Replacing rear quarters

[GabrielKnight]

When people talk about replacing a 'rear quarter' due to rusting, what do they mean?

How much do Renault charge for a rear quarter please?

[16v_paddy]

[Coops]

renault dont sell them unfortunately

any decent bodyshop will be able to rebuild arches from scratch though

[16v_paddy]

Ok, being sensible now. Have a look at this pic of the rear quarter of my car, this is what people are refering to



However, there's no need to replace the whole lot. Renault want about £350 odd + VAT for a whole rear quarter. Your car would have to be rotten all the way up to the windows to warrant needing a whole panel.

Have a look at this next pic, my arch & sill were rotten so replaced, you can see the fresh bare metal. Only a very small bit of a £20 repair panel was used to replace the rust that was cut out



So you can imagine how pissed off you'd be if you spent the best part of £400 for a big bit of metal & only used a very tiny bit of it, when a small £20 bit of metal is more than adequate

[16v_paddy]

renault dont sell them unfortunately

any decent bodyshop will be able to rebuild arches from scratch though

They do, well they did when I asked last year before mine went in for it's respray. They quoted me £385 +VAT

[GabrielKnight]

I understand the thinking behind patching up the bits of rust for a much cheaper price, but no doubt you're probably in the business and can get jobs like this done for £20.

If I took my car down to a bodyshop, they'd take one look at my face and charge me £200-£300 to do a botch with a horrendous spray job.

My thinking behind replacing my rear quarters is that I've spent £4000 on the car already, the engine is low millage and everything else is mint. I plan on keeping the car in as mint condition as possible for a looong time and it seems to me that the rear quarters are the achilles heel that need constantly repatching.

Would it not be a long term investment to spend say £1100 on a rear half, professionally sprayed off the car while Renault are still manufacturing them, to have another 10 years (£110 a year) of trouble free from the worst part of the car?

[16v_paddy]

No.

A bodyshop will just get the £20 part & chop that up accordingly. It's not patching up, they will cut away all the rot plus a bit more, then take the new bit of metal, cut it to size then weld it in.

Look at how much fresh metal is on mine & my arches were really bad. If you waste your money on the panel from renault the bodyshop will still use the same amount of metal to do the job & the leftover of the new panel will be useless & worth about 50p in scrap.

Trust me, there is no need to waste your money on new panels from renault

[16v_paddy]

Just re-read your post and no again

It can't be painted off the car as it's all got to be welded onto the car before it's painted

[16v_paddy]

Oh and renault will only give you a piece of bare unpainted metal


edit button would be really useful about now

[Tommo]

Any photos of the arch painted and finished Paddy?