How does this frame rust look? Would you buy or stay away?

If you're in New England take a look at this truck. The frame was replaced on the Feb 29th. I drive by it on the way to my daughters day care everyday, looks to be in pretty good shape and only a little more then the one you're looking at.

 

For the right price do it but personally I wouldn't spend over 8k just for the hassle. How many miles are on it, and I would do weekly treatments of saltwater to get a new frame before 2018. The frame is crap, my 81 didn't look half that bad and it was was from Colorado

 

My opinion is any amount of rust is bad but I also live in the south. I would also be concerned with that nice shiny piece of pipe on the exhaust in front of the cat, what is that about? Oh and the moisture on the rear differential.

 

Guys, get over the rust. Under the Toyota warranty, the frame will be replaced for free if it fails the rust test and OP has until 2018 until it expires.

 

If it DOESNT fail, then its good and just needs to be repainted. Not sure what you are getting at

 

You guys shouldn't move to the east coast of Canada, or northern Maine. It's hard to tell by pictures, but that frame looks solid to me. Ya it has rust, but a good soaking of rust chek or krown undercoating and it'll last years. The 2004 I just bought looked worse than that, but beating it with a hammer in various spots showed it was solid. A little rust flake off is normal for a 12 year old truck where I live.

bottom line though, I payed 6k Canadian for mine, so I can live with a little rust on the frame.

He has frame warrenty until 2018, so if it's toast like you all think he'll get everything replaced for free.

 

The only way to know for sure is the ball peen hammer or screw driver test .

My truck looks like that after the first spraying of the liquid brine even having fresh paint every spring.

The frame is the least of my concerns it would be the brake and fuel lines that would be more of a pain to me.

Myself I think $12.000.00 is way to much

Then I don`t need any more Toyota 4x4`s

 

At this point in time until Totoya proves that they have fixed the frame rust problem I would stay away from any Tacoma regardless of the year and regardless of whether Toyota was willing to replace the frame. We are really letting them off much too easy. That said the frame doesn't look any worse than mine so if you really want it make sure you get it for a good price and oil the crap out of it and make sure you get inside that foolish boxed in section.

 

Then people should not buy Tacoma`s till around 2030 to see if the 2016 frames hold up as well as the one in my 2000 that went 14 winters.

Then if no one buys them they won`t get driven so you would need to put it off another 15 years

I wonder My tires showed some dry rot after 20 years out in the Sun New tires for all !!!

 

That shiny piece looks like a patch on the exhaust pipe that is part of the cat. Mine is exactly the same. Cat still works (no codes) but the pipe rusted through at that same point. The rest of the pipe is solid. I wrapped some 18 gauge around it, welded the F out of it, and 2 years later its holding strong.

 

Definitely try the ball peen hammer test, usually the frame is thin on the inner passenger side just forward of the front leaf spring hanger.
If it perforates the frame easily then Toyota will replace the frame for you especially since it had the inspection and undercoating in 2010.
That is probably top dollar for a Tacoma with a new frame though.

 

Ive seen 2012s with more rust then that truck here. A 1st gen tacoma is a pretty rare vehicle here probably because most have rotted away.

 

A frame like that for $12k--or 11.5 or even 11--no way. The whole thing smells, and reminds me of another dealer scheme I saw here a while ago. Why bother?

 

Hey OP - how did this turn out? What was your decision? I'm from a small town in central Ontario where we get a lot of snow and use a lot of salt and sand. Any 5 year old truck where I live would look like the photos. I didn't see any perforation, scaling or degradation. Since Toyota has inspected the frame and has it in their program, I wouldn't worry about it, personally. I'd bet that if you swung a hammer at anything in the photos it would sound like solid steel. IMHO.
It would look better if it was pressure washed and unpainted. I don't know why dudes think that by changing the colour of rusty metal with a coat of cheap paint, that they are somehow slowing down the oxidative process.

 

If you have to ask.... stay away