Ok I'm looking buying at a 1999 Wagon. 3.5 manual gearbox 125,000km, $6200. I posted the 3.0 vs 3.5 thread a few days ago.

It has some spots of rust in the roof along the top edge of the windscreen. Not a lot, but in two locations. Otherwise the car seems good and is very straight and very low km.

I am surprised that ther rust in such a new car. Are they known to rust in this location? is it unusual?

Does anyone have a rough idea hwo much it would cost to fix? The rust is in two spots, of about 100mm my 10mm in the centre and passenger side of the top of the windscreen. Would the cost be in hundreds or thousands of dollars? I expect the windscreen would have to come out and a little bit of new metal welded in.

Or should you steer away fram any car with rust in it as a rule?

meh...........sand it back bog it up, touch up paint it finish

Or should you steer away fram any car with rust in it as a rule?

For a '99 model - shouldn't have any rust.

This car may have been parked near the beach regulary etc, in which case if rust is starting to come through, it is more than likely it will pop up in other places failry shortly.

My first thought was that the windscreen was probably replaced at some point for whatever reason and the job was done on the cheap and they damaged the edge...just like hubby's vl.:doubt:

Dunno if they could take out the windscreen so you could repair the damage and then refit without doing more damage.:confused:

maXwagon's reason sounds the most likely. just lately i've done a couple of late model cars with rust around the screen, this was the reason for their rust. i wouldn't just bog it up because if there is rust on the outer screen edges then there will probably be more under the screen that you cant see. to do it properly the screen has to come out and all the rust sanded out. figure on $200-$250 for the screen to be taken out and replaced with a new one(less if you use the old screen) and $200-$400 on the rust removal/painting(depends on how much rust there is to remove).

So are these screens glued in?

I'd be pretty keen on buying the car if i knew it was going to be relatively simple to fix that rust. In all ather respects it seems a good buy and would have plenty of life left in it.

the screens are put in with urethane(really sticky glue), with the mould put on at the same time. if it is fixed properly then you should never have any more problems plus you get a new screen(if you want). get a quote from your local panel shop and see if the seller can knock the price down to compensate. do not let them tell you its the ony rust, i assure you that under the screen will be more(thats where the moisture got trapped originally and the rust has worked its way out).

Thanks for your help! I'll ask the owner if the windscreen was ever replaced.

I wish there were more manual wagons around to choose from...

I wish there were more manual wagons around to choose from...Me too. We settled for an auto. I miss driving a manual.:cry:

Good luck.

cant say that in all my searching of finding a 3rd gen magna that was suitable, that i ever saw one with even an inch of rust.

cant say that in all my searching of finding a 3rd gen magna that was suitable, that i ever saw one with even an inch of rust.
they shouldn't have any if the screen is original, only if its been replaced(poorly).

Yeah, either that or there was a dent in the roof that's been (poorly) repaired ....

Ok I'm looking buying at a 1999 Wagon. 3.5 manual gearbox 125,000km, $6200. I posted the 3.0 vs 3.5 thread a few days ago.

It has some spots of rust in the roof along the top edge of the windscreen. Not a lot, but in two locations. Otherwise the car seems good and is very straight and very low km.

I am surprised that ther rust in such a new car. Are they known to rust in this location? is it unusual?

Does anyone have a rough idea hwo much it would cost to fix? The rust is in two spots, of about 100mm my 10mm in the centre and passenger side of the top of the windscreen. Would the cost be in hundreds or thousands of dollars? I expect the windscreen would have to come out and a little bit of new metal welded in.

Or should you steer away fram any car with rust in it as a rule?


Look elsewhere.....

:stoopid:

From my experience, cars built after 1994 don't rust at all unless they've sustained some form of damage to the body or paintwork.

That said, my gut feeling is to steer clear of any 2nd or 3rd-gen Magna that has rust anywhere, particularly around the front or rear windscreen - you might be able to repair it temporarily but it'll just come back! At least you can replace a door or bootlid ...