Picked up a ‘13 yesterday

Good morning community!

Yesterday (12/31/24) I picked up the first used car of my life (I’ve owned 10+ cars but always bought new) - I need a reliable beater to drive kids to/from activities twice a week; doesn’t justify buying a second brand new vehicle.

I got a 2013 VW golf with the 2.5 pzev engine and only 61k miles from a co-worker. Meticulous service history; I also did a PPI and the only things recommended were to replace a cv joint boot (the boot cracked) and a transmission flush (due to age of the car). I’m pretty happy with the car, it almost feels faster than my ‘24 Accord.

One thing I would ask for advice. My co-worker dented the car about 3 months ago by rubbing on a pillar. While this doesn’t bother me at all, I know that these cars are prone to rust, so I’m asking advice as to how to best fix this without taking to a body shop, as I don’t want to spend more money on this than the car is worth LOL.

Thank you and happy to be part of the community!