I know, these cars are well known for being rust-free. And that's true in general. But, I have a very good wagon -- an 87 manual trans. non turbo -- that I'm worried about. It grew up in Massachusetts, as best I can learn, and I've had if for 4 1/2 yrs, during which it has behaved very well. Now, I find that the jacking point on the front driver's side is so rusted to be non-functional (I have to use a hydraulic jack under the suspension to lift the wheel). On closer inspection, the box-type frame member has a lot of rust-out on its bottom surface, at a placewhere it becomes horizontal, just about even with the front lower part of the driver's door. It's about 9 inches long, and the bottom of the frame member has a 9 inch hole in it, which is maybe an inch or so wide. The rest of the frame semms fine, so I must conclude that water got trapped in this section and created the rust-through.

My question is, has anyone else seen this kind of rust ? I don't expect the car to live forever, so is it ok to let it go for a while ? How will I know if it's failing ? Thanks to all the list members for all the help over the yrs. jim