I have a 3rd gen Maxima. I've got some bad rust damage by the wheel well of my rear right quarter panel. Here's a picture.
IMG_4779.jpeg
Any suggestions on a repair method would be appreciated!

 

http://s1349.photobucket.com/user/Ky...99cf2.jpg.html

 

Cut it out and weld in new metal. Here's my old thread about rust repair

https://maxima.org/showthread.php?t=398953&styleid=5

 

i had the same on mine, surface rust on 3 fenders, one fender was eaten out, and rust under the rear passenger door jams. sanded down all the rust to clean metal, Bondo, sand, filler, sand, primer, paint, clearcoat. eaten out fender we molded a piece of metal over the fender and riveted it on then did the Bondo, couldnt tell there was even rust there

body place estimated my 3rd gens rust to be at least $2500 to repair, moreso $3500-$4000. me and 2 other guys did mine with $200 in supplies and about 15-20 hours of work

 

My parts car is the same way luckily the first owner of my dd had the car under coated and they did a damn good job as all my wells are factory

I do suffer from the door jam rust in the rear but it's salvageable it's not terrible yet

 

i think every 3rd gen thats not in the desert has the rear door jam rust, pretty sure water from the rear doors drains out there and its a problem area

 

My 1990 has 230,000 miles, has been outside for 15 years and I can't find any rust around the back door. Is the drain in the bottom of the door stopped up.

 

the drain doesnt get stopped up, im pretty sure the water just drains out of the rear bottom corner of the passenger doors. so you combine that water with pieces of grit etc stuck under the door sill and you get rust right between the corner of the door and the rear wheel arches. most 3rd gens have that rust, nothing really wrong just poor drain design

 

If it looks that bad on the outside check both rear wheel wells and shock towers aswell as the inner skins of the rear quarters in the trunk where the seatbelts bolt up. Also check the trunk floor on either side. Also check behind the rear back seat where the seatbelts pull down to see if you have any rot or rust and corrosion there aswell. Do you get bad winters where you live? I have had enough invested in my 3rd gen to buy a new car with all the upgrades and custom mods. It's basically like a new car with all thats been done so im basically at the point of no return now. Pactically changed everything on the car short of the rack and the tranny. I know the front end is solid because i looked it over when having a low km engine from japan put in with 60,000km. The car looks flawless and mostly solid all around but when i recently sent it in to my body guy for some work on the wheel wells i found out i had opened up a can of worms turning into getting the back end fully restored ka ching ka ching Anyhow check these problematic areas as i also have a friend who has rust and rot in the exact same areas so it's definately worth the further investigating and cut out any rot and weld in new metal then get yourself a good apoxy primer or some por-15 then another suggestion is after that is done coat the rear wheel wells with some truck bed liner it's tough as nails and on 3rd gens we have the plastic sheild in the front wheel wells but the back is just metal and rocker guard. If your not wanting to keep the car long and just looking for a quick fix or a patch get yourself an adheisive meltal bondo patch and some short strand bondo (green) then sand her down prime it and paint it but i wouldn't expect it to last more than a couple years. Doing that is more or less a band aid to the problem but it will get you by.

 

It rains 9 months of the year where I live and cars don't rust.

Because the roads are not salted, nor are they peppered.

 

Salt is the main culprit. When it mixes with slush and water and gets trapped into all the nooks and crannies. Its not so bad when temperatures are very cold but it oxidizes when the temperatures fluxuate and get mild causing all the rust an corrosion. I always urge people who live with winters to get their cars rust coated. Its well worth the $130 annually which only works out to just over 10 bucks a month to keep your car lasting longer and keep the rustiez at bay but rust is inevidible living with winter conditions. All we can do is rust coat to help prevent and slow the process down.

 

roads up here in Alberta arent salted, my 3rd gen had fender rust, my Hardbody was completely rusted out and the frame broke from rust, and my Hilux had the bed removed because it was completely rusted. only stuff of mine that isnt rusty is my Crown, Supra, and Silverado because they havent seen much or any winter

rust otherwise is caused my sand and grit getting into crevices and moisture getting in there too, not always salt. my Hardbody was abandoned in a field for over 5 years, sitting on rotten farmland is what rusted it out