Too much rust to drive but too nice to take to the junk yard

My wife has been driving her 1999 4 Runner Limited for 23 years now, we bought it used but still runs great and looks beautiful, only 152K miles. Unfortunately a couple weeks ago the frame cracked near the rear axle due to rusting through, also several other areas of the frame are rusting away. Now no longer safe to drive but too nice just to take it to the junk yard. Has anyone else encountered this and what did you do to still get something out of it? Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

Frames are repairable. But the question is if the cost is worth it. It will be more than the value of your car.

 

Beautiful truck externally. A shame about the frame. If looks like you are located in a suburb. If you had a shop or were located out in the country, you could part it out- engine, trans, doors, hood, interior trim and interior parts, etc.

 

Part it out.

Take out all the interior/exterior parts that you can and sell them on Facebook Marketplace/Ebay/Amazon and on this site. If the interior looks as nice as the exterior, you'll get plenty of buyers.

 

Thanks for the replies and advice, greatly appreciated!

 

I would start with a local mom and pop mechanic that isn't a chain...and ask some questions. From there they may have a few leads. Car clubs are great places to find leads. If you're willing to drop at least $5k to save her, you can definitely find someone around you that will take on the project.

There are frame pieces that you can buy that can be welded in that won't require all the work to be custom:
https://www.rustbuster.com/collections/1996-2002-toyota-4runner-frame-repair

 

For yourself. Keep it as a parts car for the next one you buy

 

I don't think people really understand what it takes to part out a car.

There is no realistic way for them to part this out.

Parting out a car takes a ton of tools and a ton of space and a ton of time and a ton of boxes and a ton emails with buyers and a ton of everything and you can't do it in a subdivision.

Best is to make an attempt to fix it or offer it up to someone who can fix it or will have the space and ability to recycle it.

At 157k miles...and a near one owner car...if a frame repair can be done, she's probably got another 10 years left. I'd sink the money for a frame repair for sure.

 

Welcome!

 

I would at least visit a couple fab shops to get an idea of the costs of repairing the frame. Box up some 1/4” - 3/8” steel plate and welded up to replace that broken off control arm mount, cut out and replace the rotted out sections…who knows, it might be an affordable route…won’t hurt to ask around.

 

Look for a roll-over donor without so much rust?

 

Welcome

 

Google "Frame Restoration" in your area to find a good place to take it for an estimate. These shops are used to working on Taco's & 4Runners. I had a 2000 that I welded up 3 times and finally sent it off to salvage. It was in great shape except for the frame. Now using Woolwax on my 2005 T4R.

 

My family grew attached to our family 2004 Honda Pilot we owned from new for 20 years.
Fortunately we had 240,000 miles of safe commuting, vacationing, shopping, and schools. No damage or rust so we found a new home for our "trusty" pilot this year. Letting go was hard as it was part of our family and our children grew up with it.
I support finding another vehicle and letting this one go.

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

See if you can find someone to weld in SafeTCap replacement frame pieces. For a few thousand dollars you can keep that truck running for another 50K miles. A replacement vehicle will cost 10s of thousands more money than the repair.