Buyer's Guide?

[Darcane]

Is there a buyer's guide on here? I searched around and couldn't find one.

I'm mostly just looking for typical rust spots to look for (particularly with wagons) and common mechanical issues.

 

[fleming442]

Rear frame rails (behind the wheels)
Bottoms of rear quarter panels
Bottoms of doors
Frame to body mount points
Floorboards
Those are probably the most common. The car's geographical history and mileage are the first clues. Granted, there will be exceptions, but a high mileage, rust belt car is more than likely not worth messing with.

 

[Ribbedroof]

Also need to check above the rear liftglass, I have seen them rusty in the weatherstrip channel, leaves and debris collect there and will corrode the area

Also check the floor above the cat convertor, early cars have a thick pad there that holds water. The worst part is you can't see it from underneath because there is a heat shield blocking your view.

And all G bodies have issues with heater case seal, and leaky cowl seams.

Probably have to figure that any 30-40+ year old car is going to have leaky seams, the OE sealer dries out and cracks, then falls off, allowing water to enter both the seam, and the inside of the car

 

[paul.m]

The man i bought my malibu from had been working on g bodies for 20 years . He told me one of the biggest problems he noticed was when the door or window sweeps dry rotted , they let in so much water that in runs down on the inside of door and drips on the inside there for soaking the carpet and eventually puddling up in the low spots or the floorboards and rusting from the inside