CLK rear wheel arches rust

[ash1212002]

Hi looking to buy another CLK on an 09 plate with 55k on the clock

Unfortunately there appears to be rust on the rear arches, Pics attached

I understand this is quite common on the CLK’s

Unsure how bad the rust is, anything I can do to prevent it from spreading or slowing down the rust?

Or shall I avoid purchasing the car?

Cheers

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Ask for £400 off the sale price to get it sorted yourself by a bodyshop. if you leave it, it will spread.

It will also be rusty around the entire arch, under the parts you cant see.

 

[horatio]

Very common. The lip of the arch should have been protected with a layer of something from the factory to prevent stones chipping at the paint.

My W211 had this - I sanded the lip (getting all the rusty bit back to metal), painted with a layer of POR15 then painted again with touch up paint in the proper colour. Bit of a faff but it's been a few years and hasn't come back. It doesn't notice unless you really look.

 

[ash1212002]

The seller is willing to negotiate a little but don’t think he will knock off £400

I am yet to see the vehicle in person, but it appears the rust is only on the inside of the lip and thankfully not on the outside

How long would it take for it to spread on the outside visible part of the bodywork?

Any diy recommendations that I could carry out to sort this out myself? Not too fussed what the final look finish would be like as it’s on the inside so not visible

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Id get it done asap as it will spread to the main panel and under the side skirt. as I said above, it will be around the entire arch and not just the visible part.

How much is the car up for if you dont mind me asking? - most will be in the same situation, you can try DIY but you wont be able to get around the entire arch yourself without removing all the arch lining, getting it up on a lift etc.

 

[Jrattan]

This video summarises the best way to treat rust yourself

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[ash1212002]

Id get it done asap as it will spread to the main panel and under the side skirt. as I said above, it will be around the entire arch and not just the visible part.

How much is the car up for if you dont mind me asking? - most will be in the same situation, you can try DIY but you wont be able to get around the entire arch yourself without removing all the arch lining, getting it up on a lift etc.

Its on for £5500 petrol 200

 

[KillerHERTZ]

I did CLK320x's arches 2 years ago and as far as I know the rust hasnt returned?

I removed wheels, angle grinded rust until bare metal, then when there was only tiny spots left, used Krust (the key is to remove as much 'black' metal as possible as this is what will return. Zinc Primer, then paint, then lacquer, key is to take your time.

£5500 is rich money for a 9 year old CLK with rust, id ask for £500 off explaining the rust will need to be fixed. - dont let them do it themselves as they will do a half-****d botch job.

 

[ash1212002]

I did CLK320x's arches 2 years ago and as far as I know the rust hasnt returned?

I removed wheels, angle grinded rust until bare metal, then when there was only tiny spots left, used Krust (the key is to remove as much 'black' metal as possible as this is what will return. Zinc Primer, then paint, then lacquer, key is to take your time.

£5500 is rich money for a 9 year old CLK with rust, id ask for it for £500 explaining the rust will need to be fixed. - dont let them do it themselves as they will do a half-****d botch job.

If I can get it for £5000 accounting for the rust, is it a good price? or am i still paying over the odds?

has heated seats, parking sensors front and rear, and black leathers.

 

[ash1212002]

Would you recommend I purchase this to do the job?

POR15 BLACK Super Starter Kit (6 piece)

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Do you have a link to the advert?

Regarding the rust, its more about removing the actual rust than simply treating it. If you put some Krust etc onto the effected area, it will still return. you need to Angle Grind it etc to remove it, then if required use some filler to smooth over what you have removed.

 

[clk320x]

I did CLK320x's arches 2 years ago and as far as I know the rust hasnt returned?

I removed wheels, angle grinded rust until bare metal, then when there was only tiny spots left, used Krust (the key is to remove as much 'black' metal as possible as this is what will return. Zinc Primer, then paint, then lacquer, key is to take your time.

£5500 is rich money for a 9 year old CLK with rust, id ask for £500 off explaining the rust will need to be fixed. - dont let them do it themselves as they will do a half-****d botch job.

The right side has been good Karl, but the left where it had already spread to the main panel slightly was ruined after a year. Had it done again

 

[PobodY]

I thought this was a pre-facelift problem and they'd resolved it. - Mine has no signs of rust in the rear arches.

Is it really that common for MY '09 to be rusting already?

 

[PobodY]

I take it back. - I've just given mine a closer inspection; the very inside edge of the metal does show some signs of corrosion, but I wouldn't have spotted that without looking closely.

 

[clk320x]

Hi looking to buy another CLK on an 09 plate with 55k on the clock

Unfortunately there appears to be rust on the rear arches, Pics attached

I understand this is quite common on the CLK’s

Unsure how bad the rust is, anything I can do to prevent it from spreading or slowing down the rust?

Or shall I avoid purchasing the car?

Cheers

It shouldn’t be too hard to fix to be honest, I payed £200 for the left side of mine, entire arch sanded, including inner edge with a belt sander. Then the entire rear quarter resprayed and blended to a perfect match, also some kind of sealant applied to prevent it happening again on the inner edge.

Abs

 

[benlucas]

Unfortunately, once rust has a hold of metal the only way to prevent it returning is to cut the affected part out and weld new in. Sanding down and spraying should only be looked upon as a temporary fix, and whilst it may last for several months to possibly a few years, the rust always returns. Of course, cost is usually the key factor..

Mine was similar to the OP's when I purchased it and whilst I have rubbed them down to metal and applied flexible Hammerite, it's only a stopgap as I plan on getting new arches fitted this year. Bodyshop quoted me around £500 per side, but justified imho as I intend on keeping it.

 

[horatio]

A bit overkill! Unless the arch is really mullered why run the risk of chopping out original metal? This isn't W210 rot, they just didn't protect the lip properly. A permanent fix should be easily achievable.

How much is the car up for if you dont mind me asking? - most will be in the same situation, you can try DIY but you wont be able to get around the entire arch yourself without removing all the arch lining, getting it up on a lift etc.

A time consuming & messy faff - but possible! I got the arch liners out and did the entire lips just using a jack/stand and a few basic hand tools.
I did it to my CLK too (although it was only very light). I actually trust my bodge not to rust again more than if had paid a garage as I know I got all the rust off and it's coated more thoroughly now than originally. I would avoid painting more than the lip because then you have to worry about paint blending/matching etc and IMO it's unnecessary. Just painting the lip really doesn't show, on most cars the plastic arch liner goes over it anyway.

 

[Joderest]

If it were me.
I would use a dremmel with the small sanding bands, and take the whole inside of arch back to clean metal, then give a coat of rust cure, then primer, then smooth silver hammerite, I would use a cut down roller rather than a brush. Mask the arch off so you do not touch the body paint that shows.
The only problem is that rust has a nasty habbit of travelling under the paint, and out to somewhere that the repair will notice.
Before I was the owner of my ML, someone has treated the arch lip with a body sealant, then painted on top, it's held the rust back, but looks awful, I intend to tidy it up in the summer, if the car stops having faults to fix .

 

[KillerHERTZ]

unless you get 99% of the black spots removed, dont bother. it WILL return.

Angle grinder will do it, a Dremmel will not.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

A bit overkill! Unless the arch is really mullered why run the risk of chopping out original metal? This isn't W210 rot, they just didn't protect the lip properly. A permanent fix should be easily achievable.



A time consuming & messy faff - but possible! I got the arch liners out and did the entire lips just using a jack/stand and a few basic hand tools.
I did it to my CLK too (although it was only very light). I actually trust my bodge not to rust again more than if had paid a garage as I know I got all the rust off and it's coated more thoroughly now than originally. I would avoid painting more than the lip because then you have to worry about paint blending/matching etc and IMO it's unnecessary. Just painting the lip really doesn't show, on most cars the plastic arch liner goes over it anyway.

Not overkill, it WILL return otherwise. im happy for you to report back in a year to prove me wrong.