Rust on a '07 4Runner

[Anonymous4Runner]

I picked up this 4Runner back in August and did not see anything at the time of inspection prior to completing sale. Just for background info, this 4Runner was picked up in New Jersey where snow is common. I currently live in VA. I had my car washed and noticed spots of rust appearing throughout the body, mainly toward the front grill and the lift gate. It's about the size of a pin top as seen below

Should I be worried about rust spreading on the body? I'm not sure if I should have the entire truck repainted and clear coated so something like this does not happen again. Or should I have the affected areas repaired only without touching the rest of the paint to save on costs?

I'm guessing repainting the entire truck will run me into at least 2k

Thoughts?

 

[AuSeeker]

I picked up this 4Runner back in August and did not see anything at the time of inspection prior to completing sale. Just for background info, this 4Runner was picked up in New Jersey where snow is common. I currently live in VA. I had my car washed and noticed spots of rust appearing throughout the body, mainly toward the front grill and the lift gate. It's about the size of a pin top as seen below

Should I be worried about rust spreading on the body? I'm not sure if I should have the entire truck repainted and clear coated so something like this does not happen again. Or should I have the affected areas repaired only without touching the rest of the paint to save on costs?

I'm guessing repainting the entire truck will run me into at least 2k

Thoughts?

I would do touch-up for now and then save for a complete paint later if the rust continues to keep showing up.

How's the underside of the truck look as far as rust, i.e. frame etc.?

 

[Nervo19]

When you describe the rust as pin hole size I think of rust dust. It's from either living near a steel mill or from brake dust that gets on your paint and rusts. It's apparently worse on white vehicles. Anyway the cure is to clay bar and wax.

https://youtu.be/sWMMPuA8Suk

 

[Anonymous4Runner]

When you describe the rust as pin hole size I think of rust dust. It's from either living near a steel mill or from brake dust that gets on your paint and rusts. It's apparently worse on white vehicles. Anyway the cure is to clay bar and wax.

https://youtu.be/sWMMPuA8Suk

Thanks man! I'll definitely try this before I do a complete paint job - is it possible the paint was somewhat chipped at one point allowing brake dust to come underneath and form rust dust? I did see some minor scratches at the time of sale and always had plans to have the truck repainted sometime in the spring after winter season

I would do touch-up for now and then save for a complete paint later if the rust continues to keep showing up.

How's the underside of the truck look as far as rust, i.e. frame etc.?

Will do, always a good thing when it's possible to save $ - the paint looks great for the most part. you can't really see the rust unless you're like 5ft away from it. I'm somewhat OCD about having a fresh looking 4R so I'm going to try have the vehicle clay bar'd and wax'd and see if it helps. I will probably wait until winter's over though!

To answer your question about the frame underneath, it looks great. The previous owner kept his truck inside the garage and tried to clean the under body as much as possible whenever it snowed in his area.

To come think of it, I'm actually glad I passed on the other Sport with huge rust because the under body looked pretty bad to me too.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[DEF4Runner]

Be sure to check the metal behind the rust to make sure it's not coming from the inside out.

I had some rust pimples show up just south east of my license plate a while ago...it was coming from the inside. I pulled the cover off the back hatch, peeled the plastic up, scraped the coating off where the rust spot was coming through on the other side and found a palm sized rust spot forming. I brushed/sanded my way through it and wound up finding it already ate a dime sized hole through the metal.

 

[Nervo19]

If it's paint chips google up some videos on how to fix paint chips. Basically you sand out the tiny rust part and fill the area with layers of touch up paint. After a week or two you color sand the area. They sell little sanding tools that look like manicure sticks on auto body web sites.

There is tons of advice on paint correction on the Meguiar's forum:
Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online - News & Announcements

The rust dust I was mentioning comes from other people's cars. It's metal in the environment. Pictures of your problem would help.

My 2000, which my son drives at college, has tons of paint chips around the hood. It's from driving on a highway where a lot of construction trucks were. I've never gotten around with bothering with them.

If you end up needing a paint job as a last resort remember it's a 2007. Ten years old. Go to Maaco. I'm very happy with the job they did for $750 on my
'89 4Runner. I did all the body work, degreased it and sanded it to 250 grit. I took the lights and everything I could off in their parking lot. It's better to save your original paint if you can though.