Buying advice (rust)

Looking at this 2001 with 70k miles. Is this level of rust something i should be concerned about?

 

Looks like some surface rust, but from what the pictures show, it doesn't look too bad. Southern truck?

 

Being in the Northeast that looks super clean. I wouldn't worry about that at all

 

First and last pic looks like a huge rusted out area on the frame. Some better pics with some light would be better if you could.

 

run th vin through my toyota and check for new frame vs inspection
the frame is cleaner than rest of that undercarriage. Make sure they didn't make it look prett - some decent bubbling on that last pic. Almost looks like they have sprayed parts of the frame black
as others will say, drop the spare and check there
cross members

 

Welcome and do it!! Congrats

 

I'd bet a dollar that's just surface rust around the area where the 2 box sections are welded together. More common than you'd think. Should be easy to clean up if needed.

 

I second the "look closer" comments. That frame looks "blacker" than I would expect... curious if some quick spray paint was put on.

 

Definitely received a recent coat of black spray... just look at the rear diff... overspray is visible on the rear brake line and the E-brake cables... Get under there with a light weight ball peen and tap...tap...tap away!

 

The undercarriage has been sprayed. What are they trying to hide? These types of trucks always make me leary about purchasing. I don't think you can go by photos alone. You really need an in purchase inspection of the undercarriage by someone knowledgeable.

 

I just ran the VIN through Toyota site and this is the service history, does this mean the frame was replaced?

 

dug deeper - looks like the dealer is the one who sprayed it black

 

Bring a creeper and ball peen hammer with you and just say your going to take a quick look underneath.

Definitely check the rear axle to see how bad it really is there.

 

Judging by the work order and the parts they used it doesn't look like they replaced the frame, only applied the preventive coating. Another clue is the line where they stated they found no rust perforation.

 

I'd dig around under the truck and be rapping the frame with a small hammer before purchasing. As others have said, my used 2006 had the recall corrosion goop applied and the dealer did not goop the axle housing or diff cover. So that's a previous owner paint to prevent rust or paint to hide jobber. Where does the VIN search tell you the truck lived most of its life? If NY, PA, OH, I'd be real thorough in your inspection, they use steel eating acid on the winter roads up there for sure.

 

I would run away from that truck; the history shows there was enough of a frame issue to service it. Doesn’t look like it was replaced. Unless you can get a really close inspection and make sure no rust has perforated the frame I wouldn’t even consider purchasing

 

No input on the original question, just a lame meme....congrats.

 

Wanna see more? I have more!

 

your opinion differs? Let’s discuss - two documented frame issues on a 20 year old truck with evidence that they sprayed the frame to potentially hide a known issue of frame rust.......additionally if the truck has 70k miles now, that means there have been a grand total of 11,000 miles on the truck in the last 8+ years. That alone would give me pause....add the frame / rust and it seems like a risky investment. OP asked for advice - give your opinion.

 

These frames had a recall. If a stealership replaced and undercoated the frame, it was clearly a recall situation. My money’s on the guys with the memes.

 

That coating is hard coating, if dealer put it on. I would stay away. If I were to thinking about buying that truck. I don't buy any vehicle with that coating on.

 

Not every frame was replaced - not even close. There are hundreds of documented complaints where dealerships initially coated the frame and years later trucks failed inspection, frames broke, etc because the cheap fix led to big problems down the road. I don’t think anyone is saying not to buy the truck.......we are simply saying make extra sure that you get under there and investigate the actual issue before you spend the money on it. It’s very hard to tell from the pictures. If there is ANY evidence that the rust is infiltrating the frame, I would not consider buying it. Just my .02

 

The issue with the dealer coat is it acts just like rubberized undercoating and it eats away behind the facade. For that reason, I would stay away. Because they probably want 7k+ for the truck with that mileage. The driveshaft is a dead giveaway that it’s not organic. if things seem too good to be true, they usually are.
Can’t we all just get along lolol

 

Check the frame around the gas tank. The bad ones I looked at all had holes or cracks there around the overlap.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. It's an out of state truck so i don't have the opportunity to go inspect further. Purchase price would be $12k and it's otherwise super clean. I guess i'll keep looking.

 

This link below may be helpful in the future. Explains most every aspect of the frame issue in detail.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/early-1st-gen-2000-2003-tundra-frame-replacement-faq.54331/

 

There's a chance that the rust is minor and not an issue. If you live out of the rust belt, you could remedy what little surface corrosion there is and get a long service life out of the truck. A thorough inspection is needed to determine if that's true. The rear brake backing plates aren't all eaten up. The visible hardware doesn't appear to be eaten up either. Signs point to this not being what we all fear. Bottom line though, $12k is big money for a 2001 model truck. The low miles helps the case, but I wouldn't pay close to that for one, even with only 70k on it. I would rather find one in the 150k range that's rust free and well cared for for half that price.

 

$12k???

 

The market seems pretty high right now, and 12k seems to be what it’s going to cost for anything under 200k miles that’s not rusted out. Even the high mileage trucks are listed above 7k.