the metal is rusted away, same as on the passenger side but the driver's side is 2x worse. just talked with the owner. he said a few things... 1) "the car is originally from minnesota," (funny, because i'm from minnesota) which would explain the rust. 2) he "doesn't think the alternator is any good," so obviously i bet the battery is no good. no biggie. 3) "the engine misses, but when i have the tank full and the lights on, it isn't as bad. when the tank gets low and the lights are off it's worse." i have no idea why this would be. 4) "it needs a new differential, but the guy i bought it from gave me one. i just haven't been able to put it in." 5) "it has about 127,000 miles."