Repair or scrap / break

Just had a call from the garage where we sometimes get my partners Jimny worked on to say that the clunking noise i’d asked them to investigate had been found. It was the body to chassis mount failing in the rear offside due to corrosion. I’d noticed it rusting last autumn and but some rust converter and some primer on as a short term thing. Hauling us on holiday with a large load might have been the last straw for it. The garage says that both sides will need repairing and it’s probably six hours work per side.

The front cross member is also rusty at both ends. That’s the rail directly under the radiator which may be part of the body, but I’m not sure.
That’s another big job apparently.

The car is T registered so is about 20 years old but it has only done a little over 43,000 miles from new. She’s owned it since it was three years old. It’s otherwise in quite good condition although the rear door has a dint due to my elbow when slipping over.. The rear floor has signs of rust along the joint under the back seats (rust converter applied) but the jack well looks like new with no rust at all. The sills have had some patch welding in the past. The four wheel drive works fine as vacuum pipes were replaced a few years ago. Suspension bushes have been replaced.

Repair costs are probably more than it’s worth but it is a nice car to have as a backup and bad weather driver to our other (also old) car. I also like it for town driving as its so easy to park in multi storey car parks rtc. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Paul

If you talk to Martin the admin Mlines he is able to get you just about any repair panel you need at a good price so other than labour it needn't be a massive problem to fix and like you've said it's otherwise a decent little second car so yeah fix it and keep it. If you have had it a while it's not like it really owes you a lot.

I'd second what Lambert says - after all, the cheapest car is the one you already own!
If you buy something else there is of course, the risk that you are buying someone elses problems

I’ve sent a message to Martin to ask about possible repair parts.
Paul

Had a response from Martin. As expected, he sells parts but not repair panels. It's therefore a case like project rust bucket
www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum/8-my-ji...-project-rust-bucket
where a lot of fabricating and welding is needed. That's way beyond my skills set. It's not as far gone as project rust bucket with respect to the floors etc but I suspect the back corners may be similar when the back bumper comes off. I've retrieved it from the garage and will think about it a little but end of life looks more likely. Oh, and it's only done 41,000 miles.

Paul

That's sad. Never good when they have to die.