Said It Here

Mechanic refused to fix rusted control arm and subframe

Severe rust on structural parts like control arms and subframes leads mechanics to refuse repairs due to safety liabilities. This leaves owners who cannot afford a new car stranded without even temporary transportation.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    cutting and welding the frame yourself
  2. 2
    Getting the vehicle towed to a shop instead of driving it

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

This can’t be safe to drive ? Rusted hole thru lower control arm on 2013 Toyota sienna.source ↗

Motor_Hat1602 · r/MechanicAdvice · 4 upvotes

Left control arm snapped/broke, and i would like to replace it. The rest of the subframe is also pretty rusted, which is why my mechanic is not willing to perform the repair. But I need a vehicle even just temporarily and can’t afford to buy another car.source ↗

bibitrouh · r/AskMechanics · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised