Resident rust specialist

Clemson said:
I called the guy up and told him I am going to pass. I appreciate you weighing in. I just HATE that such a low mileage runner is trashed due to rust. 60k miles! it was owned by a little old lady he chose to drive her Lexus verus the runner the majority of the time.
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I'm from Ontario and that looks bad even to me!

60K miles? Did she store it in brine?
 
If it's in any area that was affected by flooding associated with Hurricane Sandy, it's possible it was exposed to the high sea water at that point, but not high enough to ruin electronics or interior.

Just a wild guess.
 
Read up on the Tacoma recall. There were set states that they warrantied, a lot in the Northeast, Midwest, and a couple others that use salt in the winters. There have been issues with the Tacoma frames starting with the first gen 95's...started the warranty in the mid 2000's...my brother in law's 06 Taco got a new frame in 2014, so it is a problem with production going back 20 years...I bought my '04 in Dec. of 2010, knew it was covered for 15 years from date of service, so I had until October of 2019 for it to rot out....wish I could have made it another 6 months because they would have bought the truck back from me...instead they put 13k into parts and labor and another 7k into the rental car I had for 202 days.

It is too bad they never put anything in place for the 4runners or had a stockpile of frames we could buy and swap on to.
 
Shit I thought mine was bad but this is way worse. I even patched the frame too. I'd still buy it cuz I have a better frame to swap in but jeez it's bad.
 
I'm certainly not anywhere near what I'd call a "rust specialist" but in the words of Randy Jackson circa 2004 - it's gonna be a no for me, dawg.

Painful to say because low-mileage, one-owner 4Runners that don't cost an arm and a leg are quite difficult to find, but it looks like it'll break in half if you go over a bump too fast :sobbing:
 
Holy cow... we don't know any of this rust business out west, thank god! My 237k mile 4Runner looks like a wet dream compared to this.


... sorry, i had to
 
Nothing a needler, angle grinder, welder, pb blaster, some replacement parts, paint and several days under that pig couldn't take care of. :crazy::faint:

Could be a decent candidate for a frame swap as the lesser of 2 evils if someone was up for it though. Surprised how good the fuel tank skid looks with all the other cancer...dealer probably replaced that for the little old lady when they were worried it was going to fall out.
 
Skibber said:
Nothing a needler, angle grinder, welder, pb blaster, some replacement parts, paint and several days under that pig couldn't take care of. :crazy::faint:

Could be a decent candidate for a frame swap as the lesser of 2 evils if someone was up for it though. Surprised how good the fuel tank skid looks with all the other cancer...dealer probably replaced that for the little old lady when they were worried it was going to fall out.
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You can see the part number sticker on the fuel tank skid. Definitely a recent replacement.

Unless that body/drivetrain is going on/in a rust-free frame, I'd stay far away. In fact, I'd be looking to buy trucks from down south/west and drive it home to salt country...

-Charlie
 
Since our 3rd gens are getting pretty close to 20 yrs, IMO, having a good frame is more important than mileage at this point. Engine, tranny, it can all be rebuilt. Frame and rust, not so. Even with low mileage the various elastomers will still go bad from age.
 
ChildrenOfBodom said:
Holy cow... we don't know any of this rust business out west, thank god! My 237k mile 4Runner looks like a wet dream compared to this.


... sorry, i had to
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I live in MD and bought what I thought was a good deal and still do but I over looked the rust until I bought it and looked closer. I spent hours scraping and re-coating underneath, hours of research and stress for months trying to decide what to do, and hundreds of dollars getting spots patched and I'm very happy with it now. But my God....I just got back from a work trip to San Diego for a few days. I was drooling left and right and the brand new looking frames on the 90s Toyotas. Saw plenty of 1st Gen 4runners and T100s that don't even exist here because they've turned to dust. Sooo jealous.
 
nobb said:
Since our 3rd gens are getting pretty close to 20 yrs, IMO, having a good frame is more important than mileage at this point. Engine, tranny, it can all be rebuilt. Frame and rust, not so. Even with low mileage the various elastomers will still go bad from age.
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I think this is my problem. I want a low mileage runner and I am getting caught up on that.

My budget has steadily ben climbing. I would probably get a better value going for a 4th gen. I wonder what the damage would be having an engine and transmission built? May be cheaper for me to buy a higher miles vehicle and plan to have that done when something gives.
 
Clemson said:
I think this is my problem. I want a low mileage runner and I am getting caught up on that.

My budget has steadily ben climbing. I would probably get a better value going for a 4th gen. I wonder what the damage would be having an engine and transmission built? May be cheaper for me to buy a higher miles vehicle and plan to have that done when something gives.
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Keep in mind a well taken care of motor in these are good for like 400k+ lol. I personally probably wouldn't get one over 200 to start with but anything up to that would be fair game. Like they said, the structural stuff is more important. One thing I've learned watching other people and I've never been good at is just be patient and wait for the right one. They're out there
 
BlackRustBucket said:
Keep in mind a well taken care of motor in these are good for like 400k+ lol. I personally probably wouldn't get one over 200 to start with but anything up to that would be fair game. Like they said, the structural stuff is more important. One thing I've learned watching other people and I've never been good at is just be patient and wait for the right one. They're out there
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I have been searching for less than 150k miles. There have been some nice ones floating around at 180-200k miles. I think I am going to increase my mileage and just realize there will be more wore out components to replace. Since the low mileage runners have such a premium, it may be cheaper to do that anyway.
 
Clemson said:
I would probably get a better value going for a 4th gen.
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I had the same thought when I was looking for mine a few years ago. The problem for me is that the 4th gens are just so damn ugly. I'm generally more of the "function over form" type (I drove old Volvos for years :ohwell:). But I just couldn't aesthetically stomach the 4th gen.
 
I LOVE that new fuel tank skid bolted to that scale that is apparently the frame. That's a northeast NO from me. With that said, you West coast mechanics just don't know how to remove rusty bolts. Trust me, some PB blaster or the red hot wrench will get those off.
 
Clemson said:
I think this is my problem. I want a low mileage runner and I am getting caught up on that.

My budget has steadily ben climbing. I would probably get a better value going for a 4th gen. I wonder what the damage would be having an engine and transmission built? May be cheaper for me to buy a higher miles vehicle and plan to have that done when something gives.
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You may think you're getting a better value but those 4th gens are just as rusty on the frames. Around here, getting a clean 4th gen is about 9-10k for a clean one. 6-7k for one with some rust on the frame.
 
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