Picking up tacoma, rust in engine bay, skip?

Looking at a 122,220 miles double cab 2011 tacoma with 6ft bed 4x4 v6 4.0L which lived here in Cali for it's entire life. Runs clean, no accidents and whatnot, and the only 1 owner did due diligence and did the required services at the recommended mile intervals Unsure of the trim. Starts nice, let it run idle for awhile, no oil seep or weird noises. When cycling through 4hi,lo it's clean, you can hear the subtle but solid engagement from the trunk as I was driving it.

The only thing that worries me is the rust I saw. They're underneath and behind the battery tray as well as near the firewall. Rest of the engine bay though, it's clean as a whistle. Other spot I noticed is the subframe at the front. Otherwise, no significant rust elsewhere on the frame.

The dealership is charging me 22.8k out the door, that's after trade in (valued at 3.5k), DMV fees, and sales tax.



Good deal?

 

What year? How many miles? It’s almost like they had a leaky battery there to speed up corrosion

 

Thank you, I just added that tidbit. 2011 112,220 miles.

 

The first picture of the front bumper / skid support doesn’t look bad.
The other 2 look to be located right at and near the battery. It’s possible a leaking battery contributed to this.

You really need to inspect the truck from underneath and pay close attention to the frame.
Above the cats and heat she lids are known to be “bad” spots.
Again, you need to crawl under there and take a look.

 

That sub frame is the crash bar, guys just remove that when you put on an aftermarket bumper with winch.

 

You have 12 years from the in service date for frame replacement.

 

How's the frame and rest of the underbody look? How about the hinge for the gas door?

The rust on the front subframe is very minor and in general looks really clean down there. The engine bay is definitely rusty which is strange considering how clean the other pic looks. Usually most visible rust would be underneath rather than in the engine bay like you're seeing. But, I'd see that as a benefit, maybe the engine bay rust is a fluke - like the battery idea from the OP.

Not sure what you're trading in so it's hard to evaluate that price. Trim level and options are also important. That price doesn't seem bad if it's a well optioned Off Road or Sport V6 and you have a beater trade in. If it's a base model, 4cyl or you have a trade-in worth more than a $1k then maybe not so much.

 

Added that tidbit as well thank you. It's a V6 4.0L. I'm trading in my corolla which he offered 3.5k for. From what it sounds like from others, a leaking battery seems to be the cause, which makes sense since the battery is new, the leads were heavily rusted, and again, the rest of the engine bay is pristine but where the battery was located.

No rust when I looked at the gas cap area. The rest of the frame looked fine. I'll need to go back again and really crawl underneath to check the rest of the frame.

 

Thank you, I'll take a look again.

 

Kind of difficult to say good deal or not. Like others already mentioned both about inspecting for frame rust and most likely that rust caused from battery leak/acid. I think that what you see wouldn't be anything to scare you off, I mean easily cleaned up. Highly reccomend you do if you purchased it.
Have you shopped around and compared prices much? Looked at a carfax report? Those two things might help decision making process.
We have a 2011 double cab OR here, approaching 100k miles and I wouldn't hesitate to drive it anywhere. It's only issue since new was connector for blower motor. Knock on wood..

 

2 in Texas with 135k same year 18.5k 4x4 dcsb. Not sure where you’re at but I’d say asking is is a few grand too much imo. Also found a 2015 dcsb 4x4 silver 65k asking 25.5k and that’s a Toyota dealer.

 

I have, fortunately, they have a free carfax report for the vehicle: it lived here in California, it has done all it's service at the recommended service interval at a toyota dealership. No accidents or damage reported, and whatnot. Clean. It is slightly overpriced, but it is rare to find a 4x4 long bed double cab. I've seen one for 26k at 70,000 miles with an info-tainment but was sold within the day lol.

 

In California then rust I wouldn't think should be a huge concern.
If you really like it and no problem swinging payments I'd say go for it.

 

The dealership is telling me the reason for the high price point is because of the long bed. I guess it makes sense? Since I can rarely find it in the configuration I want: double cab, v6 4.0l, long bed, 5+ spd. It really comes down to if the long bed is worth the extra couple of grands...

 

The battery region stuff is 100% battery acid eating the paint and exposed metal rusting. Paint turns that yellow looking color. If you purchase you need to remove the battery and throw down some baking soda/water paste and scrub the area real good while wearing gloves of course. Then give it a good rinse.

Id follow that up with wire wheeling any of the surface rust and then painting.

edit: I agree the front auxiliary support rust in your photo is nothing. That’s from years of road debris eating at the paint at speed.

 

One lb in SA 160k miles 13.9k pretty sure the 40k miles wouldn’t garner an extra 10k here.

 

SA?

 

San Antonio,Tx.

 

I had the same dilemma a couple years ago. Except I was after an access cab. 4.0 with a manual is difficult to find in Cali. I saw a few, told myself to think about it, poof it’s sold.

Enter the info into kbb, that’ll tell you what kind of deal you’re getting.

 

So 22.8 otd and that is accounting for 3.5 for a trade in? So technically, 26,300 for an '11 w/112k?

(I'm super tired, just making sure I'm seeing this correct?)