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Rotted Rocker Panels - Not the Typical Question

KitRae

KitRae

New member
OK. I know that these rot out like a Mo-Fo, but how long does this actually take? I bought the car just over a Year ago and it passed Safety when purchased. Now, they are completely rotted out and the Pass. Door hits the front fender when opening fully. My Question is this, should the Rockers have disintegrate this fast after a Safety, and how long until the Front Fender is perm. damaged by this.

Also, I am on a VERY limited budget and can not get the Rockers Replaced by a professional. Thinking of having this DIY but want to use a Metal that will not rust and last. Going to spray the Turd out of it with Rocker Guard or Bed Liner.
 


open the pass side door, then lift it up from the outside edge ( by the out side door handle side) if the door lifts up your door hinges are dead.
 
Probably shouldn't have passed safety if there are as bad as you say. 12-15 months is not enough time to do that much damage unless the car was sitting in a road salt bath. Front fender can get damaged quickly, leading to chipped paint & rust etc..
 
I'll Post Pictures later of the Pass. side to show the damage. Dealership is saying that when they did the safety, they were not bad enough to warrant the replacement of them. I'll let you all be the judge to that once the pics are up.
 
Here are the Pictures. Just to let you know. A body shop said there was Zero Rocker Panels Left. I am going to go back to the dealership and ask how this passed the initial Safety before being sold to me.

20130925_141408.jpg
 
 
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There has to be some rockers left, there is some fab shop making them somewhere if someone knows where the link is
 
i dont think hes thinking of fixing it himself, or even paying out of his pocket to get it done.

he seems a bit pissed that it passed its saftey inspection, and was told there minimal rust, a year later theres not much left under there. id be pissed off as well and do my best to be compensated, or have it repaired from the dealership who sold it to me.
 
Scottydoggs said:
i dont think hes thinking of fixing it himself, or even paying out of his pocket to get it done.

he seems a bit pissed that it passed its saftey inspection, and was told there minimal rust, a year later theres not much left under there. id be pissed off as well and do my best to be compensated, or have it repaired from the dealership who sold it to me.
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That is exactly what I am going to do. This is BS that they said that this happened over a 1 Year period. There is not much left there for the Inner or Outer Rockers. I have been told this by 2 Body Shops.
 
Used cars 99% of the time are sold "as is" simply looking under the car likely would have avoided any surprises. Good luck a dealer isn't going to do jack.
 


98GrandPrixIraqVet said:
Used cars 99% of the time are sold "as is" simply looking under the car likely would have avoided any surprises. Good luck a dealer isn't going to do jack.
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Not really. The last time that something like this happened to us, we Sued the Dealership and won the Money back that we used to purchase the Car. I am an Ex-Military Clerk, and I am able to find all loop holes and gain the evidence needed to win.
 
KitRae said:
Not really. The last time that something like this happened to us, we Sued the Dealership and won the Money back that we used to purchase the Car. I am an Ex-Military Clerk, and I am able to find all loop holes and gain the evidence needed to win.
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Good luck and let me know how this turns out. BTW my sister works for on of the top 10 law firms in the country out of Minneapolis MN, Im still highly doubtful you will get anything. Being ex-military pencil pusher doesn't mean much. Also note #2 I am also military, currently in D.C. for a "homeland security mission" if I told you more Id have to find you and well...............................
 
KitRae said:
Not really. The last time that something like this happened to us, we Sued the Dealership and won the Money back that we used to purchase the Car. I am an Ex-Military Clerk, and I am able to find all loop holes and gain the evidence needed to win.
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Most likely, you should start with the agency that oversees state inspections. Here in the People's Republic of Maryland, that'd be the state police.

State inspection licenses here are fairly hard to get, the fines for sloppy inspections fairly steep, and the cost to a dealership that loses theirs is immense. You'd have a bit more ammo in your belt if you held a non compliance report in your hand.

A rocker panel replacement is likely on the north side of a G note per side.
 
Yea you might want to reread the contract because I'm sure the vehicle is sold as is. GL getting your money back..keep us outdated.

But this all could of been avoided had to looked underneath the car like 99% of the potential buyers I know.
 
REDCOMPG said:
Yea you might want to reread the contract because I'm sure the vehicle is sold as is. GL getting your money back..keep us outdated.

But this all could of been avoided had to looked underneath the car like 99% of the potential buyers I know.
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OP says he bought it certified not as is. No way it rusted that bad in a year.
 


Cancer no matter how small plus 1 years time = exponentially worse after that 1 year time period. Were you expecting the cancer to magically go away with out it being touched? Cmon people lets be real here this is negligence on the buyer plain and simple now the OP is acting surprised. BTW I googled the OP's location St. Catharines, yup that's in CANADA last I checked winter and you know all that white stuff that falls from the sky isn't really great for a car that ALREADY had cancer. Whining about the cancer might be a little bit more understandable if you live in Arizona!
 
Obviously, I knew about some Rocker Panel rust. But not to the extent that it was. They had a patch job on it that was only spot welded on one side. Nothing holding the patch to the car. And once that was removed as it was falling off anyways, that is when all the other stuff was disintegrated. That is more than a years worth of damage. Even for a Canadian Winter. Love it when Americans think they know a bit more that others. Atleast I don't put "VET" in my Name. I do not have to show off that I am a Vet. Just saying.
 
The rockers where 99% gone off my girlfriends GTP. so bad that the side skirts actually had fallen off both sides anyways. I went to the junkyard and cut a couple rocker panels off a rust free car and welded them on. Not a perfect job but the skirts cover all the defects. It only cost 50 bucks for both the rockers
 
If a patch panel was welded in place that is how it passed safety and that is 100% legal. You have no legal grounds to stand on about going after the dealer.
 
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