Need some opinions, please

[Baker11]

I am supposed to go look at this 4runner Saturday if I go I am going to buy it. But there are some rust spots on the undercarraige and I would like everyones opinion on whether I should worry about them. They want 7985 it's a 98 with 137000 miles and an e-locker. Please let me know what you think.

 

[WHORERUNNER]

looks like some one sprayed almost everything underneath, even got some on the cat. you should ask for some pics towards the rails of the control arms

 

[WHORERUNNER]

I just saw you post some info on a 99 highlander. This one is a limited.

 

[RunninInGA]

Reminds me of an 02 I saw a couple weeks ago. Everything underneath was painted black freshly, except every bolt and nut were rusted to hell. This one doesn't look that bad from these photos, but I passed on that truck because it was clear the seller was trying to hide something.

 

[4-Ripcord]

Skip it. Trying to cover up the rust. What else are they hiding?

 

[PitbullRescuer]

I don't think it looks bad. Mine is painted underneath. I did it as a rust preventative and just to make it look a little nicer. I'd give it a good looking over but honestly, what 3rd Gen doesn't have surface rust at this point. If this was rotted through I'd pass but that doesn't appear to be the case.

 

[T4R_Finally]

Yeh, the paint would make me wonder more than the rust that can still be seen. I wonder what you'd get as an answer if you asked about the paint? Only 2 reasons I can think of to paint under there. Either to prevent corossion or to cover it up.

 

[DC runner]

Cover UP! COVER UP! COVER UP!.

 

[Gerdo]

It's hard to tell from pictures.
This is a midwest vehicle and doesn't look that bad, considering.
The paint on the frame looks like they were just spiffing things up that could be seen from the side.
If it looks good in person I wouldn't be too scared.
Nice looking rig too. What type of lift?

 

[Baker11]

I just saw you post some info on a 99 highlander. This one is a limited.

I never heard back from the dealer with the 99 4runner I had planned to make an offer today, but they apparently don't want my business. The guy said it was over spray from the tire shine not paint on the frame not sure I believe that. Not sure about the lift. The guy was real upfront about everything, I completely understand that there would be a little rust on it but it still makes me nervous.

 

[Baker11]

I am in need of a vehicle, I've sold my Jeep and I'm having to bum rides or drive my wife's car everywhere I go, its a pain, so I guess I may be rushing things a little, I had a 99 lined up and when i called the guy to make an offer he had something come up and couldn't sell it, I like this Runner but I don't want to deal with rust issues down the road. I checked the car fax and there is no record of the timing belt being done and the guy can't tell me if it's been done or not, so there's another issue. It was originally sold in South West California which mostly likely means sand, then went to Alabama, and then to South Carolina where it is now. It is 4 and a half hours away from me. Well there's my sob story. I guess i am probably just going to hold out until I find a 99 and up Limited or Sport I'm not a huge fan of chrome any way.

 

[Gerdo]

I guess the big question is. Is the rust (yes we know it does have rust) low, normal or high for a vehicle of it's age?

Lets face it. You are not going to find a rust free 3rd gen in your area. I know I used to live in the upper midwest and everything would rust in the first two years.

If you want rust free (or low rust) then you need to look for a rig in the sun belt.

Mine has been a Colorado vehicle all of it's life and I have some rust too, about what I see in the pictures.

 

[the great him]

to me i looks clean, you can see rust even when its been painted over, it will pit the frame and or be bubbled if they didnt prep it. i dont see any of that, yes its painted, but to me if the owner was smart he would paint or by some other means coat the frame to keep it from rusting. all you back east guys might take note of this. on a nice dry summer day/weekend spend some time really cleaning off the rust and cleaning up the underside of your truck and its frame. and then paint it or do something to coat it... after that its only a matter of once or once every two months getting out a hose and hosing off all the road spray and crap that has built up under there to keep the corrosive agents down/to a minimum. to me it looks clean enough to look at as an option to buy

 

[T4R_Finally]

Okay, I can see they used a lot of tire black, but selling that much new black underneath as overspray seems a stretch to me. What did they use to do the tires, a pressure washer?

 

[PitbullRescuer]

There's no denying it was painted but that wouldn't scare me. If it wasn't painted I'd be painting it after I bought it. Just look it over real well and use common sense. This looks like a solid truck to me. And I'm picky as hell.

 

[T4R_Finally]

I checked the car fax and there is no record of the timing belt being done and the guy can't tell me if it's been done or not.

Baker, you do know a carfax isn't going to show maint. history like timing belts, etc.? You could try running the VIN through the toyota owner's site to see what has been done at any dealers though.

I ran your autocheck for you. If that was this truck, it checks out nicely.

 

[RunninInGA]

Baker, I'd go take a look at this truck. From the photos, the rust isn't that bad, but I would DAMN FOR SURE inspect the hell out of it before I threw down the money stack.

 

[Brignola85]

So... Did you go look at it? Or is it still sitting somewhere.

A buddy of mine wants an all black runner. He just sold his built 95 YJ(?) because he's sick of breaking down before he hits the trails. Hah.

From what I can tell from these pictures, it's the average surface rust.. which is easily taken care of. Mine had even less being in the NE all its life, and now has none. (I brushed it all off, WD40'd, cleaned thoroughly, and painted. Then replaced it with Mud.) If the frame is in good shape, its a buy for me if I could haggle em' down to 6.5kish - solely based on the mileage.

 

[Mellow77]

As already stated take a good close look at it in person. Once you've done that if you don't see anything alarming this certainly wouldn't scare me off. My truck was from Chicago so it's certainly got more rust than this. The important thing is the only thing truly rusted was the muffler. The rest is all surface and it just means I have more clean-up to do than the average guy. I was okay with that considering I got exactly what I wanted in the truck for a price I was comfortable with.

Looks like a decent deal to me.

 

[Mf Baker]

this is the one that worries me. the rust right up in the armpit there looks fairly deep to me. but ive been spoiled on new mexico cars my whole life so any rust looks like a lot to me.