09 Tacoma from Salt Belt seeking oppinions on frame condition.

I'm considering buying this 09 v6 stock model tacoma . Im hesitant because its a Northeastern truck. Aside from that its very low miles just under 65k and priced within reason for me. Basically if I believe this frame, with proper care, will hold up for another 100k or so, then I'm happy to buy it at the price point. Its a 4x4 stick shift which is my preference.

Its a good drive for me, but the dealer has been cooperative in getting me photos underneath the truck. He had his shop put it on a lift, and then claims they scraped away some surface rust so that they could see the steel underneath. Im new to the salt belt, so dont have a good point of reference on what to make of this condition. So hoping you can share what you see. The dealer of course claims its in excellent condition but it looks pretty rusty to me.

 

Have a independent shop perform a PPI.

 

Doesn’t look like it’s in excellent shape to me.
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Those pictures and and “excellent condition” tell me all I need to know.

 

It’s not pretty. Personally I’d stay away. Living in the salt belt myself most vehicles only last around 10-15 years unless really cared for. Given how shitty the steel is with all Tacoma frames, and knowing you’re beyond Toyotas service campaign to replace that frame, I wouldn’t take any risks on that. Might not look too bad right now but 6 months or a year that thing may fail. Then your stuck selling it for pennies on the dollar as a parts truck.

Also not sure if your ever worked on crap that’s rusted to hell and seized up, it’s not fun.

 

There is clearly a muffler in the second shot.

 

Run Forest, Run ! Some of that rust scares me.

 

From the pictures you shared, it does not look like it’s severely rusted out. That said, if you read other threads involving rusty frames (there are plenty), you will find that an important place to check is the boxed section up near the catalytic converters. Also, look for rust jacking/delaminating in the sandwiched areas just behind that. If all of that seems good, then you just need to be aware that salt water has gotten everywhere, and you will have problems with fastener removal whenever you need to work on it – especially things that have never been touched before. And likely corrosion on brake, transmission, power steering lines.

My ‘11 spent some time in the rust belt, and I’ve been through parts of the above since I purchased it. My frame was fine, but didn’t look very nice so I have been slowly rust treating and painting it. Put new calipers on as the old ones were completely rusty and crusty.

If you don’t mind working on it yourself, and dealing with these things as they arise, you may not be in too bad of shape with this one, assuming the mechanicals have been properly maintained. I have to say, though, a coworker just bought a ’12 access cab with 85K on it. I crawled under to take a look at work yesterday, and there is not a speck of rust on that thing anywhere. That’s what you get with a non-rust belt vehicle. If you can hold out and find one like that, that’s worth a trip to go get.

 

Pass on this one and keep looking. Maybe find one where the frame has already been replaced.

 

I wouldn’t buy it without getting my hands on it to inspect better, but those pictures don’t say “no way” to me

 

look at the rocker in the first pic. Trucks a rust bucket.