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I fixed my own car ...

July 4th, 2008 at 04:47 pm

My car is 8 years old, it is starting to have some problems, one of them being rust around the wheel well. I took the car to a auto body shop and asked how much to fix the wheel wells. The guy tells me he can't just fix the wheel wells he will have to paint the entire side of the car on both sides so the paint matches. I told him it didn't need to match perfect, I just don't want surface rust to turn into holes in my car; I have to drive this car another year or two. He tells me that he has to do it that way and it will cost $2,000. So I told him thanks, but no thanks.

So I go to our local car supply store, I buy some sand paper, rust preventor spray, primer, had them mix up matching paint, sprayer gun, rubbing compound and a buffing machine.

I get home and go to work. I sanded off the old paint and rust. I then sprayed it with rust preventor. I waited 24 hours, then I primed it, waited for that to dry and then I sprayed paint on. It blended quite nicely; I was truly surprised. Then I lightly sanded the paint with very, very fine paper and I put rubbing compound on the car and buffed it to a nice shine. Total cost was less than $100 and the car looks fine. I'm sure it's not as nice as a professional could do, but I don't have any more rust and it will slow down the process of the car deteriorating.

I'm babying this car because the clutch is acting up and I have to prepare for that repair to the tune of $1,500. Hopefully, it will be the last repair in a long while. This car is a 2000 Audi A6 Quattro that I bought used in 2003, it has been very good to me, but she is getting old.

7 Responses to “I fixed my own car ...”

  1. Ima saver Says:
    1215195241

    Good for you!!

  2. cptacek Says:
    1215196289

    Wow, impressive. Can you post some pictures?

  3. scfr Says:
    1215212148

    I'm impressed too! Way to go!

  4. shiela Says:
    1215219267

    Wow..great job!

  5. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1215265647

    I saw my neighbor do this and I was so impressed at the result. Hope it holds up well for you.

  6. girlndebt Says:
    1215277566

    Wow, where the heck have I been? I have missed all these recent posts! First of all, I am so happy that you can finally breathe a little easier with all the debt settlement nightmares behind you. I was so happy when I read that!

    The freak accident with the car-my gosh. I thought I was reading one of "my" posts! I thought only unusual things like that happened to us lately. I too am a strong believer in "everything happens for a reason". Nobody got hurt so that is wonderful to hear!

    As far as saving money working on your own car...isn't it wonderful? Not only did you feel a bit of self accomplishment there but you saved a lot of money! I can almost bet that if you were in the same position a year ago-you would have just paid the $2k! Going through this debt crisis seems to have made you a stronger person and a more cautious spender. Those are good things you were able to take away from this experience.

    I hope your house sells soon and you can move on with the happiness in your life that you deserve!

  7. snoopycool Says:
    1215299900

    Great! If you have any more problems, may I recommend you look for 2carpros online. They answer questions and have been really helpful to me.

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