Should I Buy This '06 w/Surface Frame Rust?

I live in VT where they salt the roads pretty liberally. I am looking at buying an '06 Double Cab with 128k miles. Just by the side of a small road and has not been advertised on Craigslist or EBay (I watch these carefully). Clean on top, surface rust on frame. They guy is selling it for his dad who moved out of state and it will be traded in tomorrow.

His price on the For Sale sign began at $14,500 and ended at $11,500. I offered him $10,500 and he accepted. I gave him a $100 deposit which he will likely give back if I bail.

So, should I buy, wait for a frame recall (not holding my breath), wire brush and coat it with rust inhibitor - or just walk away?

See photos (which always seem look like worse than when you are looking firsthand).

Thanks,

BB

 

Here is another photo.

 

My ipad won't let me upload more than one photo!

 

Another photo.

 

That looks deeper than just surface rust.

 

^ X2

 

I've seen far worse but I'm in New England too. For that kind of money I would buy it. But I would check the frame on the inside rails next to the converters. That's where the second gens seem to be rotting out when they are really bad. I sold an 05 Double Cab last fall that was a little rough around the edges for 12 grand and felt like I gave it away. If you could buy this for 10 and clean up and paint that frame properly and then get the truck oil undercoated you should get many more years out of it. I paid about 5 grand more than that for the 05 I have now but I bought it from a dealer and it is absolutely cherry.

 

I would've passed. Too much rust for me. I don't care how appealing of a price it is. Already threads on here of people having rust issues in salted areas. This truck looks not much different from theirs.

 

I passed on a truck that didn't look half that bad. I would keep looking!

 

Thanks for the advice! certainly easier to just walk away. Yeah, the price is tempting because I don't have another $4k to get a clean one. I have no doubt I can clean it up and coat it sufficiently. The questions are:

Will it still have the potential for structural failure, and if so where (spring mounts?) and will that be prohibitively expensive to fix (and would it be cheaper in the long run to buy a clean one inititially?)?

Will the resale value drop so much that I lose a ton of money in three years when I sell it?

Will people just walk when they see the rust?

 

That looks comparable to my 06, take a ball pin hammer and tap the frame to test the structure. If its just surface, you can easily wire brush it off and coat the frame in bedliner or something.

 

I guess at $10,500 with a couple of hundred in cleaning and coating, I'm still in a much better position than folks who bought new.

 

damn, I'd pass

 

That looks pretty bad. Mine was no where near that bad and it took me a long time to sandblast and coat the frame. That frame would take a tremendous amount of work to salvage if you plan on keeping it for more than a couple years. Having said that, you could look at it from another perspective and hope for a Toyota frame recall.

 

Everyone telling you to pass is from a state outside the rust belt. That looks slightly worse than my '05. Looks to be all surface, but you never know. It looks like a putty knife and assorted wire brushes will clean that up nicely, followed up by rust killing paints and maybe some Fluid Film yearly. Check the spot welds on the floor pans, those are a weak point on the body.

Someone else also advised that right near the downpipe cats is a weak spot in the frame. There is a rectangular hole there that seems to be the point of a lot of perforation damage.

Check the cab mounts right behind the front wheels. You can see them just behind the front splash guards. Use your finger and check around in the cab mount boxed area. You'll be able to feel if its packed with sand and rusted where it is welded to the frame.

 

Agent Smith - that's funny! Didn't even notice that. It seems very subjective here. Some peopl want nothing to do with rust and other just get out the brush and coating and deal with it. Certainly hard to swallow when you lay out $10k, though.

I just left a message with the guy that I'm bailing. Now you've got me having second thoughts!

 

Crap, he just called me back and dropped the price to $10k. Now what?

 

For that price clean the rust off and coat it.

 

You've already made your mind up to bail so you have no emotions invested in it. Offer him $9,300 final offer due to "heavy rust" If he takes it you get a good deal, if he passes, you are where you are now.

 

Go back with a hammer, a flat head screwdriver, flashlight and a tarp. Lay on the tarp, test the frame, look at all those spots we have given you a heads up on. I'd pull the dipstick and see how clean the oil is, open the radiator cap see if its topped off with neon pink fluid, same with the over flow. Start that bitch up, see if it smokes. Test drive it, and make sure you put in 4 wheel Hi and follow the steps to put it in low. Then make a serious offer. That amount of rust looks daunting, but from what you've posted for pictures I see no perforations, it's just what we deal with in this area of the country.