How long is too long in the salt belt?

Hello All, in the market for a 2020/2021 Tundra. Seen some solid options in the Pennsylvania/Ohio area. I am from Florida, the truck will live in Florida.

From experiences with salt water, I know how corrosive salt can be. Would a year or two old truck in an environment that’s salts for winter still be a solid buy? Or would you recommend moving on and looking elsewhere?

Thank you

 

Would be fine. You will get some welds corroded. Wash the frame, treat the corrosion, optionally spray rust inhibitor.

In 2019 I blasted the frame with Noxudol while it was new (didn't see any New England winter yet). A few weeks ago noticed a couple of rusty spots on the welds. While fixing them, it was apparent the rust was already there even before the frame got painted.

 

Agree with @vtl

Do a full overview underneath. You'll see surface corrosion but it should be bad.

Is there a reason you're buying in PA/OH compared to florida?

 

This one spent three years near Buffalo. The topside looks great. Underneath was a mess. It's a 2019 and had 36k'ish miles.

 

woof. Looks like it was soaking in a brine.

My 2020 in NE Ohio doesn't look a quarter that bad at 50K miles.

 

Yikes, all I had to see. It’s thanks man!

 

My 2016 lived 115k miles in NY before i bought it and it continues to live in NY. Frame looked like it was a southern Truck.. All depends on how well it was taken care of and it goes to show not all Northern trucks are rust buckets

 

I'm guessing the truck above didn't get much love. FluidFilm, Woolwax, and similar products could help prevent that kind of rust...

 

Here's a clue. I live in Pennsylvania and drove to Denver in Aug of 2022 to buy a 2007 CM, rust free. I never even looked at trucks from Pa. Ohio, or NY because of rust. Plus if buy an Ohio vehicle they do not have any type of car inspection at all. If it can drive you are good to go in Ohio. Pa used 802,000 thousand tons of road salt/brine in 2021. Don't do it.

 

Great info, thanks!!

 

Move on. Plenty of other options. Why buy and start with a future problem. Seems Toyota had a prob in the past with frames falling apart. Remember, bingo fuel is time to head to the house, or you can always use the popular pan,pan,pan. YMMV.

 

Mine has spent all its time in New England and I have kept the undercarriage coated annually with NHoil which is like fluid film and I don’t have even a spot of surface rust yet.

 

If you can find one that has been undercoated with fluid film or something along those lines you'll be golden. I live in PA and have had mine for 3 years now with regular fluid film applications and the frame looks near new.

 

I had two Toyotas in PA for many years that had extremely serious rust damage.

I was young, cheap, and didn't know better.

 

First thing i did when I came back from Co. was to have the thing coated with NH oil. I plan on doing that every year or the truck will be a goner....

 

Living in VA and being in the market for a truck, that's one of the first things I check - where is the truck from (carfax, etc) and where has it lived. Even trucks from farther south can have rust, but up north has alot more chance for sure.

That one Jaypown posted, wow...

 

There are plenty to choose from, dont settle for a rust bucket that's still wearing pampers. It will pay off in the long run.

 

First - I’ve got to say being from Ohio - there’s a difference in snow and salt (as well as the other chemicals) they use in Northern Ohio vs the stuff in Southern. It’s a big state and while NE/NW (Cleveland/Toledo) sees snow measured in feet yearly - SW (Cincinnati) sees it measured in inches.

Now as to how much will it have hurt the truck being driven in it a few times - kinda like asking how badly did I hurt my brain/body doing crack a few times? To me it’s simple - it’s either never been around it or it’s not to be trusted. Again though - it’s not as if Florida doesn’t have a “salt” problem - it’s just that it’s coming from the huge body of water surrounding the state and not from the roads.

Properly wool waxed - it may be ok - but again it’s a risk you take. Worst case you buy / it develops and you need to take preventative measures to clear it off and reapply coatings to stop it. On a 2 year old truck I wouldn’t worry too much (or maybe I would given what a 2 year old truck is gonna cost). On anything older - it’s buyer beware. Just my 2 cents.

 

I looked at a 2020 a few months ago that was from PA. I'm in NC. The underside of that truck was tore up. Very rusty after only 2 years, somehow.

 

I'm going to guess the owner of that truck didn't bother to apply Krown or Fluid Film. My 2016 has lived it's entire life in the Northeast and doesn't have rust that bad. I've had Krown applied every year since I bought it and pretty much the only rust on it is what was there in 2018 when I bought it.

 

Every northern truck I looked at was trash underneath. Even found a teaser truck in Florida, bought at auction from New York. No way I’d buy a northern truck.

 

Oil undercoating at least once a year and a rinse at least once every 2 weeks is needed in colder weather climates where salt and brine are used. I have a 97’ CRV that I bought in 2014 w 260,000km on it, now it has 324,000km on it. Oil sprayed it every year and it’s still in GREAT shape. Like the saying with un trained dogs.. it’s not the dog, it’s the owner. A good owner will take care of their vehicle. The truck above that’s rusted out, clearly the owner didn’t care.

 

Krown or fluid flim? They didn't even bother to wash the underside. You can come out of the salt belt looking pretty good just by powerwashing every chance you get.

OP- the used market is flooded with 2-4 year old, <40k mile salt belt ex-lease trucks. Pay close attention and be thorough before you commit. Many have poor oil change histories and the frames/fasteners look like cheetos.

I must have looked at more than 10 otherwise nice trucks falling into the above before finding a clean one. Here is a '20 with 19k miles I bought in november, corporate owned in NJ and WI:

 

The frame of my husband’s 2003 is spotless because he hoses the underside down weekly in the winter. I bought and transported my old Taco from Wisconsin because it was also spotless from being taken care of by the prior owner.
Ive also seen a two year old truck that was absolutely trashed (like rust flakes falling off) and almost every prior leased Tundra I looked at from up here was destroyed from being neglected when I was hunting for my truck.
All depends on how it was taken care of. Ask for frame and general underside pics before buying, it weeds the shitty trucks out but you may find a gem that was loved. Or one from a weird assed person like me who stores their truck in the winter..

 

Didn't care or didn't know better.

 

Was it a white Limited TRD Crew Cab? It’s been at the dealership for a while, price is fantastic, guessing the undercarriage looks awful.

 

Looks brand new!

 

It all depends on how well it was washed during the winter and if the frame was sprayed with fluid film or a similar protectant. My ‘19 tundra has been thru 3 Cleveland Ohio winters and still looks great. I fluid film yearly and go to the laser wash often in winter. I work on vehicles for a living and most vehicles are not maintained well, filthy dirty in and out and lacking routine maintenance.

 

@BingoFuel Another side, which you have probably considered is, a truck that is only a couple years old was likely “owned” by someone not concerned with longevity whether a leasee,renter,flipper, frequent trader. If the precautions to protect against salt were not taken, I’m sure the mx was not a priority. Probably driven like it was stolen mentality. @Tundra Dude 45 is the type of owner to buy from, if he’s selling.