Rust Bucket or Normal?

So in my search for a first gen double cab, I found this truck. On the surface, it's pretty good. Drives terrific, 70k miles, clean carfax and autocheck, immaculate interior, and decent price at 13900.

But it is a northeast vehicle - don't know how concerned I should be about that. I looked underneath, the skid plate is extremely rusty, matter of fact rotted. Are the skid plates made of crap metal or is this an indication of poor care in the trucks life thus far? I've attached pics - where you see the rust on the skid plate I actually touched and put my finger through.

The frame had what appeared to be surface rust by the leaf spring mounting points, and the exhaust was fine up to the muffler, which was somewhat rusty on its surface all the way back to and including the tailpipe. No rust anywhere on the body itself.

The low mileage intrigues me, but quality of miles counts more than the number sometimes. I'm wondering if I should hold out for something cleaner even if it's higher mileage or are these normal amounts of rust? Obviously if this is normal, then this truck is high on my list of considerations, but if you guys think this is a bit excessive I'll have to put this on the backburner.

 

talk them down, i have seen trucks like that fall apart. The engine is prob fine i would be more worried about the frame, tail pipe shocks ect.

 

Definitely have the frame inspected at an authorized Toyota dealer before making any decisions.

 

+1...

and go back and get pics of the inside of the frame near the front leaf spring hangers. Thats the biggest problem area.

 

Dont worry about it. If the frame is rusted to shit Toyota will replace it free of charge and also replace lots of other components.

 

Im in NY, mine was a plow truck before I bought it, and it is not at all rusty like that underneath. That exhaust and skid look pretty bad. BUT it'll probably fail the frame test, and you'd get not only a free frame replacement from Toyota, but anything else underneath that's rusty and in bad shape (excluding exhaust).

 

Tho that plate by the radiator looks bad (replaceable, however) the frame looks good from the pictures you posted. That surfacey looking rust is nothing etching primer can't fix. As TacoMX said, check all around the shackles. Make a friend at you local Toyota service dept, and ask them to run the VIN for you to get more details about the truck...I've found a 6pack goes a long way to grease the skids. And for god sake, be careful under that thing...the front ramp looks sketchy!

 

anyone else think the frame rails look a little oh idk bedlined? like from the rattlecan? if so the rust is even showing through the liner. just an observation

 

I'de pass. Also those skid plates are expensive, the bottom of the radiator looks like its ready to leak,I wonder what the brake lines look like? give it a good going over if you can't resist the buy.

 

+1...scary...

 

Believe me, I was careful with those ramps. Yeah I kind of figured it was a bit much on the rust. To be honest I'm in no hurry whatsoever, I'd rather get the "right" one than pull the trigger on a truck just because. Its not like this one is a steal anyway.

And the frame rails - someone mentioned spray on bed liner. I was wondering myself what was on the frame. It actually felt like some sort of coating, but it wasn't stuck to the frame. It was oily and I could scrape it with my fingernails.

So I'll keep looking, I'm sure a clean one will present itself in this price range, even if the mileage isn't as low as this one I'd rather not deal with a headache...

 

I'd pass on it they're asking way too much for that kind of rust. For 13.9k you should be able to find one in better condition rust wise. Keep looking. I bought mine with zero rust, 67K miles, for much less than that, and mine has the TRD option. The one you are looking at for $13.9K should at LEAST have the TRD package on it for that price, but it doesn't.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies, awesome getting the feedback. As I said I'm in no hurry, and I won't even try to negotiate this one, I'll just pass. I'm looking for a Tacoma specifically not to have to worry about longevity or second guess my purchase, and this would kind of defeat that.

 

Well, didn't have to wait long - found a 2004 TRD Double Cab Prerunner that was exactly what I was looking for, so I picked it up. Under 58k miles, great vehicle history, great mechanically, and very clean inside and out. All for less than this other one I posted about!