5th Gen Rust

I bought my 2014 4Runner (65k miles) from a Texas dealership back in November. The car was originally from the north east. everything drove perfectly and the interior and body were perfect. There was initially mild rust upon inspection. After driving it for the last 1-2 mo, it’s gotten significantly worse. The undercarriage seems like it was coated over to hide rust. Am I pretty much screwed? The car has been a pain in the ass to work on with bolts breaking, etc.

 

Sorry for your situation. It seems the rust is considerably worse than the dealership led you to believe, and that sucks. I'm not well versed in rust fixing due to where I live, but your post will at the very least point out the importance of researching the origin of a used vehicle, its past history, and where it spent a significant amount of time. Personally I would not buy any vehicle from the northeast part of the country, but that doesn't help you any. Hopefully more will chime in here with some rust issue help.

Welcome to 4runners.com.

 

The northeast is rough on cars. I bought my son a 2005 4runner from there and its rusty but the dealer usually can get the work done when it needs something which isn't often.

 

My question is.. should I just take my losses and trade it in..? Keep it and try and treat it? How bad is this rust for coming from the north east being driven for 65k miles being a 2014?

 

You have to think it has been through 5-6 winters at least, personally I'd cut my losses and get rid of it.

 

Lol. That’s very minimal rust for 65k miles in the north east. Salty road conditions can make any bolt more corroded than your used to in the south.

 

I had a 2006 wrangler that I traded for the 4runner in 18 thats 12 winters in the OH, PA, WV area. Still was solid. You have to wire brush and coat each spring. Also Eastwood internal frame coat is a good product. Im using fluid film on this 4rn for now all good

 

That rots, if you decide to keep it, clean it up. Take a wire brush to any loose rust and then apply rust converter on all rust. Let it dry for at least 24 hours, the paint with something like rustoleum paint. This will help stop rust. Since you are not in the northeast, you may not need to apply rust preventative, but due to the rust already, I would fluid film the underside to add more protection over the long run.

 

@jx316 I haven't seen this asked, so...I know you said you bought this 4R at a dealer in Texas - is that where it now resides?

 

my 2016 , the only rust is on the welds on the exhaust pipes. pipes are not rusted..
the frame weld rust I clean up and spray cold galv paint then 2 days later rustoleum performance paint.
2016 runner rust belt .
I painted the steel pans because I did not like how the paint was too thin had some rust pimples ..
looked better than OEM when new. nov 2019..I do the rust work on the yearly oil change 7K miles..

 

This now resides in Kansas

 

I live in the N.E. (Mass) when my '18 starts bugging me with this issue it's gone. No help to the OP I know...

 

Road brine used in Kansas is not going to help the situation.

 

My view also. I was hoping it was still in Texas, as then the rust could be treated, then held at bay, for the most part...

 

That rust is not terrible but you should do something with it. If still in salty area you should undercoat with some sort of oil-based undercoating.

 

Get a 2020, they're nice!

 

That rust doesn’t seem bad to me. I live in a snow belt in Ontario and the roads here are a slurry of salt and sand for 4 months of the year. At high speed it’s like liquid sand paper under your vehicle, and once the factory coating comes off, it rusts. You can clean up the underbody and paint it, if it brings peace of mind. Your vehicle will last a long time even if you don’t do anything, and just keep it clean. Rusty bolts are no big deal to a good mechanic.

 

Fluid Film

 

Yep. Fluid Film and eastwood or fluid film on the inside of the frame.

 

Does fluid film hold up to carwash undercarriage sprayers? I get unlimited washes at a low cost and run through it few times a week just to keep salt off much as I can

 

Not really, I think it would wash it off after several times or at least decrease the amount of time needed for reapplying the FF. I used to be able to go into car washes before I got the RTT and would just drive in real fast to basically skip the under carriage wash. It worked with not washing the fluid film off prematurely. The best thing to do is to fluid film it and then drive down a dusty road to lock the fluid film in place

 

It’s hard to say which is most effective - FF or washing off the salt. We can debate this with our opinions but a little science would be best.

 

some car wash owners recycle the water. then the water has salt in it. just does a filtration system to reuse the water ..
then after the soap is applied then they use a de ionized water to keep the paint/glass from spots...on the final rinse..

 

Yeah true I use a hand sprayer and at home I have an underbody attachment for my pressure washer that works well when it’s above freezing for driveway washes

 

Rust is superficial. I have rust like that in my 2005 4runner. I am two blocks from the ocean. Spray the bad parts with corrosion X.

 

That rust isn’t that bad. Don’t cover it with paint or undercoat. Rinse it off best you can and spray everything underneath with fluid film. It works excellent.

 

I live in New England. Rust is the reason most people never get more than 10 years out of a car.
There's a reason you rarely see old classic cars driving around here. They live parked in a garage, and are NEVER driven on the roads in winter.

 

I had my 2020 Pro done with fluid film soon as I bought it. All toyotas have rust underneath. All you can to is prevent rust some how. I took the extra step and had it done.

 

I took out the extended rust warranty and had Toyota install a rust module that comes with the warranty. Haha, I don’t take the rust module as a solution but it gives the vehicle a better resale sometime down the road that it has a 10 warranty. I had a similar warranty in my 2015 Tacoma and I chose the rust proofing and it had rust at 3 years so I thought I’d try the module this time. They’re supposed to be improved I guess whoever owns this 4 Runner in 10 years will know.

 

thats not terrible just have at it with a wire brush and scrape it off and spray with fluid film

1st run will be hardest but if you maintain it wont be so bad anymore

do a section every weekend