^ hmm, doesn't sound good on the Sonic. Sucks about that rust too, that's a tricky fix because that area is so visible, if it's not blended perfectly (which is extra hard with pearl) it'll stand out like a sore thumb. My MIL has a Fusion, 2009 I think, it's rusting everywhere, where yours is, plus the bottom edges of the doors, and on the roof above the windshield. Course, they don't exactly take care of it (I don't think it's ever been washed), so whatever.
If the car still runs good I'd probably pay the $1500 and get it fixed, then get it oiled and drive it.
Today I battled the on-off rain and replaced the 'choke thermostat' on the Trans Am. It has an electric choke with a little heating element, when you start the car the element receives 12V and begins to heat the thermostatic coil, which pulls the choke off as it heats up. Well, the last couple of times I drove the car the choke was taking much too long to come completely off, I did some diagnostics and found that the heating element in the thermostat was either broken or not working as well as it is supposed to. $50 for a new one and about 45 minutes to swap it out and reset the choke to the correct adjustments.
Running beauty now, even got a break in the rain so I took it out to run some errands.
Also found a wet spot in the trunk of the DTS, pulled back the carpet and found a grommet for a wiring harness and a sunroof drain tube had pulled away and was letting water in. Super easy to spot, and easy to re-seat the grommet, this time with some dialectic grease, so hopefully that's solved too.
