Rusting through under gas tank
Upfront--this is my husband's car, not mine and I am not a mechanic. We have a 2004 4Runner that we bought used in 2005; it had 35K in mileage; it currently has less than 85K. It is a GREAT car and we have been very happy with it mechanically. Over the time we have owned it it has developed a severe rust problem. The problem has gotten critical and apparently the piece of metal holding up the gas tank is getting very bad. Is there anything that can be done other than sell it for parts? I did some reading and found that Tacoma trucks had a small buyback several years; the buyback was one limited to certain years, apparently but Toyota did extend a rust warranty. I really, really hate to have to buy a new car/used car right now but I do not want to drive/ride in one that is inherently unsafe.
We do live in an area [NC mountains] where brine is used on the roads during the winter but with an average of less than 10K miles driven each year the rust seems a little extreme to me. I do not know if it was undercoated when we bought it. We bought a new RAV4 in 2003 that we sold last year; it had about 60K on it and no rust problems. That was my car and I probably drove it less during the winter but it seems like it would have also been afflicted.
Any info you can provide is really appreciated. Our mechanic [we do not use Toyota for anything but recalls and things that only they can do] identified the rust; he also serviced my old RAV4.
We do live in an area [NC mountains] where brine is used on the roads during the winter but with an average of less than 10K miles driven each year the rust seems a little extreme to me. I do not know if it was undercoated when we bought it. We bought a new RAV4 in 2003 that we sold last year; it had about 60K on it and no rust problems. That was my car and I probably drove it less during the winter but it seems like it would have also been afflicted.
Any info you can provide is really appreciated. Our mechanic [we do not use Toyota for anything but recalls and things that only they can do] identified the rust; he also serviced my old RAV4.
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