Rust vs Reward (1 Viewer)

[jroseen]

I found my dream 100 series for what seemed to be a reasonable price (6.6K prob negotiable down to $5800) right near me (New Jersey)

Body looks great. Good color. Ran decently. But... BUT when the snow cleared and I got underneath I was horrified by the rust I saw.

please help, I’m no expert, so is this a run-don’t-walk situation or does the rust not matter / can be remediate at the above price.

 

[JOSHD]

Too far gone. When there are holes in the frame and support beams and crossmembers are about to drop to the ground the vehicles should be scrapped and sold for parts.

 

[jroseen]

Thanks Josh

 

[JunkCrzr89]

 

[Sean9421]

Unless you get that for SUPER cheap, I'd say run away. Believe it or not, all of the frame cross members are still available as service parts. If a section is really rusted, you can cut that part out and weld in the new (OEM toyota) crossmember. However, doing that will most likely cost close to the price of the truck and is rarely worth it.

On a side note, I think I met you the other day at the parts counter. The picture of my truck in your avatar was the give away. Welcome to the site! Keep looking around on here and I'm sure you'll find one in that price range in better shape.

 

[MDK]

Dayum!!! Crispy

 

[Pucker5]

Poke at that spot and any others that look similar, If your poker goes through it, hard pass. Maybe 2500$

also don’t certain states have annual inspections where frame damage to a Certain extent will result in a fail. If your state has that I would be mildly concerned.

 

[jroseen]

Unless you get that for SUPER cheap, I'd say run away. Believe it or not, all of the frame cross members are still available as service parts. If a section is really rusted, you can cut that part out and weld in the new (OEM toyota) crossmember. However, doing that will most likely cost close to the price of the truck and is rarely worth it.

On a side note, I think I met you the other day at the parts counter. The picture of my truck in your avatar was the give away. Welcome to the site! Keep looking around on here and I'm sure you'll find one in that price range in better shape.

Sean, you the man. Indeed. I loved that tire. If only I had chosen a career like yours...

 

[Sean9421]

Sean, you the man. Indeed. I loved that tire. If only I had chosen a career like yours...

Haha, some days... you can have my job! Keep looking and when you find your cruiser I'll hook you up with some wheels and tires

 

[REKCUT]

I don't live in Jersey, but in my world thats a HARD pass.

 

[hoser]

Actually, if those are the main rust issues, it doesn't look too bad for a NJ vehicle. The first pic is a common area... see this thread.

If you plan to wheel this thing, the rear bumper crossmember is remedied by a 4x4labs bumper (or similar), where you cut off the entire crossmember. So just put the cost of that into your calculations.

 

[Sean9421]

Actually, if those are the main rust issues, it doesn't look too bad for a NJ vehicle. The first pic is a common area... see this thread.

If you plan to wheel this thing, the rear bumper crossmember is remedied by a 4x4labs bumper (or similar), where you cut off the entire crossmember. So just put the cost of that into your calculations.

That's true. Upgrade as you replace. Just understand that buying a land cruiser like that you are going to spend the same, if not more repairing/replacing than the purchase price

 

[Somebodyelse5]

Came here to say.... REALLY glad I don't live in NJ. That looks terrible, but I also don't agree with dragging a west coast truck out easy to die a rusty death.

 

[hickuptruck]

Thats not bad. That spot is common for even cruisers in non-salt areas. Crud builds up and has nowhere to go in that exact spot, and makes a hole. This happens in all closed channel frame trucks.

You notice how all of your commenters don't live in rust regions and they've never seen rust? This forum I seriously think can't differentiate from surface rust and actual that car is too far gone kind of rust.

The rear bumper cross member doesn't look great, but you can still run it. Its not structural as you're not towing anything mounted to it. And if it completely goes, well, chop it off and add an aftermarket bumper. They get chopped off when adding a rear bumper.

Seriously, thats not bad at all. Weld that spot back up, and then the rest of the truck looks to be surface rust. Gas tank skid doesn't even look bad. Your pictures aren't great and don't show the whole frame, just one spot. But from what I can see, its not bad. This would certainly be a candidate for a Cruiser you'd drive for 2-5 years and then find another. If you want a lifer Cruiser to keep, no this wont be it.

You didnt give us much details, but its a decent buy for under $6k if everything else checks out.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

You notice how all of your commenters don't live in rust regions and they've never seen rust? This forum I seriously think can't differentiate from surface rust and actual that car is too far gone kind of rust.

Weld that spot back up, and then the rest of the truck looks to be surface rust.

Why? This is a 100, not a 40 or 60. Walk away and buy a rust-free one...

 

[Pucker5]

What year is it? And what year range do you want? 98-02 probably can be had rust free with 200k+ miles for give or take a few doll hairs different than your budget. An 03-07 rust free will probably be 12k+ in today’s market...premium and all.

 

[fjcruising]

There is absolutely a stigma here about rust and running away (and the threat of being cancelled if you disagree) so few will speak up... but... I have to look at this objectively. I know roughly what you are paying for it but I don’t know what the miles are and what the condition of the interior to really put a price tag on it. What I can say, is here in the west coast, you cant find a cruiser with 200k that may need some cosmetic work but is sorted mechanically (with no rust) for under 10k plus... so... in your case, $5k may pay for a lot of rust repair (iffff needed; if not, it will just hurt you in resale; but you kniw that going in...)

What I did see is those Michelin’s are weathered and cracked... good tire deals are available out there but just to put a price tag on it, that is at least $800 to replace them all (with quality tires and labor).

almost answered your poll without going deeper so I can’t fully judge... and yes, the easy route is always to walk but these trucks are getting more rare and more expensive so it’s up to you if you want to gamble the $5k.

 

[CLEcruiser]

There is definitely over active rust paranoia on this forum, but rust is a real pain when working on it. I would say the deciding factor is do you or anyone you know have a welder? If the answer is no, and you will have to pay someone to make repairs It won't be worth it.

 

[jroseen]

There is absolutely a stigma here about rust and running away (and the threat of being cancelled if you disagree) so few will speak up... but... I have to look at this objectively. I know roughly what you are paying for it but I don’t know what the miles are and what the condition of the interior to really put a price tag on it. What I can say, is here in the west coast, you cant find a cruiser with 200k that may need some cosmetic work but is sorted mechanically (with no rust) for under 10k plus... so... in your case, $5k may pay for a lot of rust repair (iffff needed; if not, it will just hurt you in resale; but you kniw that going in...)

What I did see is those Michelin’s are weathered and cracked... good tire deals are available out there but just to put a price tag on it, that is at least $800 to replace them all (with quality tires and labor).

almost answered your poll without going deeper so I can’t fully judge... and yes, the easy route is always to walk but these trucks are getting more rare and more expensive so it’s up to you if you want to gamble the $5k.

220k miles. Interior and body looks good.

 

[KFunk740]

I have a rusty midwest '99 LC. While my frame was relatively solid and considered that the main factor, all the other thin metal rusting parts have been the bigger issue for me. I've now replaced all the brake hard lines (one busted), the rear a/c line (busted multiple places), windshield frame leaked a lot, half-assed patched up my rockers, the fuel hard lines (busted twice), and now the gas tank that started leaking. I still love the thing, and hopefully thats the last of the crucial stuff, but thats been a whole lot of hassle and work to fix.
This LC you're looking at might be weird in that those are the only rusty spots, which might not be too hard to fix with a shadetree welder, but the rest of the stuff would worry me.