This hole is right behind the driver side wheel (where you put the mudguards)



Here's a close up



Which Protege? The 99 ES



Is is worth $650 US to get that hole fix? That's a dealer estimate by the way. What happened was for some reason the jack slipped! I'm about to bring it to other shops for an estimate.

 

Id look into it because if water starts getting in there then you may end up with a bigger problem $$ in the future. RUST!! I would get a second opinon though. I cant really tell how bad it is from the pic.

 

yes...for if you end up with a rusting from the inside out situation....you will NEVER get it stopped...then its time to ditch the car.

 

And everyone knows how it spreads!!!! so 650 now or $$$TONS$$$ later. If it didnt break through the metal and you dont have the cash to fix it what you need to do at least is clean it up real good and use touch up paint to cover any exposed metal "where paint was chipped off". This wont magically fix it but it will slow down the possibility of rust.

 

You could also buy some zinc or even better magnesium stock and solder it or bolt it to the exposed section. It will act as a sacrificial anode and keep your expensive body rust free. Just make sure you periodically replace it before it dissapears. The big problem with just touching it up is if you miss any small spot it will pit corrode much faster than if you left it all bare. But that doesn't matter much in non-load bearing members like panelling.

 

Get your insurance to pay for it, unless you only have liability, then you are sool

 

Definately get another estimate but $650 is reasonable from what I can see from the pics. They have to fix the hole and paint the entire panel to match it. Did they break the estimate down into how much of that is labour and how much is materials?

SJ

 

Yeah they did. Part cost is okay, it's the labor and paints that racked up the price.

 

what is the labor rate?