To all,

I looked via search, but could not find anything with this problem area.

First, is a this common area? I do not see it posted, but it looks pretty much the same location on both sides, the pic shows the worse (passenger) of the two sides. I want to replace this side, and fix the other (driver) before it get worse. The driver side is maybe half as bad.

So, can I get replacement panels, or anything like that for that matter, or do I have to butcher another 2000 Maxima? I am willing to give it anything a try, but it seems making a patch panel from scratch would be a little hard, and out of my realm?

Thanks,

Jim

 

That will have to be cut out, then another section will have to be welded in, bondo'd, sanded, painted/cleared.

 

why do I see this more and more on 5.5 gens

 

My 03 is getting it on the rear fenders. WTH. My 97 just started doing it about a year ago.

 

car companies like Nissan and Acura/Honda keep using thinner and thinner layers of paint

 

I have rust in the passenger side, not as bad as that though. It seems to be fairly common, especially if you live in an area with really bad weather/winters. Up here they load the roads with salt and gravel for about 6-7 months of the year and it does serious damage to wheel wells and fenders... There is no replacement peice for that section. You should sand off all the rust and build it up with bondo.

 

That rust is starting from the inside. Moisture gets behind the panel and starts to bubble the paint. My daughter's '00 has a similar problem only on the passenger side, although much less severe. To replace the panel it would cost a forture, so as stated above, cut out, weld new in, surface filler and paint. I'll be doing her's next month before it gets any worse.

 

So there is no replacement type pieces or panels? I need to butcher another car, or fabricate myself? For fabrication, has anyone done, this, what did you use? It seems like I would need a strip for the folded part (goes into the wheelwell), another strip for the flat part (same plane as the front of the rim, ie. perp. to the road), and then a curved piece to match the curve, and go around the corner into the door frame. Has anyone done this or point to pics of someone whom has?

Thanks,

Jim

 

Nope the rear quarter panels are all one unit and is part of the roof and that whole unit

 

looks like you'll need to cut the outer quarter.

the inner piece "looks" to be ok...but i can't tell from the pic.
do yourself a favor...don't just sand and bondo...you'll make a worse.

if you're keeping the car then cut out the rust and weld in a new piece. if you're good on a welder and working with sheet metal you can even make small pieces of steel and weld them in. weld them in and then hammer them to shape. it's more work but you don't have to buy a panel.

spray welding primer or something with high zinc content. for the inner panel use por15 to seal the already rusted part if you don't want to replace that.

once you're done, skim coat of bondo, sand, prep, paint, use seam sealer to seal out any future rust problems. then use some undercoating under the fix to try and make it last.

 

Honestly I've never seen that on a 5th gen..

 

Why did you let it get that bad?

 

I've never seen that on any year 2000 car.

 

This is a First!. Rust is like cancer. Goodluck man.

 

the road dust gets hit on that area. you can see the paint on that area is prettu dull.

 

Seen a few '00-'01's around here with rust forming in the same spot. It basically comes down to neglect. During the winter months its hard to get out and wash the salt off. Even washing it off the outer surface doesn't get the salt that sits up in the inner lip off. I try to get to a drive in type of car wash during the winter, the kind that has water coming from the underside. My '93 HB has a rusted out bed, the passengers side is worse than the drivers side, but it's more or less an old work truck now. Love these wonderful winters, love the salt. *note the sarcasm here*

 

Because they're getting older.

 

My max is rusting in an identical manner as yours. Mine has not progressed anywhere near as far as your Max, and I know from experience that the sooner its taken care of, the better the result. My passenger side about twice as bad as the driver. So last week (believe it or not) I went to a well-respected local body shop that has done very good work for me on a past vehicle for an estimate.

Nissan only makes entire quarter panels and apparently no one makes portion replacement panels. The lack of aftermarket portion replacement panels is not an issue for a competent body shop. They will be well practiced in forming sheet metal replacement sections in the proper guage and matching contours.

I asked for two options. Overkill and more than sufficient to fix the issue for atleast 5 years. Those of us in the rust belt understand that rust is likely to reappear some years down the road. You simply have to watch for it and have it repaired at first sight, to minimize the impact to your wallet.


Options

1. Replace entire passenger quarter panel with Nissan new and ~3" of the driver quarter panel wheel well perimeter: $2000 and change.
2. On both passenger and driver sides, replace ~3" of the quarter panel wheel well perimeter: $1160.

I'm opting for #2. No small amount of cash, but still far less than purchasing another vehicle and paying for it over the next several years. Besides, she looks good, has been kind to my wallet. She deserves it.

 

Mine is rusted there too not as bad. The weird one I had was at the top of the roof next to the window.

 

I'm getting a bit of that too - on both sides. I'm also getting some paint bubbling where the rear fender meets the top corner of the rear bumper.

 

lol wish i said it first

 

just about every 00-03 maxima i see has rust in that area. including mine. just not as bad as yours

 

Is there a way to Prevent rust from coming? i know thats a dumb question. but I have a 03 and its from VA. i dont see any rust thank god. but i dont plan on running into this problem?

 

Yeah^ buy down south=P
After it started you can only sand it down. If you even catch it early enough.

 

Look a little closer...

 

Umm, lets see, when I bought the Maxima new, you were just learning to drive, and I had already been driving for fifteen years, had a house, and a child. I was (and still am) paying a mortgage, and during that time, up to now, I have put three kids through daycare, which sometimes cost more monthly than the mortgage did. Fortunately (the way I look at it), I was babying my babies instead of my car. So, while you were swapping out pretty (valences), and go fast parts (headers and Y pipes) for your Max, was paying for my three kids to go to the dentist (to the tune of $600 for the three of them for one visit, luckily I get some of that back). Wait I got it, skip the dentist for a year (2 visits), and I could put a brand new Cattman exhaust system on with a little left over to pay for shipping. Crap, I am doing this all wrong, its just teeth, they can grow more. Back to reality, taking my Maxima out of commission to get the body work done meant not being able to drive to work, not an option. Yes, I know, if I had done it earlier, it wouldn't have cost as much. Again, that's one of lifes little balances that you have to struggle with. Finally we have a 3rd car, and I am able to think about fixing this. Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to afford the $1.5-2k to get it fixed professionally. I have seen patch panels for older cars, where you just cut out part of the patch panel you need, and weld the sucker in, but I guess our cars are not old enough for that sort of treatment yet. So, I am looking for suggestions on how to do it, not criticism.

 

my 02 has some small bubbles starting in the same area-plan to get it fixed this summer

 

Just asking just to know homie,wasnt trying to put you down or anything.I know nothing about you.Priorities are priorities .Would have been much easier and cheaper to fix if caught earlier like you said.

 

Nissan tried to fix mine, lasted two years. Got it done again last year to the tune of $500, coming back already. I suppose they just removed existing, and did zero preventative work. Thing is, no one warranties rust issues, because it comes back like the plague.

So next time, f it, I'm handing this myself. If it stayed inside the wheel well, that would be fine to an extent. It likes to wrap up and outside though, and I'm not having that ghetto bull$hit

 

same problem, just not as bad. i am gonna sand it down and repaint it hopefully i caught it in time. but $750 for a 00' max SE i dont think i went wrong.

 

I have been on "top" of my rust issue in this area over the last couple years. Its to expensive to be fixed correctly (seen quotes up to 4K) with a cut, reweld and refinish.

My first "tackle" on the job was to sand down, and POR15 the area. Within a year it started to "seep" through again. I suspect I didnt get it all sealed up correctly. The car was in an accident and they said they would "fix" it. Ho ho ho.

The second job was a body shop "fixing" it. They sanded and put paint on top and then rubberzed body coating on top of it. That didnt last four months prior to the rust REALLY showing up.

The third tackle on the job I am finishing up this weekend. I have used a wire wheel and ground out all the visible rust I can possibly on the upper lip (faces inside wheel well) and lower lip (faces tire). I then used a stone bit to grind it down further and then smoothed the area with sanding wheels.

I have used the Zinc prep from the POR15 kit I had and have coated with a spray "Rust convertor" as well. I have now applied the "Rust encapsulator" and will apply another coat of POR15 on top of that. When that is done, I am going to put spray Rhino coat on in an attempt to protect the area from rock and other road debris hitting the area. The Rhino coat does nothing for rust in any manner.

Its taken some time, but I cant afford to spend that much on such an old car that is my DD. And like the poster above has said, kids are expensive and you realize and change your priorities. My car will never ever look "sweet" or "cool" again. But if I can keep huge rust scabies off of it, I will consider that enough of a victory over the next couple years. And to date I have less than 100 dollars invested. Hours of time, well thats a different story.