# Rusted Rear Strut Mounting Plates

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/rusted-rear-strut-mounting-plates/67735>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [September 8, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rusted-rear-strut-mounting-plates/67735 "2011-09-08T02:27:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mkc0409](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mkc0409](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mkc0409)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rusted-rear-strut-mounting-plates/67735/1 "2011-09-08T02:27:18Z")

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I own a 1998 Buick Regal with 213,000 miles on it. Recently I’ve noticed the rear strut plates in the inner wheel wells are very rusted and each has a crack along the wheel well. I’ve taken the vehicle to three auto body shops and none of them have been willing to provide a written estimate for repair. One told me the ‘right’ repair would probably cost around $2000 which may be more than the car’s worth. Another said the best he could do is offer a time and material estimate of maybe $1000. The third shop recommended I try to find a moon-lighter who’d do the work in his garage. Is this a problem that isn’t worth the trouble to fix? I still value the car and the 3.8 v6 still runs great … but maybe it’s time to retire it. Thanks for any feedback.

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rusted-rear-strut-mounting-plates/67735/2 "2011-09-08T02:33:36Z")

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If that area’s rusted, other may be too. I’d retire it.

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**Author:** ![oldbodyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@oldbodyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldbodyman)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rusted-rear-strut-mounting-plates/67735/3 "2011-09-08T02:44:15Z")

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Yes its time to say farewell. I would not trust a fix in this area.

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**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rusted-rear-strut-mounting-plates/67735/4 "2011-09-08T04:00:34Z")

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We deal with this all the time in our climate, you need a welding shop experienced in rebuilding strut towers. Shouldn’t cost much more than $200 a side.

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**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rusted-rear-strut-mounting-plates/67735/5 "2011-09-08T05:16:46Z")

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Unless the car is in a Rust Belt state and has been eaten alive with rust it seems to me that it should not be that big a deal to find someone to dink around with this.

Instead of an automotive garage why not a welding shop, established or a backyard operation, and have someone run a bead along the cracks?  
I’ve seen a number of cracked frame, cracked subframes, and so on repaired in this manner.