Rust on a 2016 Tacoma TRD. What's normal?

One thing I learned is to never trust a Toyota frame. It may not look that bad, then the next year the metal is scaling and you have a rotted frame.

 

I know Colorado doesn’t salt as much as NY, but they do use de-icing products with salt in them. Our saving grace is that the snow melts the next day and it doesn’t snow much on the front range.

 

Against.

 

That's completely normal from where it came from. Im in NY and have a 2016 also and my truck looks exactly the same underneath. I'm at 27,000 miles. Theres a frame recall up to the 2018s I believe. This is the 3rd generation Tacoma and frame rust and rot issues are common on all 3 generations.

 

There’s no frame recall for 3rd gens nor anything above model year 2010. Doesn’t even cover all 2nd gens yet.

 

That's quite a bit worse than my decade old Nissan Frontier, I'm on the ocean and the roads are salted for months at a time here.

 

Like everyone said, you have to clean it off, repaint and coat it with fluid film or similar. But when you DIY this, expect a lot of work and time. My 09 wasn't by far not as bad like this one and it took me forever.

 

It's documented to be in the works.

 

Does por “encapsulate” the rust therefore rust is still there breeding? Or something else

What’s your preferred product/process? Really am interested to hear because of how I see the crowd praise it

 

That's excessive for a 2016 no matter where it came from. My 1996 frame is cleaner than that. You just bought it last night, I would void the sale.

 

It’s not the encapsulation. Por dries stiff. Not only does it crack over time as your truck flexes, but it also takes damage various different ways. Water is drawn in eventually, and the steel underneath rots away, only now the por hides it. I have to strip por from heavy frames and rebuild what was destroyed often. I prefer mavcoat. Not only does it dry clear, but unlike fluid film, I can get back under my truck and work on it without the disgusting “film” that has caught road debris and roadkill junk. But yeah either of those over por15 which is a surefire way to protect a layer of water between your frame and a hard coating so that it can do it’s dirty work.

 

Lol. Would that make you feel better? You waiting for that diesel in 2020 as well?

 

First thing I do is get my Taco rustproofed! Do it yearly, and it'll look great for years....

 

The question was directed at someone else, but...
Let's start with. I have lived in north east Iowa and north west Illinois for almost 60 years (wasn't born here). We use a generous amount of salt on our roads.
This is from my experience, and what I do. Take it for what it's worth. I've seen, and dealt with, plenty of rust on frames and inside body panels. 'Been a car guy all my life. I have tried rubberized under-coatings, Rustolium, Por 15, Agri-Guard, Met-coat, Mavcoat, rust converters, Naval Jelly, etc, etc. I have settled into using Fluid Film. It's easy, if you have their application kit, and do it yourself. Just wash in underside of your vehicles in the spring and fall, and re-apply the FF every fall. Mavcoat, NH Oil, or any oil/pariffin, or other Lanoline based products will probably perform just as well.
You have to keep up the maintenance of it. You can spray it over everything but large flakes of rusty metal or large flakes of that nasty undercoating stuff. I wouldn't even wire brush the rust on the frame in the OPs picture, if it were me. These products will wick a half inch or more. Spray the inside of the doors, rocker panels, and fenders every two to three years. Yes, the Por 15s and other rust inhibiting coatings (under coatings) will work, if you do the proper (extensive) prep work, but you still have to inspect them every year or two, and it's difficult to tell if rust is starting underneath them. The FF type coatings are easy to apply, inspect, and re-apply. And it works. The only thing I don't like about it is how dirty I get working on the underside of my truck. The oil type coatings will hold a certain amount of dirt, that is almost impossible to wash off. Luckily, the FF/dirt mixture washes out of you clothes pretty easily.

 

Wire wheel the rust away, spray it with some ospho and eventually pain it

 

My 2011 isn't that bad - I'd agree with others that it seems excessive.

 

As far as I can tell, we can't return it. It's from a used car dealership & there was no warranty... so gotta just try to clean it up as much as possible.

 

I lived in a New York, and my experience matches what HacksawMark suggests. This truck looks like it was well used and also not treated with underbody oils/films. If the sale is final, I’d take the time to properly mitigate the rust issues per your area and use regardless of whether you want to keep it “forever” or sell it in a few years. It would be sad IMO to see this truck junked down the line just because of rust issues that could have been slowed at this point.

 

As far as you can tell? Haven't you checked?
A lot of states have anywhere between 24-72 hour grace period where by law you can return a vehicle.

 

I did check, and it doesn't seem like Colorado has any grace period. The "lemon law" is federal but only applies to new cars bought from dealerships. If anyone has any info that contradicts that, I'm all ears!