How do I fix this?

Im guessing its going to need a respray? The car is an 04 model, does it not come with a warrenty for this sort of rust/paint bubbling?

I would say that the car has had some damage in that area in the past for it to rust like that!

ouch that looks nasty

Bloody hell, never seen that before on a Fabia, even the earliest ones. That's a bodyshop job I'm afraid.

There is a warranty for 12 (I think) years which is meant to cover stuff like that. Deals with bubbling paint etc rather than rust. Might be worth trying a Skoda dealer, see what they say?

Pretty bad though - any idea what caused it?

No idea, bought it like that, knocked off about £500 of the sale price which I hope should be enough to sort it out

From recent experience I'd guess that its the site of a repair where the paints and fillers are reacting badly.

To make certain of a good job ,£500 shouild get you a new wing and a decent paint job matched to other panels

that is quite nasty actually but £500 should get you a good repair job .... oh and be sure to get some waxoyl etc under the arch when finished

That *has* to be a previous repair badly done. You'll be needing a good bodyshop: looks like corrosion creeping up the wheelarch flange.

Bloody he'll not even old old cars have that sort of corrosion! Go to a bodyshop and try to get the pannel replaced as something isn't right there. If not make sure they source the problem, but it will be obvious no doubt. It's strange for it to follow the line of the arch so evenly though.

I was on the understanding VAGs come with a 10 year paint warranty or somthing???

I was on the understanding VAGs come with a 10 year paint warranty or somthing???

3 years for paint, 10 for corrosion perforation, but that won't apply if the area has been repaired by a non VAG-approved bodyshop, which I reckon must be the case for it to rot like that. I reckon that panel has been replaced abd not protected properly.

The rust is coming from the back, if it's had a panel on it at sometime someone hasn't painted/rust proofed on the back side of the panel. If it's not done properly then it will be back within a year.

Regards Chris