Rust Question - Am I crazy for passing this up?

[chaileyk5]

Hello!

Long time lurker, first time poster. We bought my wife an 04 LC last year - I love it so much, that I've started looking for one myself.

I found an 04 LX about 2 hours away. The truck has lived in the southeast the past 7 or 8 years (Carolina/Georgia), but it began it's life in the northeast. The current owner said there is a bit of rust on the undercarriage, and he send some pictures. It doesn't look too terrible to me, but I definitely don't want to buy something that will turn into a problem in a few years.

Thoughts and opinions? I can get it at a pretty good price - would I be crazy to pass it up?

Thanks for the input!

 

[chaileyk5]

More pics

 

[chaileyk5]

More pics

 

[FxFormat]

Doesn't look bad at all IMO...looks rather clean to me, put it up on a lift and take a wire brush to all the rusty parts, then seal it off with truck bed coating or something.

 

[taco47001]

What rust?

 

[Scro]

Looks clean to me, I wouldn't pass it up.

 

[jdayment]

Im in the same boat of What rust?

 

[NCFJ]

In New Mexico, I'd pass. Pretty much anywhere else in North America, normal. In the Rust Belt, that's a find.

 

[brando1]

looks good to me

 

[khoaiii]

you will need a new muffler, i just replaced that on my 2007, and the part costs $500 with discount.

 

[AMGAndrew]

To answer the question, yes, you'd be crazy to pass it up if the rust was your only concern. My Florida only LX looks about the same and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again.

 

[toastkid]

In the UK that would be "as new" condition!

 

[geanes]

Are there examples with less rust? I'm sure there are. Is that a LOT of rust? Absolutely NOT. I'd jump on it if everything else checks out. I don't see any major leaks anywhere in the pictures (that's very good). The AHC fluid looks "dark"....definitely check it out and run the graduation test at minimum. The muffler is a relatively inexpensive fix and I wouldn't worry about it personally. Remember to check the brakes (key off, pump brake up to 40x to bleed off pressure, turn key to ACC and time how long recharge takes...should be less than 40 seconds per FSM), confirm when Timing Belt service was done (BIG cost) and check CVs for slinging grease. If all those check out, you are very likely getting a solid LX.

 

[Sherpa100]

That aint Rust This is Rust

This is after 5 hours of wheel brush and corroseal rust converter

 

[Snowrydr01]

I just bought a mildly rusty NE truck and that is way less then mine. Did wire brush and chipped of any flake, VHT rust converter (5 cans) and fluid filmed everything i could find and in every whole (11 cans) and had maybe $200 in materials. dont forget that YOU also live in the rust belt. If it took as many years to get the this state of rust with NO preventative maintenance, I dont doubt you can get another 15 with actually trying to keep it at bay. Even if you found a perfect one, you would still need to do the same yearly pre winter steps to keep it that way.

 

[KLF]

That's not rusty.

But shame on them for letting the engine compartment get that dirty.

 

[4Beast]

Looks fine to me, and I'm pretty picky. Definitely get an oil undercoating.

 

[chaileyk5]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I'll keep you posted!