While swapping my drum brake rear axle for an SS disc brake axle, I discovered severe frame rot on the driver side where the axle attaches. I fabbed up a quick mount solution, but have yet to install it....
Which brings up the 'value' of the vehicle.

It's a 08 Panel 2LT, with all available options. A VIN search shows it as a 1 of 3 in this spec. Rare, and fairly desirable in the HHR world.

Now, the average person, when faced with rust that could potentially cause the rear axle to fall out, would probably send it to the crusher. But, I rather like this one and am not in the mood to search for another.
Turns out, the frame rails are available as 'crash repair parts' and to repair both sides will run about $1000 in material, and infinity dollars in labor because no body shops want to tackle rust repair.

It's really just a ton of spot welds to drill and grind, and dropping the gas tank for safety. The tough part is figuring out how to support the car while removing a welded in portion of the structure.

A so-called normal person would probably just buy a new car, but there is literally nothing being made today that I want to make payments on for the next five or six years.

So, to me, the value of the car is great enough to go through the hassle of repair, simply because I really like this panel. That, and it's not going to cost anywhere near the price of a new car to repair.

Add in, if you really want to be 'green', saving an existing vehicle uses far less resources than creating a new one, LOL.

All this rambling just leads to this:
Yes, I am probably going to have more into my panel than it is worth, i.e. Blue Book value. But compared to purchasing a new vehicle, of which there is no equivalent to my HHR, I am going to be tens of thousands of dollars less as I'm not looking to sell.
So, when something breaks, instead of saying "This will cost more than I paid!", look at how long you plan to keep it and amortize that cost over the future miles.

Thank you for attending my TED talk.

 

The market is flooded with cars/trucks that people have spent money to customize or improve that they will never get back.Ever watch the Mecum auction? Watch the stream of vehicles cross the block where somebody has customized a vehicle spending thousands of dollars only to have that money disappear like a fart in the wind.Most things are "worth" what someone is willing to pay. Car people never care about that.It's all for the love of the ride my friend.

 

Have you investigated the GM "rust through" warranty? I don't remember how long it is.
The link in my sig will provide warranty info on your VIN.

 

I am notorious for keepng cars long after it would make sense to get rid of them. but you are right, the new cars are basically over priced bic lighters. use them until they break and buy a new overpriced one. Fix the old stuff and keep driving!!

 

Thanks, I'll look into that!

 

Rust through warranty expired long ago, 6 years after original purchase.
like all things metal rust eats it away, no matter how you clean and coat that existing rust, when you weld in the new metal you start the rust worms to work! I’ve restored several historical automobiles over the years, a ton of time and money, the cars still rotted out just took longer. POR15 is good but you must coat both sides or, rust will eat from the non coated side.

 

Spent most of my life in the rust belt and know first hand how road salt can destroy a car beyond economically viable repair.

It’s yet another economic injustice; the “haves” demand lots of road salt so they're not inconvenienced by the snow, and just trade in their cars every three years. The “have nots” are forced to buy cars that are already falling apart, bearing the brunt of the corrosion tax. I’m among the many in the middle.

The buyers of new cars don’t bother with rust roofing treatments because there’s nothing in it for them. The buyers of older used cars can’t afford such treatments or think they can’t and it’s too late anyway.

People just make their best guesses and do the best they can.

 

I try & only buy Southern cars / trucks etc, after careful inspections...

my Panel has been in deep south since day 1.

And saw a Panel on Marketplae pull $ 15K & had about 100K miles on it.. Personally, I didn't think it was that nice. But I was not buying either..

my '08 has just over 36.5K & just got my new air filters delivered toady, cabin & engine..

 

in principle, the replacement of spars is a normal practice.
The difficulty is to save the geometry. There are fixed points for measurement (diagonal, longitudinal, etc.), and there are many of these points. Violation of the dimensions will lead to a skew of the body, which, in turn, leads to directional instability, increased wear on the suspension and other troubles. In addition, repair welds rust even faster than factory welds. In general, there are many subtleties in the work of replacing the spars, so it's expensive.
There are times when you are lucky and some stupid and stranger breaks into your car's ass - the insurance company does not plunge into the degree of rustiness of your car. There are many such cases on busy roads, people do not keep their distance and do not have time to slow down if someone in front is forced to slow down in front of an obstacle.