couple of years, but that's honestly the wisest course for car that is in the condition yours is in. The kicker is this - you spend $250 now, but would that help you sell the car for $250 more down the road? If not, don't bother.

sherlock9c1 wrote:

Bodywork prices vary vastly depending on who you go to and how long you want the repair to last. $250 is cheap. It may only last a couple of years, but that's honestly the wisest course for car that is in the condition yours is in. The kicker is this - you spend $250 now, but would that help you sell the car for $250 more down the road? If not, don't bother.

That was the question I asked myself, and the answer was no, and that's why I sold the car in January. I wanted (still want) a Caprice to keep for a long time, not one with rust problems that might keep cropping up.