How much rust is too much rust?

A guy in my apartment complex is selling his '98 4runner, and I might like to pick it up as a daily to save the miles on my nice Taco. It does have some rust underneath, but he said it is "surface rust." As an Arizona native, I have very little experience with how much rust is too much, since we don't really have rust here. The 4runner is from Chicago, or at least the guy's area code is.

Here is the craigslist add:
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/d/tempe-1998-toyota-4runner-4x4-limited/7552594317.html

I was going to try and negotiate him to $3000 if possible. But should I run from this rust, or is it even worth it? I am already inclined to say no, since any rust seems like a lot to me. Thanks in advance!

 

I say no

 

That looks like much more than "surface rust"...

looks like it would be a pain to work on

 

That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure if I could clean it up or anything.

 

I always took surface rust as something you could sand off and paint over. That looks like the rust has started to eat it's way into the frame, wouldn't be surprised if it has some soft spots

 

Yeah I missed the part where it was in Chicago, that's a hard no from me. Road salt galore up there and it looks like he didn't take any preventative precautions to keep the rust at bay.

 

Well, thanks for confirming my intuition. I'll walk from this one.