I have a 1999 Honda Accord EX 5 Speed. I bought the car used about 2.5 years ago. The car is excellent and has been great. Yesterday when i was washing it i noticed 3 rust spots on the bottom of the rear passengerside door. The door seems to be rusting from the inside out because the paint is not broken, it is just bubbling up. I thought that it is really odd that my '99 is starting to rust while my moms '97 is in mint condition.

For Pictures go to:
http://www.jmwebconcepts.com/accord/

While taking some pictures of the door to be posted up here, I noticed that the door looked like it had been welded all around the edges, and none of the other doors showed this. Could this car have been in an accident, broken the seal on the door, and had the door visually fixed before I bought it?

For Pictures go to:
http://www.jmwebconcepts.com/accord/

What do you think is my best plan of attack here?
Should i get a new door from a junkyard or should I attempt to repair it myself, or should i take it to an autobody shop? I'm a college student with not a whole lot of extra money and I'm looking for a resonable way to fix this.

I also live in the northeast with plently of snow and salt during the winter. Whats your best advice on preventing further rusting? or do you think just that one door is just bad because it could have been in an accident

For Pictures go to:
http://www.jmwebconcepts.com/accord/

I greatly appreciate any help you guys can give.


Modified by jeff86 at 7:12 PM 7/27/2005

 

what's your insurance deductible for collision/comprehensive? you might be able to get this covered by insurance w/o any pts. call them and check

 

rust proof ur underneath during da summer time n u should be fine.. the oil gets into da metal n keeps it from rusting

 

do you know if your car came from a place with snow in the winter?

 

Yea I have a michigan car that's been in snow since it was sold in 2000 and only one fender has a little bubbling. It's kind of strange that yours is rusting like that, it could be one of the rubber seals on the window allowing water to seep in...

 

a 6 year old car with some rust is not uncommon. it could have been caused by many things such as contaminated metal or water pooling on the inside of the door. I would check to see if your drain holes are plugged and if they are fix them first and then make repairs to the rust spots.

 

I am really glad I live in an area where you don't have to worry about rust.

 

yeah my car came from here in Mass, which is a place where it snows in the winter

 

after further looking at the door, it looks like something was weird with the welding job, or one of the gaskets could have leaked.

Thanks for all your replies and insights.
-Jeff