Robsters

hey everyone

So i have owned my ford fiesta 01 mk5 for 5 years going on 6 yrs now and its served me well, lot my family and friends tell me its time to ditch the car and get a newer car, driven other cars abroad on holidays etc but nothing in my view matches this fun to drive fiesta mk5 sadly its rusting like crazy on the back 2 arches and the seal on the passenger side is gone as its got a massive hole in it. i found this body shop near me (there website http://www.bodytone.co.uk/) there located in berkshire where i live, has anyone heard of them and are they good? seem to have good reviews and most of the negative reviews seem to be from idiots and i met them today and the guy seems down to earth older chap, he said he will give me a quote by next week. thoughts opinions on what i am doing would be great thanks photos below of the rust damage to my old ford (was originally fibre glassed by myself a few years ago)

BigChuck

if they are doing that job right and not bodging it, the repair will cost you more than what the cars worth really.

Unless the car has sentimental value to you I'd be looking to change it, rather than spend money chasing rust, remember all the panels are the same age, if one sill is rusting, there's a good chance the other won't be far away.

You might be better finding another clean mk5. Have a look at the price of them then compare it to your repair quote, add in anything else that needs doing to the car as well.

stevieturbo

As above.

Once you start looking beyond the surface rust...things can soon escalate.

If it's just a bluff to clean things up for another couple of years, fire away. But to fix that right, it will get expensive. And even then it's difficult to get rust repairs inside and out treated so they last a very long time.

I'm not sure if Fastlife91 has ever done rust repairs, you could maybe ask him.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

My experience of fiestas is they rot from the inside out, so if you are seeing it at the surface, it will be much worse the deeper you go!

Robsters

yeah it def rusting from inside out, I was told by a guy in ireland who did body work when i was living in Dublin for a while he was happy to fibre glass it but he was really uneasy with cutting the arches out as he was worried how far up the rust would go, is this the case then that it could of rusted a long way up the metal? could these guys end up destroying the car quicker by trying to cut the arches out?

cossynut2

As others have said , if you can see rust on the outside you can bet there will be a lot more inside that you cant see. Body work repairs these days will usually cost more than mechanical repairs, so you have to weigh up if it is worth the outlay? If you throw enough money at it the bodywork can be repaired properly, its a tough call for you and really how much the car means to you will probably make your mind up.

Robsters

yeah its my first car which i hear always means more to you then any other car simply because it is ur first car, do you think the body shop i went to was being unrealistic about the work? the guy there just said to me oh yeah we can just cut those arches out and put new ones in but from what u say it could be more serious then that? obv money isn't limitless so if went into the 1000s it would unfortunately be questionable if its worth it as car value is below the £500 these days and that would be all the insurance would give me if it was ever written off so probably if quote over £1000 it would not be worth it for me

fuzzy

the cost to cut out and replace/paint 2 rear arches and the cill would be more than £1000 I would think. I was quoted £900 for 2 rear arches on my A class merc.

Robsters

i agree, I asked them to quote for 2 rear arches plus respray of those and the two seals. Both side need redoing though one side is not as bad so he said that just be under sealing. the other side was an MOT failure as its got a hole in the seal which u can see on the photo above. The MOT is not due until the summer time so I still got bit of time on my side on that one. My two concerns is the cost they quote which i feel the same it will not be cheap and then are they capable of doing the repairs?

The guy in ireland told me he wasn't confident to do it even if i paid him because he said you could cut the arches out and find the rust goes up the whole panel to the roof...it seemed a bit extreme to think the rust would spread that far up the car but i guess its the hugh risk involved on such an old car right? my concern is not so much the cost as if its to high i can't afford it anyway but more the fact is can it be done and not result in destroying the car?

fuzzy

they can put men on the moon so a car can always be repaired, economically or not is another issue entirely but no one can foresee the true extent though until they start cutting. it should be bread and butter basic stuff for the average bodyshop.

Robsters

haha yeah good argument there but still I'm sure there not flying to the moon in a rusty old rocket lol but surely everything can rot beyond repair

gcfcos

At my work we only do body repairs to an mot standard, we will still cut out the rot and weld new In but our finish is just to grind down the welds after and then either stone chip in the same colour on top or if they want it really cheap then just black under seal on top. I've welded loads of mk5 fiesta sills and arches over the years and for a hole in each sill and arch repairs I think we've charged around £350 to £400 but the finish is very very basic just for the mot. I imagine if a bodyshop was doing it their would be many hours in prep, filler and paint so I could see it defo going near the £1000 mark

Robsters

where are you based? might be interested to bring the car to yourselves if the quote is crazy as I can always spray it silver myself after u have welded the new bits onto the car.

cossynut2

If your car was a classic Ford, Escort Mexico, RS2000 etc then it would be worth the outlay that could be involved but its not and as you say if its only worth about £500 in my opinion think very hard before spending much on it. You could have a lot of work done on it and if it gets stolen or written off it would still only be worth market value which would probably be less than the repair cost.

Robsters

yeah i agree with you, i mostly went out of interest to see what they say i think they were first body shop not to laugh at me for asking, saying that as years have gone on see more respect shown towards these old fiesta a lot of mechanics and bodyshops saying they good little cars that don't let u down and keep on going, as you say unlikely to be a classic not any time soon at least, i guess for me its cost between buying another car or keep this one going, I have seen some fiesta like mine still on sale for £700-1000 is the condition is really good my milage is on 99k as well so i guess it would push the value up a bit? when i get the quote i will post it up on here, still wondering if anyone has heard of bodytones in berkshire or used them? and if so are they good?

gcfcos

I'm in Dorset mate. If the cars good mechanically and the rest of the cars clean and u keep it serviced etc then it going to cost u more than £500 to buy a car, if the rest of the cars good then as people say sometimes it's better the devil you know. But I personally don't think it would be worth spending £1000 on it at all, maybe £300 or £400 if it's going to last u a couple more years

Robsters

cool what part of dorset? I go down to Bournemouth every now and then as my uncle lives down there, yeah everything else has been serviced or repaired its purely just the body work letting it down it does need new suspension soon though as that was an advisory quite a few times now so that and the body work is what is starting to let it down, i agree it would cost me more then£500 to get a car as good as mine now otherwise its back to square one with fixing someone else wreck, see what they quote first u never know but i suspect your right its going to be around the £1000 mark

gcfcos

I live in Bournemouth and work in Christchurch mate

Robsters

So I got the quote today it is as follows as i am getting more then just arches done

STRIP OUT FOR REPAIRS TO –
RUST IN SILLS AND REAR ARCHES, INSIDE DRIVERS DOOR AND FRONT PILLAR

NEW PARTS REQUIRED –
2 X REAR ARCHES @ £47.50 EACH
NEARSIDE FRONT WING £100.00

PREPARE, PRIME AND PAINT
REFIT

LABOUR £608.00
PAINT & MATERIALS £103.00
TOTAL PARTS £195.00

NET SUBTOTAL £906.00
VAT £181.20
TOTAL ESTIMATE £1087.20

the wing on there as sadly some idiot put nice big deep scratch on it with hedge trimmers down to the bare metal so he said he do that for an extra £100, thoughts and opinions on the quote?

R4N SS

iTrader: (6)

its rusting from the rear arches as the inner arches are lined with bloody cardboard which soaks the moisture and then rusts out the metal. If you get the car repaired then remove these

R4N SS

iTrader: (6)

I personally wouldnt spend that money on that car - i recently bought a mk6 fiesta zetec s for way less than what you have been quoted and it doesnt have any rust

Robsters

Yeh i was having a look at cars you could get for £1000 the trouble is you don't know what problems they might have also, also when you say cardboard do you mean that stupid carpet thing under the arches?

gcfcos

Wow that's mega money mate, me personally I'd have it patched up just to pass the mot and use it for a year and then at least u have another years motoring for a couple of hundred quid

Robsters

yeah i agree had it patched twice on arches with fibre glass thou as for sills well def wont get thru next MOT without being done, trouble is with patch jobs rust just keep coming back i either do this or just ditch the car completely because no way it will pass another MOT with state bodywork in

cossynut2

Your call but there is no way I would spend that much on a 2001 Fiesta. That is more than the car is worth and if I was you I would be looking at another car. The thing is with the quote the guy will not know for sure what the real extent of the rust is until he starts removing metal and what happens if its a lot worse than he thinks? Extra work equals extra cost?

Robsters

yeah that was another thing that concerned me as well if was worse then they thinking, seems to be rusting right at the very edges of the arch and obv sills are quite bad, do in your view just move on and look to buy another car?

gcfcos

I meant patching with weld and metal mAte not filler lol. It will at least get you another year with the car for a couple of hundred quid

Robsters

would it be whole new arch welded in to remove the rust ?

cossynut2

If you can afford it move on but if not take it to gcfcos to fix it up for now to get it through its mot and get maybe another year out of it.

R4N SS

iTrader: (6)

yes mate

gcfcos

Looking at your pictures mate does the main bit of rust by the door go through or is it fairly solid?

STEVEST24

Many years ago, my sister had an original Mini, her first car, and she spent loads on fixing the rust, wings, sills, floor etc., more than car was worth, we told her to get rid, but she wouldn't listen. You do get attached to cars, but sometimes you have to say thank you and goodbye.

Robsters

which photo ? the 2nd one?? most of the rust seems to look worse then it is in my view, some of it just on surface, i rubbed it down a year ago to fibre glass it and metal was mostly cracked where the rust had forced it apart but it was fibred glassed 3 yrs before that did last longer, work i did lasted up until xmas so about 8 months then went colour u see it now, one the sills is really bad as a hole in the middle goes all way thru def 100% mot failure only just got it thru last year by some miracle, the part puts me off ditching the car is buying another problem off someone else going thru same shit again, had water pump replaced that car, core plug the engine, clutch, all 4 tyres, exhaust, coolant pipes, engine been serviced few times,

Robsters

what happened in the end?

STEVEST24

Sorry I forgot to mention that the Mini also blew its engine, and she still wouldn't scrap it, so more money!!!

She saw the light and bought a Fiesta MK3, which she still has today, that car has been fantastic.

Robsters

yeah not sure im that attached to my car, prob wont bother thinking might just redo arches myself with fibre glass get hole in sill done on the cheap then paint underseal on it both sides and forget it for another year...that was original plan, just thought might be cost affective to get rid of the rust then buying another 2nd hand car with new problems

cossynut2

You have to do what is sensible now and suits your pocket. When you do decide to get something else I think you will be suprised at whats out there for not a lot of money.

Robsters

Hi yeah, its a shame really but over a 1000 to repair the car is prob short of not worth it, sill i can prob get done cheaper at another body shop to get it thru an mot after all its under the car i dont really care how good it looks as for the arches i can just try fibreglass it again and make it look tidy for another 12 months at least :/ until it rusts again lol, is a shame i am bit attached to the car as its my first car but not to the point of burning money on it, out of interest thou saw this classic fiesta on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Fiest...QAAOSw2gxYrAGf

was a thread on here ages ago if the mk5 is a future classic lol maybe if it does become one then i cud get the body work redone lol

cossynut2

I think it will be a long time before a standard 2001 model Fiesta will become a classic. Earlier XR2s or Fiesta turbos are already classics but the ones making top money are usually low mileage mint examples or fully restored ones.

NobbyClark

I know the vast majority of people would say it's not worth spending the £1k on the bodywork because the car is only worth around £500.

But the way I look at it is, you spend the £1k and have the bodywork done and as long as the car is reliable and has been well maintained, then even if the car lasts another 1 or 2, that's cheap motoring.

Plus you could spend that £1k on buying another car that could end up needing loads more spending on it.