Rust opinions please

Hey all, I’m looking at buying a 2006 limited v8 and the issue is that I am in tx and the t4r is in Jackson, MO. Looks like Carfax shows it to have spent most of its life there (2009+). The dealer claims it has minor surface rust but being from texas I havent had many experiences with rusty vehicles, so I would like some opinions on the pictures and videos Ive received to determine if it's worth the trip out there.

Couldnt figure out how to post my video so i took a couple screen shots. Dealer said after they got the vehicle they coated the undercarriage with Nason - Chassis Black 1k chassis enamel 422-05. Good or bad?

 

Didn't look horrible before they coated it. The fact that they did coat it might be a bit of a red flag though... The big chucks of rust flake concern me a little


However they did save you the work of doing it yourself. And it's nice that they were open about it and took before/ after pictures.
Still might be worth checking for soft spots in critical areas before making the purchase.

But if you're in the market and they're asking a fair price it might be worth checking it out.
Those V8's are getting hard to find.

 

I have an 03 and it has some rust, the worst being the two front tow hooks. How many and which critical areas would you recommend inspecting more closely?

 

good question i would also like to know so i can request pictures from the dealer

 

Anything suspension, arms or links mount to. Also the areas the body mounts to the frame. I’d think those are the most critical areas.

Above the spare tire is a hot spot for rust on these rigs but kind of a pain to check.

Many cars are prone to rust on frame rail underneath the brake fluid reservoir. Dot 3/4 is highly corrosive.

 

Myself i would pass on it there are others out there with less rust just keep looking.

 

"Looks like Carfax shows it to have spent most of its life there (2009+). " PASS on it!
Carfax W/a Fox as a Mascot!?! I had a friends wife buy a "Carfax" vehicle turned out to be completely a lie & a total scam from the used car dealer. Anything Carfax I recommend staying away from!! Remember garbage in is garbage out. Anyone can enter what they want. Just my opinion. Good luck in your hunt.

 

Being from the mid-west and having had experience with 3rd & 4th gen T4R frame rust - this frame flat out looks great for a 2006 T4R. From the pics, it does indeed look like relatively minor surface rust and the post-coated frame looks fantastic. Good place to check for rust is the inside of that frame rail in your pic, beside the muffler, where the suspension stabilizer arm mounts. This is a pic of my 3rd gen frame rail after having been welded twice when I finally threw in the towel and sold it for salvage.

 

I will say carfax isnt the one selling the vehicle I’m only using that as a reference point for the vehicles location history. Thanks for the advice!

 

Aren’t there a lot of places in Texas that never see snow? I WISH I was within 100 miles of used vehicles that have never seen road salt, unfortunately I’m reduced to checking CarFax reports and hoping to find some hidden gems that spent most of their time down south. I’m way too far away from places that have never seen snow. I’m looking for an old cheap little backup vehicle to the 4Runner though, not a used 4Runner

 

Most of Texas doesn't see much snow. More importantly most counties in the state do not salt the roads if it does snow. My county puts dirt on the roads when it ices up. This makes a gigantic mess and doesn't help at all.

The most rust I've seen on a local car was a car parked in tall grass for a long period of time. The dew forming on the grass every morning was enough to destroy that car. Of course it took 15+ years.

 

I wonder why they use a corrosive fluid for braking systems?

 

That’s a good question. I misspoke a bit.

Dot 3/4 makes a very good paint stripper. After the paint gets stripped corrosion begins.

So I suppose the brake fluid itself isn’t corrosive. It’s just very good at stripping paint, exposing bare metal and therefore starting the corrosion process.

This is why many used vehicles will have rust forming underneath the break fluid reservoir.