Fix the rust or replace the door?

[TheGianaJinx]

Looking for personal opinions on this one. I have a 2003 Grand Am with 100k miles in good condition, with the exception of a few areas of chipped paint that I want to fix. Don't really care if it looks kinda shoddy, just don't want rust to eat the car.

Speaking of rust...

Have a decent patch of rust next to the rear driver-side door. It's still "shallow" so nothing is crumbling yet. I'm just wondering if anyone personally thinks it's something that can be sanded out and "repaired" or if it probably wouldn't be possible given the area.

 

[melsg5]

Sand it and spray with rust reformer and spray color.

 

[RetiredButNot 06GP]

Here's the way I would do it:
Sand the area completely down to bare metal.
I would use a lead stick to fill in the pits, you could use bondo or plasti-fill. (Like bondo)
If you don't care about the pits, use Filling Primer & spray lightly, using several coats.
It'll take longer to fill the pits, sand it smooth, spray it black.

Tip for sanding primer:
After your primer dries, spray a light coat of black (any color) over it. Light coat, do not cover the primer completely. (Should look like overspray.)
Sand it until the black is completely gone.
Its ready to paint & there are no bare spots from sanding too much.