As good as my recently-purchased 1989 Eldorado Biarritz looks inside and out, and drives, there's a lot of rust underneath, mainly on the rear suspension components, like lower control arms, stabilizer bars and links, knuckles, and single leaf spring. It would seem that the former owner never flushed the underside after many Ohio road salt winters. And he never revealed the rust condition to me as we did our Ebay diliberations.

I've researched the various methods of rust treatment, but the parts may be too far gone to trust them for safety and continued operations sake. I'm not sure that a rear alignment adjustment is possible. Therefore, I'm also considering replacing the rear suspension with used parts from a Houston area wrecker yard, but with new bushings. Ideally, new parts should be the way to go, but that would be value-prohibitive because of their cost.

For instance, a new lower control arm costs $485, while one from a wrecker yard is only $85. The rest of the components costs are in similar proportion. If I could get the parts for $500-600, and the installation labor for $1,000, I would keep the car, as it's a real beauty with only 56k miles and every thing works. Any more than that, and I'll probably sell it for a loss because I'd be honor-bound to reveal the rust condition. In my mind, it's a matter of which loss will be greater: selling it now, or replacing the parts and selling it for more later.

Finally, my real question: Do you see any real downsides to replacing the rear suspension with wrecker yard parts that were not involved in a collision?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Jack M

I have an 88 with similiar problems and labor can get pricey, in my case I was able to sAve the lower control arm being that I had a mechanic who wasnt afraid to burn the old strut out of it. However I needed all new brake lines and fuel lines as well as a tank and sender unit, and caliper from being rusted solid. My car I have $5000 into and is nothing headach due to the western NY winters and old people (my family) never washing underneath. My air ride adjusters were rusted as well as the air pump but luckily it was repairable. I would personally rather have a car with 300,000 miles and no rust than 1 with very few miles and undercarriage rust. I would take it to a shop that I trusted first before you go and buy a ton of parts. Not sure if you have had it on a lift yet or not but look at all the lines as well as fuel tank, This is the second car of this body style that my tank rotted from the top end.

Fullserviceman,

Thanks for your response. The independent shop I'm using advised me to have them fix the parking brake cables, get an inspection, and sell the car, which is exactly what I'll do.

The shop owner had the car on a lift and pointed out that the complete suspension needs changing, plus the frame cross-over bar. In addition, the gas tank is in very poor shape, as well as the floors of the car. He said he could do the job, but both labor and parts would be very expensive, and I ought to think twice before authorizing him to proceed beyond the parking brake cable repairs. With the car 17 years old, there are bound to be more problems to come with the car's systems - things that I'd normally expect to pay for over time, but when everything is considered, it's simply too much money to put into the car. Folks, it was a very sobering moment for me, but quite refreshing to deal with an honest repair shop that despenses honest advice.

So, I'm chalking this one up to stupidity, and will sell it for a very big loss. Well, let me amend that stupidity statement a little: I'll never buy another used car unless it's from the sunny south where road salt impacts are not a consideration.

Hopefully, this little story will prove helpful to the forum members.

My pos eldo needs now a shift cable that apparently no one makes anymore and if I was lucky enough to find 1 in a junk yard they just laugh. (if anyone finds the shift cable or a junked eldo let me know)

Jack M,
Sorry to hear what happen to you. If I would have known or seen your post sooner I would have offered my help I love doing this type of work. I just inherited my dads 90 Deville and it needed major repair work. I'm affraid I have spent more then it is worth but I love the car and it has more sentimental value as well. I live in Webster which is a hop, skip and a jump from ya if you ever need help again.