2020 - Northeast Frame Rust

Hey all - I am looking at a 2020 SR5 Premium that I expect to pick up from a dealer this weekend. The vehicle is located in NH, and its about a 5 hour drive for me to go pick it up.

I asked the dealer to share some photos of the frame because I know that rust can be an issue. Everything looks pretty clean, except for one spot where it looks like maybe the paint/coating is flaking.

This is a 2020, so I am assuming that everything is just surface rust - but figured I'd ask. Is this something that would worry you? Or am I making a mountain of a molehill?

Either way, once I own it, I will be taking it to a local rust/corrosion specialist to have it wire-brushed and treated.

 

Answering unspecific to a 4Runner... just go and inspect in person, scratch at that spot and you should focus on the openings like the hole on the lower right of the photo.

Visually it just looks like the factory e-coating is wearing away and now is a great time in its life to intervene and clean up and coat with a lanolin based product.

 

Will do, thanks! Because it is so far away, I don't want to spend 5 hours driving there just to find a reason to turn around. Anything I can do ahead of the deal to make sure we are ready to go makes me better equipped to show up, sign my paperwork, and head out.

For what its worth, the rest of the photos (attached here) look about what I would expect for 3-4 NH winters.

 

Any leaks or major maintenance ?

I think you can clean that up and stop it dead in its tracks

 

hard to tell from pictures, but to me it looks like you circled no rust spot. The only way to be sure is to see it in person and poke it with a pen. If it goes through - bad. If it does not - it is OK.

 

Speaking as one who has lived his whole life in the rust belt, that looks pretty typical for a 2020 vehicle from the rust belt with zero additional rust proofing. That said, if you have any plans on keeping it, it's going to need some immediate attention to slow the spread of the rust that's already started. I'd recommend Krown, Fluid Film, Woolwax or my personal favorite - Waxoyl.

 

The rust on the welds doesn’t look too great. Worse than my 2017 but if you clean it up a bit and keep it sprayed with Fluid Film, Surface Shield, etc it should be fine.

 

In seeing all various rusty pics of 4runners over the years, the circles spot is not particularly a problem area. It almost looks like it has a rubberized coating over the top half of the frame, which is weird. The bubble looks like the rubberized coating peeling.

I doubt any of that rust is going to be issue. But I’ll also repeat that you should spend some time cleaning up the rust and thouroughly applying a wet-film type rust proofing product. I would also make sure you coat the inside of the frame rails and all crossmembers. You can get the coatings to “lock in” a bit better by driving down a dusty gravel road for a while. Even then you’ll need to touch up some areas yearly.

 

I’d take a pass and look out West. My concern would be rust in the areas you cannot see or access.

 

Or use it to his advantage to drive the price down.
By NY standards that frame is fine and can be resuscitated easily.

 

Does not look bad. Don't Ziebart it.

 

Wire brush loose rust off, hit it with one or two coats of rustoleum rust reformer on the rusty areas then another top coat of rustoleum paint

 

Hey all, thanks for your input! I'm gonna go for it.

I gave the dealership a call and spoke with the shop. They sent me a photo and showed me that the area I circled (which I thought was flaking) was actually caked on dirt, stuck to an old oil undercoating. They sent me some more detailed photos and explained what they were seeing.

I've lined up my local anti-corrosion and rust shop (MILSPRAY in Lakewood, NJ), and will hit them up to brush off the rust that's there and give it a nice, new undercoating before winter rolls around.

Put down a deposit and will take delivery on Monday.

 

Hell yeah brotha... enjoy the hell out of it... look if you didn't pull the trigger someone else would have.

Keep up with the undercoating ( I'm in NY )... I fluid film my OR vehicles that I have owned every year... with spray cans and it makes a world of difference.

Best of luck and post some pics when your new baby arrives

 

Ziebart is amazing... check this out:

Rubberized Undercoating Will Destroy Your Car! - YouTube

 

Will do! Found her just in time. Gotta drive 5 hours from Jersey to NH to pick her up, and 5 hours back...but we'll be making a roadtrip for a week of camping up in Maine in just 2 weeks! Stoked to go camping with all that cargo room compared to the GTI I sold.

 

Funny I had to find a dealership in Hackensack NJ and drive from NY. Toyota dealerships in NY are atop the skmbag list I assure you. I have a dealership 2 mins from my house...I wouldnt give them the respect of even driving past let alone doing biz with them

 

Yeah, same experience here. I have purchased 9 new Toyotas over the last 23 years (4 Tacomas, 4 Tundras, and 1 4Runner) all in the NY tri-state area..... and those 9 Toyotas were purchased at 8 different dealers because each time I bought one I would tell myself "never again will I give these assholes my business". The only reason it was 8 different dealers instead of 9 different dealers is because I got lazy with the last one and didn't want to drive any further (but I salvaged my pride by buying it online).

 

True to life... today's best buddy dealership will gladly screw you tomorrow if their inventory or the market conditions arent right. What really burns me about your case is the brand loyalty... I mean come on !!! I have been a Honda fan-boy my entire life that just made the jump to Toyota, so they don't owe me nothing... but you?? shoot, you should be starting at 10% below MSRP OTD

 

It's really funny you mention that.... because the way I am brand loyal with Toyota my wife is the same way with Chevy. She has bought 7 new 1/2 ton Silverados in a row over the last 25 or so years (she keeps her trucks longer than I keep mine).... and GM/Chevy absolutely showers her with love. They regularly send her crap in the mail like jackets, umbrellas, coffee mugs, birthday cards, calendars, coasters, coupons for free service, brand loyalty cash incentives for her next purchase, etc. etc. etc.

Well, Toyota had never given me jack shit. Nothing. Zero. But right before COVID in 2019 I was getting ready to order a new Tundra Pro and I decided I was going to rattle some cages and share mine vs my wife's experience with the US Toyota leadership team. I managed to Google up the names and email addresses of several random Toyota execs and eventually got a response to my emails from one of the exec's assistants. They actually gave me a check for $1000 to use towards the purchase of the Tundra (after the fact, in that I had to produce the completed sales order for them).

In late 2021 I reluctantly decided to get of the Tundra for a 4Runner only so that I could more easily haul my dogs..... and given the supply/demand situation I didn't have the balls to try the same approach again. I was lucky to get the 4Runner at MSRP and I got such a good price on the trade of my Tundra I was OK with the deal.

 

My apologies for hijacking your thread on rust..... regarding the rust in your pics.... as an upstate NY resident, those pics look like every Toyota i've ever owned after a couple of winters.....even with running the truck thru the car wash weekly during the winter with an undercarriage rinse. I think you are fine and what you're seeing is "normal" for a 3 year old Toyota. Will the frame last 25 years at that rate? Probably not. But you'll almost certainly be find for well over a decade before there is a real problem.

 

Heh, according Eric O., a 10 year-old vehicle in upstate NY is typically ready for the crusher, so this 2020 4Runner has six more years left in it if no rustproofing is done. Basically a foot in the grave already.

 

LOL... dead man walkin

 

Don't do me like that

 

Congrats on the new rig! Looking forward to seeing pics....

Also being in NJ (Hunterdon County), tell me more of your experience with MILSPRAY; have you used them before? I've got 2 leads on places near me that do it (well, 1 place and 1 guy who does it on the side) but I don't have a lot of information on either. Picked up my '24 Limited in April and would like to have my first Fluid Film application done before the Fall....you know....not that we'll be getting any real snow in NJ this coming winter, but I'd like to cover my bases

Thanks!
TimG

 

Any reason why you would be against DIY'ing it? The sell aerosol cans of Fluid Film. About 3-4 cans will do ya. Pretty easy actually, spray every damn thing you see except the exhaust. If you are really thorough, you will remove inner plastic liners and nozzle spray into the rockers... ez peasy

 

I guess I was thinking that between never having done it before, and not having any good way of seeing inside concealed places (think inner extremities of the frame), the initial application might be best if done by someone who knows what they're doing. I was also thinking about getting the inside of the doors and tailgate done which would require drilling holes, too.

Dunno....I know others have done done this; I'm just not sure I have the stomach for it on a brand new truck that I shouldn't have to be doing this for in the first place lol

TimG

 

Completely understand buddy... just asking. Before long you'll be tearing out ball joints, UCAs...changing your rear diff...

 

Haha - yeah, especially with labor rates the way they are and how difficult it is finding a solid mechanic/shop you can trust, I have no doubt I'll be breaking my 4R myself in no time.

What's funny is, I have no reservations whatsoever about tearing into vehicle that's not new; it's just new ones but since the plan is for this to be my forever vehicle (I'm 55), mark my words....I **WILL** get over it.

Appreciate it
TimG

 

You mean you are not doing a BMC on your new Runner? LOL

I'm on Long Island... close in age.

We're neighbors....sorta