How boned am I? [Rust]

[Murdoch]

I can finally make a thread and it seems not a lot of people are reading new members forum, so I am posting this here. I apologize for what is probably spamming at this point but I am losing my mind and have had like one person comment through PM about this.

orig thread: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/new-members/251179-not-texas-but-hello.html

For those who don't want to click:

There's like 6 threads in a row of people from texas !!


Anyway hello, and I just got my first 4runner after looking forever. It has below 70k miles on it and is a 2006 V8. The records showed it spent most of its time in california, but in "Dana Point" california which seems to be some resort town/area...

I didn't think you could collect a ton of salt just from being near the beach, but I guess I just learned. Anyway on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst, how bad is the rust here you think? I looked at the undercarriage on an overcast day WITHOUT my 600 lumen light that I ALWAYS bring when I check out these things. I've been looking for months.

With the perfect service records and location it came from, I picked it up without doing my flashlight check. :ybrick: :ybrick: x10000

Some of this has a globby look to it also like it's been painted over in an attempt to hide rust.

I went from being really satisfied with what I got to dread. The first thought I had this morning was "you never checked the undercarriage with the flashlight" and I bolted out of bed and took these pics. Let me know what you think... I feel stupid

 

[Murdoch]

Last pic, which is arguably the worst

 

[99Runnr]

Did someone spray over the rust or is it just flaking off now? Looks like someone quickly sprayed over it to me. I'd be hitting it with a wire wheel an see how it looks after you get all that crap off.

The Toyota dealer claimed my truck was heavily rusted before I got it. Yet I didn't have a single spot on my entire frame with bubbling like that. Everyone's perception is going to be far different.

 

[4Running335i]

Dana Point is a beach city in California. That is quite a bit of surface rust that has been painted over by the looks of it. I got a little lazy with a wire wheel and used a rust reformer over some of mine and it looks similar in spots. I do not think that you need to panic, but I would recommend taking some time to clean it up a bit to ensure it is only surface. Where in CO are you located?

 

[Inv4drZm]

It's missing the front skid plate, probably rusted off/ seized bolts, unless you removed it.

On the plus side, looks like a new steering rack maybe? The boot looks awfully clean anyway.

10 being the most boned you could possible be, 1 being completely un-boned, I would guess you paid a nice price for a truck with that low mileage, so 8?

Do you have a pic of the sides of the frame rails? If a lot of it looks like the clear section in the first pic behind the exhaust you could be okay and maybe just the low-hanging metal is rusted. That is all you have pictures of so far.

You could spend a tone of time with power tools scuffing the surface to remove the rust, then coat the whole thing in POR-15 but that would be up to you, could be quite the undertaking, but you could still save it. Poke the frame with a screwdriver to see if there are any thin places where the screwdriver pokes through but it doesn't look like that's the case, just surface rust so you could save it you would just have to unbolt a few things, perform bushing maintenance at the same time maybe, and go to town with some sanders.

 

[Murdoch]

Dana Point is a beach city in California. That is quite a bit of surface rust that has been painted over by the looks of it. I got a little lazy with a wire wheel and used a rust reformer over some of mine and it looks similar in spots. I do not think that you need to panic, but I would recommend taking some time to clean it up a bit to ensure it is only surface. Where in CO are you located?

Parker, and I just got this thing and the dealership claims to be really straight forward and will right certain wrongs, sometimes even years later. The guy who sold it to me is going to talk to the owner but I have to wait until Monday(meanwhile I lose my mind) and I have no idea what solutions will be proposed.

I'd ideally like them to put it on a lift and do all of the recommendeds in this thread themselves. I honestly don't think they looked at, or at least hard enough, before selling it. When I spoke to him after he saw the pictures I emailed he seemed genuinely surprised/disturbed

And it DOES look like some ghetto spraypaint job (perhaps multiple ones) in certain places, giving it this tar/melting look. Some of the bolts look like they wouldn't even pair with a wrench. I'm pretty disgusted because I paid a premium for this because it had a perfect service history and was coming from CA.

It honestly looks like someone used it exclusively for the beach for owner 1 or 2 and never washed the underbody

 

[wsgoat]

I think your gonna be ok. I agree with the above posts...the bottom of the truck was hit with a spray can, but the rust does not look too bad. My '05 is a lot worse after spending 13 years in new England where they lace the roads with salt.

 

[RobD]

I'd say mine is about the same, maybe a bit worse. Yours looks like a lot of surface rust. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Like has been said, wire wheel and some POR-15 and you'll be good for a while.

Which is on my to-do list. One day.

 

[Anonymous4Runner]

Parker, and I just got this thing and the dealership claims to be really straight forward and will right certain wrongs, sometimes even years later. The guy who sold it to me is going to talk to the owner but I have to wait until Monday(meanwhile I lose my mind) and I have no idea what solutions will be proposed.

I'd ideally like them to put it on a lift and do all of the recommendeds in this thread themselves. I honestly don't think they looked at, or at least hard enough, before selling it. When I spoke to him after he saw the pictures I emailed he seemed genuinely surprised/disturbed

And it DOES look like some ghetto spraypaint job (perhaps multiple ones) in certain places, giving it this tar/melting look. Some of the bolts look like they wouldn't even pair with a wrench. I'm pretty disgusted because I paid a premium for this because it had a perfect service history and was coming from CA.

It honestly looks like someone used it exclusively for the beach for owner 1 or 2 and never washed the underbody

Is this a Toyota brand dealership? Kind of disturbing they'd accept trade-in's and flip them without thoroughly inspecting the vehicle to cover their asses.

 

[Murdoch]

Is this a Toyota brand dealership? Kind of disturbing they'd accept trade-in's and flip them without thoroughly inspecting the vehicle to cover their asses.

No it isn't, but they had glowing (non fake) reviews and really do seem to stand by what they sell. I just don't know how they would right this other than doing what you guys are recommending and even then I don't know if it's worth the premium I paid because of low mileage. Full disclosure is that it was 18800... add our taxes and I'm feeling like I took a bath.

I'm just waiting until Monday and reading this forum/looking at other people's used undercarriages in the meantime. I'm also really kicking myself over not bringing my GD 600lumen flashlight that I've brought to every viewing/test drive of a used 4runner that I've scoped since I started mid last year, and then buying the thing.

 

[AuSeeker]

From what I have seen just being near a beach does not mean your frame will get rusted out, I'm thinking that your's has been driven ON the
beach and in the sea water from time to time and not washed after.

That being said from what I'm seeing in your photo it is not the worst rusted T4R undercarriage I have ever seen, far from it, but the only way
you're going to know the extent of the rust is to get under there with a wire wheel and start cleaning the rust scale away, also use a screwdriver
to poke at the worst places to see how strong the metal actually is.

Usually the first piece of the frame to get the worst rust is the radiator support and I don't see it in your photos, it will be a sign of how badly the
rust truely is other than as mentioned getting under there and start cleaning and poking to discover to full extent of the rust.

I'm in the SE USA and I have seen many T4Rs from Florida and not very many of them, very few in fact have any rust issues at all, my 2004 came
from and spend it's first 12 years in Florida and the frame looks very good other than just basic rust film/surface rust, much much better than your's
does, but I still think from first impression in your photos you still have a lot of good metal left in your frame and hopefully you will discover that to
be the case!

 

[ElZilcho]

The rust isn't so bad (says the guy from Chicago) but the spray paint bothers me. Someone in the chain of custody (dealer or previous owner) was clearly trying to hide it rather than mitigate it. It makes me question what else they are willing to hide. I don't think the rust is a problem but the spray paint would make me start checking the crankcase for gear oil.

Baseline all your fluids (diff, trans, oil, coolant) and check your timing belt. The TB isn't due per mileage but might be overdue per age. If you go through everything and it checks out...then I wouldn't let the rust get you down.

That strut though... oof. Maybe an excuse for some Bilsteins?

 

[OliviasDad]

Regardless of the frame rust (which I see as manageable), 19k for an '06 was probably too much, even with the low miles. At the very least, I'd get the dealership to deal with the frame and any other issues that arise.

 

[Murdoch]

Here's some of the front with radiator support, jesus


What would it take to make it right for you? A complete buyback?

I was thinking of having them remove the rust and paint where possible(this shouldn't be my labor) so I can have a real idea of how fk'd it is, and have them replace any bolts that look beyond saving,and anything else. "Anything" is going to be hard to figure out

 

[Rishi3]

I live 15 mins from Dana point and I can tell you that is not really an issue here

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[Murdoch]

I live 15 mins from Dana point and I can tell you that is not really an issue here

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Special people driving on the beach and into the water isn't an issue?

 

[simple]

Special people driving on the beach and into the water isn't an issue?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't drive on the beach and into the water in Dana Point. I'm a little south of there and the beach is pretty tightly controlled.

 

[Murdoch]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't drive on the beach and into the water in Dana Point. I'm a little south of there and the beach is pretty tightly controlled.

Still near a coast, wonder how else this would happen. Way less worried about debating how or why though and more into opinions on the state of the rust

 

[jreask]

Still near a coast, wonder how else this would happen. Way less worried about debating how or why though and more into opinions on the state of the rust

That radiator support looks pretty bad. I have a hard time believing that the truck wasn't in the rust belt for a few years. That rust looks pretty typical of something we would see here in Missouri from trucks just north of us. In my opinion, it just does not look too bad. The radiator support can be cut and a new one welded in. You have problems when the frame is perforated and the rear links start to rust through where they are welded to the frame near the rear end. Everything I see in your pics looks manageable. You probably paid too much for the truck with the rust issues but that amount of rust would not have stopped me from buying that truck at a reasonable price.

 

[<<<<]

That 2006 did not spent whole life in CA. I bet it spent plenty time on snowy salty roads. Some one brought it there at some point later. Your dust shields (4) are far too gone and as mentioned here before you need front skid plates (2). I'd ask dealer for those 6 items and a credit for non-disclosed rust. 2006 Limited with V8 engine should fair market from dealer for 8,936-12,403 in good condition in 92629 zip code according to KBB. I'd be asking to adjust the price down to 10,000 or they can take the truck back and refund entire amount you paid. GL