I think I bought a rust bucket. But it looks cool!

Hi, new here. I am currently trying to “save” a SR5 that I definitely over paid for. Basically fell in love with the vehicle brought her home and now the booze has worn off. It’s crusty. I am getting down to business underneath and it feels insane paying 18k+ for something that looks worse than my dads model A underneath. Hammering, scraping, wire brushing, pulling all the rotted stuff off. I’ll try to upload photos if I can. Still wondering if I got fleeced by the dealership or if this is a “right of passage” into 4Runner ownership. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

You already know this, but the time to discover all this rust is before you sign on the dotted line and drive away, dealer promises or not.

You've definitely got a lot of rust restoration in your future. Good luck.

 

That seems like more rust than I’d be comfortable with… I’d be a bit mistrusting of that dealer but Gary is right. My right of passage was buying a salvage title, sourcing the parts, and getting put back together. Not sure if it was fully worth it but I’ve put 28k miles on it and had no issues so far! Loving it!

I’d recommend putting some armor on rather than restoring the rusted factory skids if you’re planning on taking it off road.

Welcome to the club! Hope all works out for you and you enjoy the new ride!

 

Restore? Nah.
Cut. Bait.

 

I't is not as bad as it looks. Get rid of spare and factory skid (under cover) plates. Knock down rust scales off the frame, wheel brush the surface rust. Use any commercial rust convertor such as Coroseal sold at Home Depot and spray some top coat of frame grade paint after converter cures. Get proper aftermarket skid plates. G.L.

 

Ono more important thing: check and replace fuel tank straps because if rusty they'll fail.

 

I will never understand what is so hard about the concept of a pre-purchase inspection. But hey, if you want to spend your hard earned dollars on a vehicle that's going to nickel and dime you for eternity, have at it.

 

Please do not even consider using that spare wheel. Throw it out immediately. Best of luck on your restoration.

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

How old is this rusty box?

You can't never exclude all risk when buying a used car, but this?
That's exactly why I threw almost 9 spray cans of fluid film on the undercarriage, last weekend. Also in the doors, rocker panels etc
Because here in the alps, the winter will throw salt on it.

 

Doesn't anyone ever bother to take even a 30 second glance at the underside of a vehicle they are considering buying?

During my long search for a rust free used 4Runner, that is the very first thing I would ask for... pictures of the undercarriage. That way I knew instantly whether or not it was a vehicle I was interested in.

It was amazing the number of times I would see a 4Runner that had a spotless body, but was a mass of rust underneath.

I was patient and finally found a rust free example from Arizona. Got it back to northern Michigan and immediately had it treated with Rust Check.

 

I spent 1.5 hours under my 1st Gen Tundra poking and prodding EVERYWHERE before purchase. And this was a truck that lived in AZ all of it's life. Yeah, this kind of shit blows my mind. But whatever, it looks cool.

 

While this is certainly ugly, pictures do not look like this rust is fatal. You can "save" it with a lot of TLC and elbow grease. I don't think you even need to weld to fix all of that. Clean it up as best as you can then drown it in Krown or Fluid Film.

I had rusty cars in the past, you can keep them from getting 'critically bad' for a long time if you regularly oil spray.

 

The problem is not just what we see in these photos but also is that these frames also rust from the insides, so what you see is twice as bad because there's as much or more rust insides the frame rails!!

If someone doesn't inspect the frame first and foremost before they buy then they will just have to live with it unfortunately and I hate to say it but deserve what they bought.

 

Damn. Glad I wool wax.

 

Labor of love… keep us posted

Btw, Welcome to the forum Al

 

Wire wheel all of that surface rust and then wipe down. Thoroughly clean the undercarriage and then treat it liberally with Waxoyl hard wax plus. Then choose your cavity wax of choice to spray inside the bazillion small openings in the frame and call it good. Inspect it annually and reapply as needed.

 

I've fixed up a wrangler before that looked a bit like this. Not quite as bad in some areas, but at a glance it looked horrible.

A lot of that stuff should come off with the wire wheel. Some parts here and there can be replaced. Some areas you can just coat with a spray like Krown and maintain the current state if they're not too far gone. I think you can salvage this but it'll take some work and be a huge pain in the a**.... took me a few months of work and I ended up needing a reciprocating saw to even get some shocks removed. But i'm on the other side now and have a car I love and I actually enjoyed the process. So if all that sounds worth it, then I'd say give it a shot.

 

Even if you decide fixing this is not a project you want to take on - power wash it and spray with Krown, taking care to get inside the frame rails, and you will GREATLY slow down further rust.

 

There is never a reason to get a rusted 4runner.
Toyota sold a million of them. You will find one used at every price point.
The last thing I want to do is buy a used car and then spend my weekends rubbing and scratching all the rust out so it does not die a premature death.

 

Yup, that's a 10 year old Toyota.

It looks bad, but as long as it's not structural it's not the end of the world.

You can bring it back, like others have said it'll take a bit of time and elbow grease. Or, if you have the $, I've seen places advertise "restoration" for around a grand.

Mine wasn't THAT bad, but not great, and 2 days or wire wheeling with a drill (wear a mask and face shield!) really cleaned it up. I then used a few coats of rust inhibitor paint over the bad spots, then had the whole thing sprayed with Fluid Film. I touch it up myself every year with spray cans, and going on 6 years later, it looks better than the day I bought it.

 

That rust looks pretty bad. I would be most concerned with the rusty brake lines. Also check the power steering and transmission lines. All things that suck to break while driving.

 

This comes up on the 100 forum all the time - "Is this too rusty?" Then the guys in the rust belt say "Nah, I've seen worse." I just don't get it though. You're allowed to leave whatever car-killing rustscape you live in, buy a rust-free truck and go back home. We, the people outside of the rust belt, are cool with this. The cost of a plane ticket and a road trip is a fraction of what a rusty truck will eventually cost you.

@acurtis193, have you checked your paperwork (and state laws?) to see if you can return 4Runner if you're still inside of 30 days?

 

Yikes, I would not underpay for something that rusty, let alone overpay for something that rusty.

 

This is precisely why I haven't purchased a 4Runner sooner. My search when I lived in NY was disappointing at best; all third generation rusted to shit. There's no way I could have scooted through NYS Inspection with something that looked like this purchase.

You probably need to buy yourself that T-shirt that says, "In my defense, I was left unsupervised."

Never drink and buy, folks.

 

"Of course we can fix this! But...it'll cost you."

 

A 4runner owner in Switzerland? You must be the only one in your country.Not including any prados that im sure there are a few. Do you have to pay a gas guzzler tax?

 

I got it all cleaned up. It wasn’t that bad. Was a nice way to acquaint myself with the vehicle. I was planning on new skid plates either way so no big loss there. I live in Maine so the idea of a rust free anything is frankly absurd. My dealership inspection only allowed me to see what was “visible” and not the true extent of the corrosion. Plane ticket and roadtrip aside (which I would love to do but have no time) I take some satisfaction in saving a vehicle that obviously all on this form hold in high regard. I’ll update some after photos once I finish the reassembly.

on a separate note, anyone have any first hand experience with partify unfolded front bumper covers? Thanks!

 

How about some photos of your work before reassembly?