NotoriouSH

I finally went to get some estimates on repairing my rear fender rust. I wish I would have diagnosed the problem when I got the car, because now the rust has eaten through the metal and I need to have a large section of the body cut out and new pieces fabricated and welded in place. The left side is worse than the right side, but after having the car inspected it's obvious why- the right side was in an accident before I bought the car. That explains why my bumper has a slightly larger gap on that side and why my trunklid has a little spot of body filler underneath.

Anyway some of the higher priced shops in town want $2000 to do the repairs, while another really nice shop that has a reputation for not raping people wants just under $1000 to do it all.

Ideally new rear quarter panels would be the way to go, but according to the shops that's like 2k+ per side.

I decided I wanted to keep the Lude and put a ton of miles on it since it's mechanically sound, I love how easy it is to work on, and I'm just now putting the performance parts on that I've wanted for a long time. This whole rust thing kind caught me by surprise, I was thinking maybe $400 worth of painting.

It's not the extra cost that bothers me, just the fact that once you start to rust out it's a never ending battle that could come back at any time. I will be moving out of this climate once the repairs are completed, has anyone had to deal with welding in new sheetmetal on a vehicle? Was it a long term solution or did you end up having to get rid of the car down the road because of continued rusting?