Rust straight off the lot on a brand new Tacoma?

All metal rusts. All of it. And it is always happening. Chemistry.

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call this a contentious issue, but it seems it never fails to start a debate. For my part I appreciate all the commenters who have owned multiple trucks, of multiple brands over the years and suggest that rust is a straight forward and inevitable process and thus to be expected. At the same time I guess the concern people have is that perhaps rust can't be prevented but it should be possible to retard, and that Toyota in particular aren't taking enough advantage of the coatings and processes that have been developed to do this.

I'm the first to admit that this is probably naivety on my part but why for instance not use galvanized bolts and washers? Or how can it be that my grill and iron fence outside took 5, 10 years to start showing rust but most Tacoma owners wish they had that little rust after the first.

I can only suppose the answer is a composite of the fact that this is a machine subject to heating, cooling, high speeds, abrasion etc and that this is a particular failing of Toyota (as testified by their 1st gen recall)?

I've been reading another thread on the pros and cons of undercoating and rust proofing processes like Ziebart.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/120806-undercoat-rustproof-s.html

Opinion seems divided so I'm feeling perhaps 6 month checks with a little sandpaper and a can of oil spray is the best defense. Like most things, we would all love a set it and forget it solution, but the best care is a little maintenance, often.

I don't believe it as a conspiracy theory but I like the joke that someone in another post made; "it's the only way they have to make you need to buy the next one."

 

TRUE ^
I live in upstate NY I wash my truck once a week and had it undercoated 1 week after I got it new right off the lot. A year later it had rust all over the frame. No matter how much paint, coatings or washing there will always be rust somewhere no matter where you live. Even you guys that keep saying you have no rust you have rust somewhere maybe not like us up north people but its there.

 

Planned obsolescence and the forcing of water based paint upon the whole world is probably why this issue even exists.

 

My comment was for the OP.

Rust? That just comes with living up north in the frozen wastelands.

 

It's totaled. Trade it in for a Ford.

 

Bingo! If its the rusting associated with Dana frames it won't matter a lick what the hell he does, it'll rust from the inside out, if he undercoats and rustproofs such a specimen he'll only speed up the process of rot...

 

Hmmm...Gold doesn't rust or corrode, even when immersed in salt water for hundreds of years. That was still a metal last time I checked.

 

Don't worry about it, in a year when you have big holes in the frame then you can worry.