My 2007 4Runner is rusting...anyone else?

D

drummerguy73

New member
Hello,

I live in Ohio, and I just bought a brand-new 2007 4Runner in February of 2007. I wash it religiously and keep it in the garage. In fact, I only have 6,000 miles on it. I baby this thing, but today I hand-washed it for the first time since the weather has warmed up and noticed that my tailgate and all 4 lower door panels are beginning to rust. I have probably 75-100 pen-sized rust spots all over my truck. The tailgate is worse than the rest of the truck, as the rust there is beginning to form about a quarter-inch rust spot in the corners. My question is, will Toyota fight me on giving me a new truck since obviously there is a problem with the steel that cannot just simply be painted over? I also would like to know if any other owners have experienced these same problems. I really love this truck and just bought an 08' Camry last month. Thanks for your help in advance.
 
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That's crazy. Have you checked to make sure that all of the drains are clear? I had a truck once that had a blockage in a drainage area in the back. Water backed up and it started rusting. I got the drain clear and things didn't spread as fast. That truck was a good 10 years old at the time though.

Your situation sounds very strange. I'd take pictures of every single spot up close and document EVERYTHING. Best of luck!
 
If I were you, I'd take it into the dealership immediately and document EVERYTHING...... the date, who you spoke with and what they said, etc, etc. It sounds like a bad paint job to me. Even with all the road salts you guys have up there, it shouldn't rust like that, even if you NEVER washed it.

You should post again and let us know what the dealership said.
 
I agree. There is no way you should have that much rust. I owned a Pathfinder that was not washed by the previous owner and was driven in Buffalo for 2 years (the road salt capital of the world). It had no rust on the body. The exhaust was pretty rusted, as were some other small parts on the undercarriage, but nothing major. There is no way a car in Ohio should be like that.

You might want to take pictures of the entire undercarriage and see if there are other rust problems. For example... if the exhaust and other parts are NOT rusted then that would pretty much prove that it is a real problem with the body of the vehicle and no fault of yours or the road salt.
 
Thanks guys. I figured it shouldn't be rusting AT ALL even if I didn't wash it for an entire year. I am going to call the dealership tomorrow morning and hopefully get it in ASAP. I will keep you posted as to what kind of solution is reached. Thanks again.
 
Hopefully to help the OP and others who may run into this through searches later.... what should be his steps assuming that the dealer gives him the ol' brushoff? What would the next step be? Call Toyota corporate? Call a regional rep? Take it to another dealer?

I'm just wondering what the general board agreement would be on what steps should be taken and in what order if something like this were to happen to somebody else, and what this guy should do from here on out.

What does the manufacturer's warranty say about rust? I know some FJ owners had difficulty with ripping inner fenders, and they were getting all kinds of different answers from dealerships and Toyota Corporate had no idea what was causing it but were originally placing blame on users and accusing them of abuse.
 
drummerguy73 said:
Hello,

I live in Ohio, and I just bought a brand-new 2007 4Runner in February of 2007. I wash it religiously and keep it in the garage. In fact, I only have 6,000 miles on it. I baby this thing, but today I hand-washed it for the first time since the weather has warmed up and noticed that my tailgate and all 4 lower door panels are beginning to rust. I have probably 75-100 pen-sized rust spots all over my truck. The tailgate is worse than the rest of the truck, as the rust there is beginning to form about a quarter-inch rust spot in the corners. My question is, will Toyota fight me on giving me a new truck since obviously there is a problem with the steel that cannot just simply be painted over? I also would like to know if any other owners have experienced these same problems. I really love this truck and just bought an 08' Camry last month. Thanks for your help in advance.
Click to expand...

Is your garage heated in the winter by any chance?

Cheers
 
Unfortunately, i think that you dealer will just repaint over it. As pointed out to me by a member once, the warranty ONLY covers rust THROUGH. That is, if you have rust that goes through the metal, then Toyota will fix/repair it. Spot rust does NOT count. :(

I would definitely try and nicely complain to your dealer first...if no good, then try Toyota cust. service/regional rep.

Good luck.
 
Thai said:
Unfortunately, i think that you dealer will just repaint over it. As pointed out to me by a member once, the warranty ONLY covers rust THROUGH. That is, if you have rust that goes through the metal, then Toyota will fix/repair it. Spot rust does NOT count. :(

I would definitely try and nicely complain to your dealer first...if no good, then try Toyota cust. service/regional rep.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

I would agree about starting at the dealer. I would also agree about nicely in stead of raising hell like I indicated , that does not get u far ( at first ) lol.
 
Re: Re: My 2007 4Runner is rusting...anyone else?

Dbone said:
Is your garage heated in the winter by any chance?

Cheers
Click to expand...

I park in a heated garage . Its nice but in winter I've heard pro's and cons about it . Condensation building up ect.... We have a huge 60" ceiling fan in out garage so I can try to combat that as much as possible. Either way I live in a massive in a state that uses TONS of road salt , it's hart to stop that from just about chewing through anything.

The garage it attached to my house so I can control temp , the ceiling fan air/speed as well as dehumidifier options.
 
nothing you did

but they AREN"T going to give you a new truck. The best that will happen (and should) is a new paint job, which if done properly will fix the problem.
 
If this was me I'd pull some panels and look for evidence of flood damge. Too odd, Good Luck:cheers:
 
Re: Re: Re: My 2007 4Runner is rusting...anyone else?

Falls said:
I park in a heated garage . Its nice but in winter I've heard pro's and cons about it . Condensation building up ect.... We have a huge 60" ceiling fan in out garage so I can try to combat that as much as possible. Either way I live in a massive in a state that uses TONS of road salt , it's hart to stop that from just about chewing through anything.

The garage it attached to my house so I can control temp , the ceiling fan air/speed as well as dehumidifier options.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know salt. Nobody uses more salt than us here in Canada. In any case, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but doing what you are doing can greatly accelerate rust. Sorry to hear about this but I am pretty certain it is contributing to your problems. I speak from experience on this one. Not with my 4Runner but with a previous car I had while I was renting years ago at an apartment building that had underground heated parking. It will really cause problems. I would suggest that you only heat your garage when you need to work out there or something, otherwise leaving it unheated is definitely the thing to do...Good luck...It is the abrupt change in temperature that is killing you man...

Cheers
 
Are you salty folks with heated garages prime candidates for electronic corrosion control? The kind with the sacrificial anode... Just curious. I would think so. :cheers:
 
Something is up with the paint,I can't believe the rust is forming on any new paint after that short of time.

My truck has been on the road for almost 10 years and I have zero rust on the body period.
 
RonMAIDEN said:
Something is up with the paint,I can't believe the rust is forming on any new paint after that short of time.

I agree, it really seems like a bad paint job (or maybe bad suface preparation before painting). The only thing (on a newer car) that I've ever seen like that was on my ex-wife's BMW Z3. She had a minor fender bender that required that the trunk lid be repainted. About one year after the repair, a quarter-sized area of the paint began to develop tiny little bubbles which eventually flaked off to reveal the rust below. After the bodyshop repainted the lid, it was as good as new. Never found out what the cause was though.:confused:
Click to expand...
 
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