Just got a 100 series, is this rust too bad? (1 Viewer)

[jbear]

I have come into possession of a 2002 LC that has 150k miles on it and I am very excited! My last car was a Rav4 which was great, but boring. The LC has spent its entire life being pampered. However, it has been in Minnesota and has accumulated some serious rust. I am going to bring it to Denver in the next month, and I am wondering if it is worth spending 2k at a bodyshop to get some of the rust dealt with. Any suggestions are appreciated! I have attached a few photos.

 

[FxFormat]

Lord have mercy

 

[YardPig]

We don't have rust here but that doesn't look that bad. What do the front stabilizer bar frame mounts look like? Others will chime in with other problem area's on the frame.
Might get away with a good coating of zero rust or por15 or something similar to neutralize it somewhat...Then hit it with Fluid Film or Krown of something to deep creep into where you can't see. Unfortunately rust sometimes starts from the inside out.

What does the body look like is another question...

 

[a_traut_man]

Holy rustmoly.
Is the body showing signs of rust? Any structural members showing signs of rusting through? from the pictures it looks like a lot of heavy surface rust. I don't think i would pay anyone to try dealing with it. love it with the rust or make some rust remediation a weekend project?

 

[FxFormat]

Let's hope you'll never have to re-index that torsion bar because damn.

 

[jLB]

This is one of those times that I really appreciate where I live, and the fact that just doesn't happen here, unless you lose your car in a body of water, and forget about it for a few years.

When we were looking for my son's TLC, we went to look at a 2003, ~100K, good body, beautiful interior, priced about the same as the 2000-2001 models we were looking at. One look underneath, and I couldn't leave fast enough. The guy kept asking "At what price are you willing to do a deal today?". Your vehicle looks very similar to this 2003 we looked at, which had spent it's life in Wisconsin (I believe).

This could be perfectly normal for your area, but for someone that lives way down south, where we shut down everything at the first rumor of a snowflake, it's scary!

 

[Kabanstva]

Looks about right for a Minnesota truck. They all look like that around here unless you got lucky (like me) and bought one that was winter stored or out of state).

+1 on checking the front sway bar brackets (that are welded to the frame) to make sure its safe. Also inspect the rear AC lines as that's a problem area on these trucks. The AC lines rot away from corrosion. You want to check the brackets that hold the AC lines as that's where they'll eventually break and leak.

 

[vman07]

Don't worry about it.

 

[G-Cat]

Rust Converter Aerosol

Provided there is no structural damage an once you have the moving parts addressed, get a case of this and hose it down.

 

[lhommec13]

I always wonder why people ask if it's too much rust AFTER they already bought it and brought it home. It's almost like they're looking for a reason to question their purchase/decision.

As for this particular example, yes that is a lot of rust. But considering it's a 2002 from MN, it looks about the way I'd expect it to, similar to my 2002 in MA. Like the other said above, check certain key areas for vulnerability and know that any work you do on the underside will be a bit more of a PITA with rusty bolts, nuts, etc. Not worth spending $2000 to clean up, IMO. Better to save that for future repairs, which are more or less inevitable.

 

[LEX]

I've seen worse. Just curious, what is the body shop going to do about that rust that's going to cost you $2k?

 

[bgolf247]

You can wire brush and grind down to fresh metal whereever you can get to, treat the metal and then paint with POR-15. Then fluid film where you can't. Depends on what you are hoping to get out of it.

 

[bucktownturtle]

I've seen a lot worse. My 4runner was so bad that the frame rotted out and i had to have it welded up. I would say to just start treating it as the others have suggested. to me it looks more like surface rust. the metal doesnt appear to be flaking. maybe try to get some sort of rust converter inside the frame though? as others said it can rust from the inside out.