Underbody Corrosion

[sebrussellsmith]

Hi All,
I am told by my garage that there is significant corrosion underneath the car. I am yet to see to what extent so don't have any images but with the age of these cars, I assume others have suffered the same.
When asked about costs to remedy, I was told in the region of £20k!! This seems ludicrous.
Has anyone else had this problem? Is it time to sell, in which case, no one is going to want to buy a car with corrosion underneath, surely?
I noticed a similar thread a while ago and suggestions of resolving themselves. I don't have the ability to do this.
As said, I haven't seen the extent of it yet. I was told the brake lines need replacing and that alone was in the region of £6k. There is no way I have the inclination (or pocket) to be throwing bucket loads of cash at a 23/24 year old car and I would be super interested to learn what other have done.
Any feedback is hugely appreciated.
Many thanks

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

I would start by getting a second opinion, and a proper quote, from a body shop. Where are you located? Perhaps someone locally can make a recommendation.

 

[sebrussellsmith]

Hi Richard, based in SW London. Thanks

 

[skoosh1970]

Somebody is pulling your plonker i reckon. Brake lines are NOT £6K at all. Get the pics and post them up on here but i'd defo be getting a second opinion...!!!
Best of luck.
fyi...my 99 C4 is regularly inspected at my Indie MLR and almost zero corrosion.
Can i guess that your car is an Aero car with side skirts..?

 

[ianthow]

Somebody is pulling your plonker i reckon. Brake lines are NOT £6K at all. Get the pics and post them up on here but i'd defo be getting a second opinion...!!!
Best of luck.
fyi...my 99 C4 is regularly inspected at my Indie MLR and almost zero corrosion.
Can i guess that your car is an Aero car with side skirts..?

At an OPC, new preformed lines are expensive and will require dropping both the engine/gearbox and front cross member for fitting.
The alternative is to have a reputable local garage make up new pipes using Kunifer tubing (won't corrode like steel). Kunifer has some flex so can be fed over/through places without dropping the engine or crossmember. Make sure the garage understands that you want the pipes to run as original and with no additional intermediate connections. Note, some of the plastic retaining clips will break so new ones will be required. The other risk with this job is corrosion causing pipe nuts to seize in the caliper so care needed with them, and the bleed nipples. Most decent repair shops know how to deal with this (OPC typically say you need a new caliper at £500++).
I had ALL the exposed pipes replaced on my 987. Labour was 14 hours at local garage rates (1/3 of OPC rate). Pipe and nuts were minimal cost but fixing clips from Porsche added a chunk. At the same time, I bought braided stainless steel flex hoses from D911 to replace the 15 year old standard hoses.