Disco 2 Rusty front inner wheel arches - how urgent?

Hi all,

I've had my 2003 Discovery 2 TD5 for about 9 months and have been getting on top of what I can handle and involving the professionals for the things I can't.

The front inner wheel arches have deteriorated badly and you can now put a key through them. My local garage who aren't a Land Rover specialist but are an MOT station, say it won't fail the MOT and have given me quote of about £300 to weld them up. The owner is a neighbour, so he might have knocked something off what they usually charge.

I have also been to 2 independent Land Rover specialists who have given me quotes of circa £600 or £700. One put the fear of God into me and said I needed to book it in straight away, whereas the other was more relaxed and questioned whether it would pass an MOT (see above).

If it isn't too vague a question and apologies for what probably seems dim to many on here, but how urgent is the work? The reason for my reticence is I am going from self employed to employed in August and as well as the expense of school holidays, am unlikely to be paid anything for a couple of months.

Alun

I can’t comment whether it’s a pass or a fail but I would say it’s pretty urgent because if it’s gone in same place as my previous td5 did it will get bigger and bigger upon inspection with wing removed etc.The main problem is the back of the inner wheel arch where the floor/bulkhead meets,that splits and lets water in when you go through puddles etc.Its quite time consuming to fab it all up but if your handy with a welder you can do it in a weekend.Just be sure to remove anything out the way that can catch fire and have a second set of eyes watching inside at all times-I was by myself and learnt the hard way even though I’d removed everything near where I was welding!

Thanks for that. My question wasn't the pass/fail (apparently it's a pass - at the moment) more the issue of how urgent the work is at a time when I'm financially stretched. I'm no welder, so I'll go ahead with my local garage.