Honest question to those who live in the rust belt

Cosmoline is the answer.

 

Old timers who were smart would spray their vehicles with used motor oil. Some used chainsaw bar & chain oil because it's sticky. Also in the old days you could buy red lead paint ("bridge paint") which was excellent at stopping rust.

Now we're stuck with environmentally friendly coatings and thinner metal for fuel economy.

 

tldr: your average person barely does maintenance as is, so they probably don’t even bother to consider the frame.

Think of how many people actually do their own vehicle maintenance with some level of knowledge. Now think of how many people barely keep up with maintenance or don’t bother to get their oil changed. Probably way more of the latter. And then it makes sense that most people either A) don’t even think to get rust protection, or B) don’t care to bother with it.

I mean we have had people on here think that there is no reason they should have to look under a vehicle and do any sort of frame maintenance in some of these rusted frame threads. In reality we know that metal rusts, so why not a vehicle frame? We know that clearcoat can fail on a vehicle that sits out in the sun, yet people think hardly ever washing the car and never applying wax or paint protectant had nothing to do with it. Go figure. Some of it we can chalk up to lower quality factory coatings but at some point part of the lifespan is up to the owner.

I mean look at all these rusty ass 2nd gen frame threads. Typically people who did zero research on any issues associated with Tacomas and couldn’t be bothered to check the frames over.

 

People are ignorant of all sorts of things. Sometimes, people roll the dice and put an issue or non-trivial threat off until it’s too late. Just look at how people take care of their health by way of diet and exercise. It happens. For those reasons, that is why it’s fair for us, the consumer, to ask why Toyota has not rectified these issues. That statement, by the way, comes from the mouth of an engineer at a FAANG company. Whatever I put out, I take total responsibility for. End of story. We are a fallen, imperfect species. There was a time when men made engines which didn’t need gaskets because they were machined so perfectly. Never forget that. Ever.

 

My 2006 Colorado puking the head under the powertrain warranty plus the secret warranty for that issue and being lied to and cheated out of thousands by 2 dealers and corporate stopped me. As I said to a corporate rep after telling him what happened with my wife's 1996 Tacoma "you tell me what's more normal, a 13 year old truck in MA having rust issues or a less than 5 year old vehicle with average miles, not worked with, needing almost a whole new engine?" Yeah..

My wife's 96 got grabbed in April 2008, first time it was an issue that Toyota was calling people in for. Just happened to be there for something else and was checked underneath initially, the letter to bring it came a few days later. Buyin mine in 2012 with awareness of the past I was keeping up on looking to see what/if I had to do with mine and it paid off ultimately. I didn't want to do any coatings other than the Toyota CRC as I figured let it rot under that 12 yr window if it's going to.

Re paint yup, I do a full detail yearly on both the vehicles. Mine doesn't look new but for 14 years old I'd say it's better than average.

I do agree at times the owner shares/is the problem.

Or people figure something else will go before the frame does, and either way they'll just buy another vehicle. Disposable society.

I do agree that after all this time it's a fair question. The ones up to 2010 or so I can say at least by the time the long term issue cropped up you had so many of those out there it was going to be catch up for them.

 

I only had Toyota apply their undercoating during the campaign. Other than that, I've never undercoated one of my vehicles. I've owned the taco the longest out of all of them. (15 years now) I WASH the underside of my truck a few days after a snow event. The underneath looks great with no rust aside from the hitch but even that isn't too bad. NJ doesn't get winter weather as bad as other northern states, for whatever that's worth.

 

I’m surprised shops doing Krown or generic FF/woolwax underspraying aren’t more common, seems like an absolute necessity in these states and a surefire money maker… I’m guessing people just don’t care nor hang on to vehicles for long enough to care.

 

That is why when i see a post about frame rust, i ask “are you in the salt belt”? When they ask is this normal? .After that i dont reply and never visit that thread again

 

Oh man, thanks OP for starting this thread. I live across from the ocean and I’ve noticed a whole lot of surface rust on my truck and have really been trying to find some ways to combat this before it becomes too late!

 

Just do something, washing the underside in a rust state isn't enough. RIP my 84 jeep cj and my father's 97 tacoma.

 

Oil undercoating is hugely popular here in NH, so much so that pretty much every major shop has some form of it. I have yet to actually use it, but now that I have a brand new truck I am looking into it again. Someone mentioned the “home brew” method of yesteryear, and they worked. A buddy of mine who runs a tow company that picks up for Cars For Kids brought one by my work to show me. It was a 1982 Buick and if you scraped back the crud on the frame it was pristine. The old owner had done a used oil and dirt concoction on his own for years.

 

Plus there are some around that will do it for TW folks..

 

Lived in the rust belt my whole life and since the advent of the salt brine solution where I live you would be surprised at home many pretty new vehicles have rust issue. You ignore this at your own peril as for me my vehicle cost me way to much money to let it rot out in the first 10 years of its life.

 

True

The kind of people that join and regularly log onto a forum dedicated to their vehicle is a very different mindset from the people you see driving on bald tires and never even changing oil.

 

25 years in Cleveland. People know to get it coated or do it themselves, but don’t.

life in Florida is so nice for cars… zero rust anywhere on my 2004 S2000 underneath. ‘16 Taco is almost as rust free, but it has a few small spots on the suspension etc.

 

Ignorance, and like alot of other automotive things- There are believers and non-believers. Most people don't even look under their vehicles, even on ones they may be about to purchase. What I hear from people who don't rustproof is usually something like: "the dealer undercoated it new and its good forever, came with a rust warranty for like 20 years"
That rust warranty is usually from a third party, and is usually littered with conditions that are impossible to meet in most cases. The coating is usually a thin rubber plastidippy stuff.

I also hear people say they have a carwash pass, and that the salt gets all washed off every week. "No need to rustproof"
Or they simply say "that stuffs all hogwash" or "that'll be the next owners problem"

Basically, most just don't quite give enough of a shit to follow through with it, or even look into it. People nowadays have very short attention spans, and the "newness" of vehicles wears off real quick. Then its just an appliance, oil change is all it needs until a problem arises that becomes obvious. Vehicle forums are a very, very small minority of people who actually own the corresponding vehicles.

My truck gets Krown sprayed every fall since new. It costs around $160CDN/application for me. That means I've spent $800 over 5 years on rustproofing. Some people can't justify that, Even though it saves money in the long run, and makes the vehicle look and function better over its lifetime in various ways. Where I live they pour astronomical amounts of corrosive chemicals all over the roads up to 5 months a year. Rustproofing is a must.

Heres what my last Toyota looked like. Was 4Runner passed down from a family member. It was basically a gonner by the time I got it, And this is how it was when I was pretty much done with it. Truck was 16 years old. Go get your truck sprayed if you drive in this crap.

 

We have winter beaters... AKA a beater with a heater

 

Definitely get the underside coated. I live on the Seacoast, so I get the double whammy of salt in the air and salt on the road.

I undercoated my 2010 myself every fall. I used motorcycle chain wax initially because I had a bunch left over, but later moved to various brands of marine grade rust inhibitors. I think the brand matters less than just doing it.

My 2010 never quailed for the frame replacement. The frame and body panels were still solid when I traded it in on my new 2021.

I use NH Oil Undercoating every fall now and touch up mid season as needed with spray cans.

My only other PSA is don’t be a knucklehead and park on 1A to watch the big waves during a winter storm. Not only does your vehicle get soaked in salt water, I’ve seen softball (and larger) sized rocks tossed onto the road by the storm. The town public works department has to push them off the road every spring.

It seems like obvious advice, but folks show up for big storms every year. I almost wince as I watch them drive through the deep salt water puddles.

 

As has been mentioned, it is not uncommon for people to have dedicated winter cars with their "good" ride put in storage for the season. I also see used cars advertised as a southern vehicle (i.e. rust free) as a selling point.

 

I've lived in the rust belt my entire life. Rust has always been a problem. I do think that early on foreign cars may have had more of an issue, as often these were smaller cars with lighter weight frames that would rust through more quickly. However, I really think the issue now with our Tacomas relates more to increased mechanical durability than inferior rust protection. If you bought a 2007 and drove it as a daily, putting 15K miles on it a year....It went over 100K in 2014 and in theory would have 240,000 miles on it today.

If that truck was a Silverado, there's a very good chance the engine or transmission gave out a few years ago, and that truck went to the scrap yard.

If that truck is a Tacoma there is a higher likelihood that it's still on the road.

Point being, the Toyota's "problem" is that it is reliable mechanically, and that gives rust a better chance to take hold.

And....if that 2007 silverado is still out there on the road (I see them every day), it's either starting to show a lot of rust too, or someone is keeping it in a garage and not putting as many miles on it.