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I've just spent 30 mins googling for 'dog legs' or whatever they are called, replacement arch metal for quarter panels. In the spring I'm going to attempt to repair the rust on my arches. Any places I've looked though don't carry quarter panel parts for 4th gen maximas.
Anyone know if an online site that does?
I've checked ebay, amazon, and about 10 online parts stores.
Body shops have sources for rust-free quarter panel parts. I had thought about getting a body shop to purchase a quarter panel with dogleg from a car in Texas for $300. The cash labor would have been $1,000 and paint another $700 so I decided to replace the car.
My suggestion is to look at car junkyards, sometimes you can find some really nice parts for cheap. I always see 4th Gen Maximas at my local Pick N Pull that are in nice condition, granted in Washington don't salt roads so rust is rarely a problem here.
On the plus side I do see new fenders for sale. I guess I'll just keep checking for unrusted quarter panels when I visit Pick n pull and see if I luck out, I think only my passenger side quarter is rusted.
hell no, patching never works and almost always rusts through at some point. that's why op is looking for the whole quarter, there's no way to cut it out unless its minimal rust. even then there's no guarantee. i've personally had that quarter fixed 2 times and the rust always comes back.
I have a 99. It has typical pattern rust around the rear wheel wells and in front of the front tires. I am not going the expensive route. I had a MGB GT with rusted out wheel wells. A real cheap method is to use medium gauge chicken wire to create the exact form you want. Lay fiberglass over that. This works as an excellent foundation for bondo. Would cost you around $20 per wheel well. I don't believe in spending 1000's for an $800 vehicle. Will be much more durable than any sheet metal panel. Nothing to rust.
hell no, patching never works and almost always rusts through at some point. that's why op is looking for the whole quarter, there's no way to cut it out unless its minimal rust. even then there's no guarantee. i've personally had that quarter fixed 2 times and the rust always comes back.
Yeah exactly. For the rusted out rectangles in the front of the fenders I'm less picky, I might just cut out the rest of the rust, rivet in some metal plates, blend with bondo then rather than try to match my gloss black paint I might use matte rockerpanel coating and call it a day. It's a black car so I don't think matte black down low at rocker panel level will look bad, in fact I might use it the length of the car.
For the quarter panels though I really want to stop the spread in its tracks, so first choice would be a new panel section, but since that appears to not be available I'll start looking for ones to cut out at the wreckers. Then either find someone to weld it or just rivet it.
Bondo is my last resort. I think it can work, but only if I get 100% of the unstable rust out + rust converter + zinc primer + epoxy everywhere. I know it's an old car ('96) but I'm kind of in restoration mode and am liking it more the more I fix, so the less half assed the rust repair the better.
I guess what I mean by that is I don't want to do any repair with a 'well the car will only last another x years' mentality.
I agree, its hard to keep a rusted car because once the frame goes from the rust. It's expensive to repair. However, If the car is not rusted, is in very good condition I don't see the reason why to spend what it needs in order to keep functioning. At the end of the day, you pay to keep it on the road. As long as you can afford it.
It's not increasing value but its a functioning car! That's all it matters right..? Any car is meant to be driven, have fun, and enjoy what it is... Not with a mentally of "it will only last x.. years" It will last for however long you plan to and if you continue to keep up with it! You give up, the car gives up.
Since you probably owe 0$ on the car, cheap insurance, Yeah you can save plenty of money to cough up the repair bill... If you don't save it and a repair bill comes up, Its the driver's responsibility to know that. The driver has an option to keep the body of the car all beat up or maintain it looks. It's all about what do you want to do with the car. Does it matter to you?? If the car means something to you, by no means do it.
You have two options..
-No car payment, Cheap insurance.. save money for the repair bill
-or worry about a big car payment, more expensive insurance, may still end up with repair bills time to time. = Long run this is much much more expensive. With this amount of money you could of probably replaced multiple engines on the older one.. but not that happens all the time..
I agree, its hard to keep a rusted car because once the frame goes from the rust. It's expensive to repair. However, If the car is not rusted, is in very good condition I don't see the reason why to spend what it needs in order to keep functioning. At the end of the day, you pay to keep it on the road. As long as you can afford it.
It's not increasing value but its a functioning car! That's all it matters right..? Any car is meant to be driven, have fun, and enjoy what it is... Not with a mentally of "it will only last x.. years" It will last for however long you plan to and if you continue to keep up with it! You give up, the car gives up.
Since you probably owe 0$ on the car, cheap insurance, Yeah you can save plenty of money to cough up the repair bill... If you don't save it and a repair bill comes up, Its the driver's responsibility to know that. The driver has an option to keep the body of the car all beat up or maintain it looks. It's all about what do you want to do with the car. Does it matter to you?? If the car means something to you, by no means do it.
You have two options..
-No car payment, Cheap insurance.. save money for the repair bill
-or worry about a big car payment, more expensive insurance, may still end up with repair bills time to time. = Long run this is much much more expensive. With this amount of money you could of probably replaced multiple engines on the older one.. but not that happens all the time..
Exactly, I could spend $1000 on wheel arch rust repair and I think I'd rather do that then spend $15k (Canadian) on a new Versa. I'm expecting (knock on wood) that by the first day of summer my Max will be 100% mechanically like new, so it's worth it to me to fix up the cosmetics.
I have a 99. It has typical pattern rust around the rear wheel wells and in front of the front tires. I am not going the expensive route. I had a MGB GT with rusted out wheel wells. A real cheap method is to use medium gauge chicken wire to create the exact form you want. Lay fiberglass over that. This works as an excellent foundation for bondo. Would cost you around $20 per wheel well. I don't believe in spending 1000's for an $800 vehicle. Will be much more durable than any sheet metal panel. Nothing to rust.
Isn't the front, only on the left side, and caused by the battery gassing? i.e. rusted in front of the left front tire. I wonder if that wouldn't have happened if I had kept the plastic sleeve around the 24F battery.
I found the rust on our cars (and the 5th gen) to be amazing, considering this was a flagship car. The brochure even touted the corrosion resistance. I bought my car new, and my parents bought a 2000 Elantra new. The Elantra was junked with no rust, and it was 14 yrs. old! My lower rad support dropped at around 9 y.o.
Exactly, I could spend $1000 on wheel arch rust repair and I think I'd rather do that then spend $15k (Canadian) on a new Versa. I'm expecting (knock on wood) that by the first day of summer my Max will be 100% mechanically like new, so it's worth it to me to fix up the cosmetics.
Honestly? In the states, you could spend like $7k and get a LS430. Obviously it's a flagship car and built way better than the Maxima ever was. I might know because I bought one, and it's been problem-free for over 1 1/2 yrs (not a surprise). These cars do 200k all day long, and starting to see the 300k+. Ask a 300k+ owner what they did, and they'll say nothing, just oil changes.
Our Maximas are made to drive into the ground, but imho they are not worth $1,000's of repairs, only DIY repairs at this point...
So why buy something for $7k even if you pay it in full have no car payment, you could put that $7k away and the maxima would last a hell of a long time with that money...The $7k car could also have issues and may end up having to repair that too.. This can apply to other 90-2000's Japanese cars...It would be a different story if it was a German car, yeah those car's like to break a lot and parts are expensive.. Don't get me wrong the LS430 is nice, but in quality terms and for the money, the maxima is a great car with lots of simple luxury for cheap.
But if the car is seriously on its last leg from rust issues, then its a decision for the driver to make.. Most get rid of it, I mean I would.. It's rust! I hardly have any snow so my car never has rust if hardly so older car's are typically still running strong where I am. Two different experiences...
when someone owes 0$ on their car. The amount of money saved to do a repair is cheap. For example, I've had hardly any issues with this car, and I may end up spending an average of $50-125 max per month sometimes less depending on the repair.
So say a repair bill is $500 and your last repair was 8 months ago or so that would cost you 62$ per month that the driver should of have been saving. At the end of the day, the car's balance stays at 0$. Not driving around in a debt car that the bank owns.. It's becoming, Pay to drive from A to B cheapest way as possible. Though everyone has their own taste and opinions.. Nothing wrong about that.
apparently, you guys haven't seen my rust repair and some repaint i had done last month. my rear quarters getting worse too, but i intend to fix it at some point. i know what my body shop told me, and it aint going to be cheap, that's why i'm waiting as long as i can. here's maxy in her current beauty.....
Honestly? In the states, you could spend like $7k and get a LS430. Obviously it's a flagship car and built way better than the Maxima ever was. I might know because I bought one, and it's been problem-free for over 1 1/2 yrs (not a surprise). These cars do 200k all day long, and starting to see the 300k+. Ask a 300k+ owner what they did, and they'll say nothing, just oil changes.
Our Maximas are made to drive into the ground, but imho they are not worth $1,000's of repairs, only DIY repairs at this point...
Well to be fair I have been looking at the top of the line Acuras and Lexus' from the late 90s - mid 2000s as a possible Maxima replacement eventually. Very nice looking cars.
So why buy something for $7k even if you pay it in full have no car payment, you could put that $7k away and the maxima would last a hell of a long time with that money...The $7k car could also have issues and may end up having to repair that too.. This can apply to other 90-2000's Japanese cars...It would be a different story if it was a German car, yeah those car's like to break a lot and parts are expensive.. Don't get me wrong the LS430 is nice, but in quality terms and for the money, the maxima is a great car with lots of simple luxury for cheap.
But if the car is seriously on its last leg from rust issues, then its a decision for the driver to make.. Most get rid of it, I mean I would.. It's rust! I hardly have any snow so my car never has rust if hardly so older car's are typically still running strong where I am. Two different experiences...
when someone owes 0$ on their car. The amount of money saved to do a repair is cheap. For example, I've had hardly any issues with this car, and I may end up spending an average of $50-125 max per month sometimes less depending on the repair.
So say a repair bill is $500 and your last repair was 8 months ago or so that would cost you 62$ per month that the driver should of have been saving. At the end of the day, the car's balance stays at 0$. Not driving around in a debt car that the bank owns.. It's becoming, Pay to drive from A to B cheapest way as possible. Though everyone has their own taste and opinions.. Nothing wrong about that.
I purchased a 335i new and have owned it 11 years. The ABS pump went in 2016 and yes, that's a $4,200 job at the dealer, so I DIY'd for about $450. Other than that, nothing has broken except the VANOS solenoids had to be replaced. It's a real myth for Japanese car owners to always say German cars break a lot. What I have found, though, BMW, Lexus, Maxima, is that forum members tend to see the cars on that particular forum as being the best and the only. Personally, I like and try to see what's good in each. If all I ever did was to drive a Maxima, I would have missed out on what's available. I remember back in the early 2000's there was a guy who has changed his name multiple times here, that would tell me, if you love BMW so much, why don't you just buy one already. haha I did, brand new, 11+ years ago. Time flies. It's been paid off for 8+ yrs.
p.s. parts are not expensive for BMW either, so much competition be it OE, OEM, aftermarket. We're not talking about $40 mevotech control arms, though, we're talking original quality, there are always 3 grades. Control arms on BMW are cheaper than Lexus, that's for sure.
Well to be fair I have been looking at the top of the line Acuras and Lexus' from the late 90s - mid 2000s as a possible Maxima replacement eventually. Very nice looking cars.
Seriously, my Maxima was purchased new in 1998, and it served me well. It's not going to be perfect at 15+ yrs. old. But, when things start falling off (like that emissions thing left of the muffler, license plate markers long gone, sway bar end links snapping), it's time to decide. Not to mention body panels rusting. My car has been in the northeast its entire life, subjected to salt. And a forum member helped me to keep on keepin' on when the lower rad support collapsed.
Anyway, to keep my BMW off the road in the winter, I researched, and that research led me to A8L, and LS430. A8L was cheaper and lower miles. But everything seemed to say the LS430 would likely be as reliable, if not more, than my 4th gen Maxima. The fact that V8's are not popular, means a penalty to the seller, but a bonus to the buyer. And that Toyota 3UZFE is bulletproof, 300k on a 2006 is rare, there are a couple, but 200k+ all day long.
If one can DIY everything (my uncle moving away means no more lift)? Dang A8L or S550, why not? Life is too short.
03-01-2018, 07:57 PM
