Houston area: any members or shops deal with rust?

After combing through classifieds here, Facebook, Craigslist, etc....I’m exhausted! Showing up to look at trucks not as described, good ones being sold real quick before I can get there, unrealistic prices, etc. I was going for a nice 1st gen, but after driving one for a while, I believe 2nd gen is the way to go for me. I briefly owned a 3rd gen and wasn’t a fan back in 2017/2018.

All that being said, I found a nice one from a member on here that I like....but it has rust. To me it looks superficial (I can’t check it out in person, he’s in SC. I’d be flying out to him and driving it back) and he has told me two different Toyota dealerships both in 2016 and 2018 said the frame was not needing to be replaced. I’m waiting to verify whether the rust has gotten worse or stayed the same since he bought it in 2012 and moved to a warmer area with no snow and salt.

Yes....I’ve heard it many a times...”why are you even thinking about buying one that has rust and ya live in Texas? There are too many available in the south with no rust to be settling”. Well....that’s true if you want a 2WD, don’t want radiant red or navy blue or want to go above my budget (that slides spending on mileage and wear/tear). It’s not easy when you are specific like me!

Here is the link to the for sale posting. Thanks

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-t-access-cab-91k-miles-charleston-sc.672846/

 

You know the old saying about cement? I guarantee it to get hard?

With rust, it's going to grow. How fast?

That's not superficial.
How long do you want it to last?

See we've just entered a time when people say they want a vehicle to last forever, used to be that most people looked forward to buying another so there's no real historical context to say how long a certain model to last in every clime. I wanted my '82 Mustang to last forever so I washed it over and under everytime it went to the beach. It was a goner in the early '90s.

 

Nope, stay away.

"Wait and save, then buy something later" is a much better plan than "buy it now, rust be damned".

 

No disrespect to the seller.....But that’s not superficial, it’s pitted! Hard pass!

 

i live pretty much due north of Houston on the NE/IA border, my truck has been here for 23 years through mid west winters both mild and brutal

aint a cotdamn place around here (population of nearly 1 million) knows anything about this tacoma shit, i have checked 7 or 8 places to make sure my truck remains structurally sound, not even the piece of fkn garbage toyota dealers that sold this truck to me long time ago know jackchit
its basically sucking the life out of me literally