Honda Integra: Rear arch, inner sill and boot floor rust — the fault that decides whether a DC2 is worth buying

Rust is now the single biggest issue facing these cars, ahead of anything mechanical. Moisture and road grime collect behind the arch liners and interior trim where nobody looks, so the corrosion works from the inside out and is well established by the time it shows on the paint. The prime spots are the rear wheel arches, the inner sills and the boot floor. Proper repair means cutting out and welding in new metal, and on a car of this value the bill routinely exceeds what the repair adds back to it — which is why a rusty one is usually a worse buy than a dearer clean one. Bubbling arches or a rear bumper that sits saggy are the two signs that should stop a purchase.

• Bubbling or blistering paint along the rear wheel arch lips
• Rear bumper sitting saggy or no longer lining up with the body
• Damp, musty smell in the boot
• Flaking or brown staining under the boot carpet, especially around the spare wheel well
• Fresh underseal or thick paint in the sill area on a car of this age

1. 1

   Go straight to the rear arches before you look at anything else, and run your fingers along the inside lip of each one where you cannot see — you are feeling for rough, flaky or bubbling metal rather than smooth paint.

2. 2

   Look along the arch in low light from an angle, because blistering shows up in a reflection long before it shows head-on.

3. 3

   Lift the boot carpet out entirely, including the spare wheel well, and look and smell for damp, brown staining or flaking.

4. 4

   Check that the rear bumper still lines up evenly with the body on both sides, since a saggy bumper usually means its mounting points have gone.

5. 5

   Look closely at the sills at both ends and be suspicious of fresh underseal or unusually thick paint anywhere on a thirty-year-old car, because it is often hiding rather than protecting.

6. 6

   Take a torch and use it.

7. 7

   If a workshop inspection is possible: have it put on a hoist so the inner sills, floorpan and rear chassis rails can be seen properly from underneath.

Parts involved: Body corrosion.

$1,500 to $9,000 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That is for this job on its own, not for the car.

An estimate, in NZD, for the repair as normally carried out. What a specific car costs depends on which part has failed and what it damaged on the way — treat this as the floor for a negotiation, not a quote.

• “Has any rust repair or welding been done, and do you have photos of it?”
• “Has the car ever had a respray or panel work?”
• “Has it lived near the coast?”
• “Can I lift the boot carpet out?”

The failure described above is documented in the sources below. The inspection instructions and the cost estimate are KickTyres’ own interpretation of them.

• Octane Magazine — Honda Integra Type R (DC2) buying guide, history and review
• JDMBuySell — Honda Integra DC2 buyer's guide
• Parkers — Honda Integra Type R (1997-2001) review and buying guide