hwyengr

Has anyone ever seen this before? Likely accident damage? That wheel also has a weird crimp in the rim, so I’ve always wondered if something happened to that quarter panel.

Smitje 928

I haven't seen anything like this on my '87 S4 when I took the side molding off last year.

Can you see any deformation on the inside of the panel in the wheel well?

Mrmerlin

somehow the paint layers got compromised then corrosion started do you live in a salt environment

hwyengr

I haven't gotten my head under there, but I don't feel any sharp ridges like the sheet metal has been crunched. Maybe it feels a little thicker in that area, but that may also be the rust expanding?

History of the car was 100% Midwest, so yeah, definitely salty in the winters.

There was an accident report on the Carfax when I bought it, but the title was clean. The seller swore he knew the provenance since delivery (he had the records all the way back), and that was in error. For how little this car was selling for in the late '00s when it was reported, I just can't imagine someone would have gone to the trouble of fixing it so well (hmm, maybe not so well because of the rust).

I don't care about the accident history, I'm trying to make a driver out of it. But is this going to eventually perforate the skin? Should I be looking at replacement quarter panels?