Found a truck, Thoughts on rust?

How’s it going all, found a used 21’ Tundra that fits nearly exactly what I’ve been looking for. My concern is it was a leased car in Quebec, now offered down in Florida where I live. I’m worried about rust. It has the undercoating treatment, I’ve never lived up north so not sure how much rust is too much or what’s normal. How does this look to you, would you consider it or pass? Thank you

 

More pics

 

More

 

Good to go. Nothing worry about imo.

 

Painted the shocks, I would look closer but most looks like surface rust. Drop the spare and check the hubs and calipers they look a little crusty.

 

Good to go

 

I’d have it nh oil undercoated and run it. Looks more like spot rust from sitting.

 

I think that’s from when they originally sprayed the undercoating on north of the wall.

 

It all boils down to how long you intend to keep it. At that point you either make a decision to let it ride or correct it. A selection of rotary wire brushes, a few cans of coatings will cost you about $300. The labor isn't fun, but worth doing if you plan to keep it. Fluid film is my choice of rust prevention.

 

I’ll keep 10+ years or more. I’m a big fan at buying a truck and riding it until the wheels fall off or until my needs change. Previous two trucks kept well over 200k.

 

I'd buy it

 

Well, that's about the crappiest undercoating job I've seen in awhile. There's nothing concerning in those pics, but that does seem like a tad much for a 2 yr old truck.
Maybe if they'd sprayed a little of that cheap black spray paint on some of the areas prone to rust, rather than all over the shock bodies, it would be in a little better shape.
The other reason I don't like those half-assed spray paint "undercoatings" is because they spray it over spots that already have rust and then it just flakes off.
I live in an area that's heavily salted in winter and the worst of it on my 2011 was the rear axel. I removed as much of the rust and loose factory paint as I could and then painted it. With real paint.
The good thing here is people will usually try to paint the whole bottom of the truck black to hide all the rust. AT least they didn't do that. They just did a shit job of undercoating and now you can see all the areas that need attention.
I don't know anything about the subject, but I had a co-worker buy a truck from Canada a while back and he went through hell trying to title it in the states. I forget exactly what the issue was, but might want to look into it.

 

Never mind. If I re-read it right, the truck is already in Florida at a dealer(?)

 

Is it titled in FL? If not, nope.

 

There is a local dealer that specializes in buying vehicles off lease. They purchase a few tundras from Toyota Canada Leasing. Wouldn’t be an issue titling only the US. It’s already been brought in.

 

That looks like minimal rust.

 

I'll add, if you buy it, attach a garden hose on the hot water heater and rinse it all down thoroughly with hot water and a decent nozzle. Get up inside the holes, pockets, over fuel tank, etc. That will help dissolve any residual chlorides before you go about any corrections and the hot water will evaporate quicker as well. Again not fun, but worth doing if you want to minimize rusting.

 

I keep reading your name in Wayne’s voice from Letterkenny. Toooo much fun.

 

Yeah that’s nothing to worry about at all. Definitely undercoat it going forward if rust is something you don’t want to worry about in the future. Mine gets Krown oiled yearly up here in Canada. I use fluid film at work as well and it’s amazing stuff too.

 

I would pass.

 

Prices coming down why not keep looking i don't think you would have issues but why take a chance if you dont need right away.or is the deal just to good lets get some break down of price features.

 

If the price reflects condition then, hell yeah, snap it up.

I use raw linseed oil on rust like that, dress it with a wire brush, knock off any flakes and lather the stuff on, wipe off with a dry rag. The oil reacts with the rust, turns it black and impervious to everything - an old trick used by shipwrights on steel barges, believe me if it works on steel submerged in fresh and salt water for years on end you can bet it'll be good for a truck. It needs a fur of rust to work so don't be tempted to clean back to steel.

I currently have a brand spanking new bare steel brace for the Frontier's side panel that is sat out in the weather, waiting for it to fur up before it gets the oil treatment, much easier than the palaver of priming and painting.

 

Wouldn't blink twice at that.

Last year I just traded an 09 that did 12 salted Winters in Pa. Surface rust almost everywhere but nothing chewed through, no holes, no real cancer. Did not give
The dealership pause on appraisal. I did nothing to it but occasionally rinse it.

if that's all you got and this is going to be a Florida truck the underbelly is probably going to last forever even if you do nothing else but rise it down.

 

Yeah I dunno, my 21 is pretty much spotless rust wise and this made me flinch a bit even though it’s not that bad. I’d rather get a local truck to you, especially if you find one private party and get a sense of the owner. Plus with being Canadian likely has the weird speedo difference where KM is the bigger number.

 

Yeah man, been looking for an SR5 with all the Limited options added on, in the cement w/ black leather, for a while. Don’t like the grill on the limited. One just happened to pop up 30 miles from the house. 2021 40k miles for $42k. Not so sure the prices will keep going down, auction prices are already rising again. New car pricing is coming down, but with higher interest rates less people are trading in trucks so less supply.

 

42k is great price

 

Hmmm,.....but,......a lease vehicle that had 40k mi put on it in probably less than 2 yrs.
And I'm sure maint was bare minimum, not like a new owner would religiously take care of their Tundra and then traded it in for a the new model.
I had a similar situation recently, before buying the current truck. Found a DCLB TRD with all the bells and whistles in cement gray. My forever truck. I was even willing to fly to Idaho and drive it back to NY. 2021 with 34k mi.
Welp, found out it was a lease, the guy was using it for his construction company and put 34k mi on it in 16 months. 34k hard miles. He probably had to buy out his lease because he hit max mileage early and rolled into another vehicle. They said he didn't tow with it, but it was obvious he did, it was rusty underneath, stains on the seat, lense in front of the gauges all scratched up, etc. They wanted $43k for it and wouldn't budge.
Oh,....they told me they changed out the diff oil, transfer case oil and replaced the steering wheel. On a truck that was barely 2 yrs old?
So, maybe $42-43k is a decent price (these days) for a loaded 2 yr old truck with 40k or less miles,....but not that truck.
I might be a little gun shy about a lease vehicle. Especially if you dig a little and find out who had it and how they beat on it.

 

I found a 2021 DCLB in Michigan. SR5 with heated seats, power seat, all the bells and whistles. 26k mi, immaculate condition. $40k.
Found a 2019 in Florida, 32k mi, a few less options but in really good condition, $33k.
These trucks lasted on their lots about 2 days before someone put a deposit down. I dragged my feet and lost out on both. That's why I jumped on the one I have. You can find good deals out there, but you gotta move quick once you find one. The used marked is nuts right now. But I wouldn't jump on a lease that has high mileage for its age and was probably beat on,....and they're asking the very top of market value for.

 

I popped into a dealership in Easley, SC, a couple of weeks ago to see what they had on the forecourt. Almost nothing in the way of used trucks and the impression I got from the salesman was that if I dithered long enough to ask questions like vehicle history someone less fussy would have already put down a deposit before I'd finished asking questions.
Dealers have more new and used stock than they did two years ago but it doesn't stay on the forecourt very long and this particular place had no used Tundras for under $50k.