Hi,
Before summer I had my 2002 Cavalier's rust spots repaired at a local body shop. The job was not done properly. By this I mean on the left rear quarter panel there is a repair done and the guy tried to blend the paint but the result was less than perfect. I had a rust spot around 2" by 3". The body shop guy sanded it down and filled it with body filler, sanded, primed and painted the spot. Now the spot is coming back and there is a large area where the paint is a different color, around 12" X 16". I would like to know if I could compound the area and remove this larger area until it was at the original rust spot. In other words, this guy made the original rusted area look 10 times bigger! The same with a spot on my hood. He turned these little noticeable rust spots into giant different colored very noticeable spots.
Is there something that can be done?

Thanks in advance for any replies.


2002 Cavalier

the only way to stop/fix rust is to cut it out completely. so until you do that... its going to come back every time.



Underdog Racing

Best way to fix it is to take it to a body shop or bring it back to the guy that "fixed" it and tell him that this is crap. Post some pics up in the sun so I know better what that butcher did.

I had to do this on a Sunfire I bought not to long ago. I bought the car rusty, started to chisel away the bondo and come to find out half the damn R quarter was made of putty! Needless to say I cut, welded, and fixed it right.

I just want to add this is, if the metal that's rusted is still solid, POR 15 works wonders. With the right prep, the rust will stop completely, then you can fill, sand, prime and paint over top. Or just sand smooth paint with the POR 15, then prime and smooth out that way too to avoid the filler.

However, if the rust area is no longer solid, then yeah, you have to cut it all out completely then weld in a new piece.