Rear arch rust - buy or no?

Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:16 pm

Found a 316i Lux for sale during my search and came accross this. The car is listed as £700 with a pretty solid engine, mot and tax till June. (as far as i know, yet to view) is it worth buying with rust this bad? how much would it cost to fix/replace this arch?

Cheers guys!

Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:24 pm

Jesus!

Ermmm.....That needs some help!

Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:31 pm

Chances are if that arch is like that , there's much more to be found elsewhere

Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:37 pm

£700 seems a bit steep for 316 with an arch pretty much missing!

Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:37 pm

Don't forget to get the carpets up

Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:39 pm

Sorry that is scrap and should be priced accordingly

Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:39 pm

Judging by that arch, or what little remains of it, that will be rubbish which is a shame as a two door Lux model is a nice looking thing. It will be cheaper to buy a tidier car than to resurrect that.

Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:45 pm

That will most likely also need inner arches, rear valance and who knows what else?

I'd check it very carefully for more rust if I was to go ahead with the purchase.

Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:45 pm

So the verdict.. Don't buy?

Cheers guys! Guess I gotta keep looking.

Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:05 pm

If it's local it might be worth a look.

IF it's only the arch, and the rest is clean, then it may be worth it.

However, it's very unlikely it'll just be the arch.

Scuttle, sills, floor, rear valance, battery box etc are all likely to be just as bad.

I certainly wouldn't travel more than a couple of miles to see it, and I'd take a jack and a decent screwdriver!

Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:31 pm

looks like the other arch isn't much better in the other pic so will probably need two.

Fri Mar 21, 2014 7:32 am

harry_p wrote:If it's local it might be worth a look.

IF it's only the arch, and the rest is clean, then it may be worth it.

However, it's very unlikely it'll just be the arch.

Scuttle, sills, floor, rear valance, battery box etc are all likely to be just as bad.

I certainly wouldn't travel more than a couple of miles to see it, and I'd take a jack and a decent screwdriver!

Interesting exercise to go look for sure. If you have the skills it's always nice to save a rotter. However I certainly wouldn't pay £700... More like £150-£200 max. You'd get that back with ease in breaking and scraping it which is really the suited market for this car...