IMO, no. Repairing rust is like a dentist telling you that you have a small cavity, then after he drills the decay out you can fit a golf ball in the hole he made. To get to good metal the body guy is going to have to cut back a lot more metal to find solid to weld to. More labor making higher cost for you.

 

As I posted in another thread My 08 G6 GT has rust as well, I have few spots under the back door and just before the back tire on the lower corner, thought about taking it to a body shop but realized that it could cost lots of money.. all I ended up doing is chipping away some of the rust, sprayed Rustoleum rusty metal primer and then I sprayed the best matched color rustoleum to cover the primer.. looks pretty good.. I'll just deal with it for now..

 

Someone suggested a cheap way of fixing the problem that I'm kinda leaning towards: sand the rust as best as you can, prime it, then use spray foam to fill in the gaps. Once it dries, cut off the excess foam with a hacksaw then sand it again. Lastly, apply a smooth layer of Bondo or Tiger Hair, sand it, prime it, then paint it. It's a cheap fix but it would look 10 times better than it already does.

 

Mine is rusting on both sides in front of the back wheels on the back corner of the back doors. Sucks! But that sounds like a good idea using the foam.

 

Yeah I thought about it a few times but I always was afraid that the spray foam would cause other areas to rust out because of the the dirt and moisture getting trapped.. yes I would agree it would look better but at this point idk.. I do have some some spots that need to be fixed but car is 15 years old along with over 351,000 miles.. sometimes wish the cars were built from heavy duty plastics lol and that way they won't never rust but then again you have the bolts and other metal that they would have to use..

 

 

You're absolutely right about the dirt and moisture. It depends all depends on how much you love the car. Damn, 350,000 that's insane! Sounds like you really took good care of your car. Mine is only 16 years old and I'm almost at 150,000. It you sand and prime it first, you won't have to worry about rust too much. Ask yourself if you think you'll have your car in the next ten years. If it's at 350,000 I'd be shocked if you do.

 

Well I do love the car and it has been good to me and vice versa, the rust spots I have are ... on the driver's side towards the lower corner of the back door and a little under the door and the passenger side, in between the two doors and under the back door.. eventually every car will rust, it's a matter of when and how you take care of it. I live in NJ and we are harsh on the salt,brine and the calcium in the winter. All of that crap will cause any car to rust if you don't rinse it on a daily basis. I guess that's the same with any other state that have harsh winters. I bought the car new from the dealer. It was a dealer demo.
I have taken care of it or I think it would have been worse.. I want to eventually get a new vehicle, a GMC Sierra Truck but prices are outrageous.. will the car last awhile longer? I think so.. it's been a good car. I keep up with the oil changes and other issues when they arise. As I said my car is 15 years old and do have a lot of miles and I guess it's bound to get rust..
I have thought about spray foam many times and even body filling the holes. I don't know how to weld or I would have used sheet metal.
The back side of the rust i would use undercoating spray, right now I have primer that you can't see. The body is the original, nothing has been replaced. Except for the headlight assemblies because they were so faded. Kinda need a new paint job overall on the car but even has the original paint with the hood, roof and trunk is faded.. tried detailing it but I think the paint is beyond it's life.it sits outside all the time and the weather and sun doesn't help it.
For now I'm just gonna try and hold on to the car for awhile longer until I can get the money to get a truck. Plus with the truck I can go to Maine to my cabin and go riding back in the woods. Can't do that with the car lol.. and if I took it to Maine,oh boy I think the rust would be 10x as worse. Lol.
The car hasn't been to Maine, would it make it,yes I'm confident it would.
Most of the miles are from the trips to VA or Delaware to visit family. And some are miles to and from my previous jobs over the years.
Now I have a job that's about 15-20 mins from my house.

Gonna post a few pics of the car so you can see. Probably won't see the rust as good as to daylight.

 

I know exactly what you mean about the winters believe me. In fact your not to far from me because I'm in Pennsylvania 20 miles outside of Philadelphia. The GMC trucks do look nice and they certainly ain't cheap. I got the chance to drive a 2023 Ram 2500 p/u turbo diesel and man that thing was like driving a tank. Yeah I'm not skilled with welding myself and bringing it to Maaco or some place would be probably $1200. I've driven my G6 to Florida and back and it drove well with 30 mpg highway. It's a shame Pontiac isn't around anymore because they were not only very reliable but affordable too. I'd like to get a Trans Am with the t-top sometime (78-80) and take it racing. I heard the Atco dragstrip in NJ recently closed and I think Englishtown is gone too.

You G6 looks really nice and the rust looks salvageable. If I were you, I'd keep it as long as you can and try to keep it up to date as best as you can.

Best of luck to you man!

-Mike

 

You too.. nice to see someone close to me, I have test driven the GMC which I forgot to mention and it was nice, vehicles are way overpriced In my opinion these days. Yes it's a shame Pontiac isn't around anymore. I had 2 other Pontiacs in the past and that's why I went with the G6.. I had a 98 Pontiac Grand am manual and a 2001 Grand am Blue.. I miss the 2001.. traded it in for the G6.. everything original on the 01 as well, paint actually held up better I thought and no rust !! Lol but those days are gone and so are the cars.. I occasionally see the Grand am around but not much.my co worker had a grand prix and he just got rid of it. It was making a weird noise in the engine and he thinks it was a valve or bearing..sold it for 600.00.. would have bought it . It was nice.. but sold it.
Yes a trans am would be cool, maybe look around old houses,barns or junkyards as you could possibly find a cheap one somewhere.
Atco did just close within the last few months, don't know the full story on that but used to go there and watch the races, besides I have friends that live in shamong/Indian mills and they don't live far from the race track.
Englishtown is closed.. don't know the reasons either..
Actually I just went to GM website to see if there were any recalls on my car and there were 2 that were taken care of, brake lamp malfunction and Shift Lever Indicator may not display correct gear. And there was a warranty that expired that covered corrosion.. go figure right!!! I was never notified!!! I doubt right now GM wouldn't do anything for me or the car now.
Oh well. I'll just keep a eye on the rust and hopefully it doesn't get much worse.. knowing that winter is coming.
Well I'll be talking to you..
Tim

 

Never take a rust job that big to Maaco of all places. Im getting body work done over the winter. $1800 for a job like that. They have to cut all the way to the floor.

 

Well I would like to get them fixed before winter but idk. They way everyone is taking, it's gonna be a cold snowy winter this year here. I don't have another vehicle to use while my car is being fixed. I have a body shop up the street from me and I know the guy. I don't know how much he would charge me but I can get the time I'll stop by there and ask him.

 

I tried using Tiger Hair fiberglass body filler and paid $60 for it because I heard really good reviews about it. When I mixed it with the hardener and applied it to the chicken wire patch, it immediately fell of the car like a giant blob. It was a nightmare to apply. Why does it fall off? Also there is nothing behind the chicken wire; I thought the self-adhesive chicken wire would keep it on.

 

You may need to fill in the space behind the chicken wire with some Bondo or mix and then put the Bondo on the chicken wire on the front and it should stay. Imo I think since nothing is behind it, the wire is flexing and has nothing to grab causing the the mix to fall off..
I've had that problem before

 

I agree as my father did the same thing to fix my sisters car when it was a hit and run. Turned out great

 

If you maintain the vehicle you won't have such terrible rust. I manual wash, make sure to get anywhere roadsplash may hit. I wax rockers and quarters twice a year and use Rust-Oleum paint to touch up when needed. Another good thing about white cars and houses.. easy to paint...

 

I think that’s kind of obvious. Most people who care about their cars I doubt would just let it rust purposefully. For example, I took excellent care of my car however, the prior owner did crap work on restoring the body damage from an accident. Hence, only the “one side” is rusted.