rusting? on a 2012 tacoma

Looking for a used gen2 access cab and stumbled across this 2012. The rest of the truck looks pretty much mint, but it's on the East Coast and I'm worried about frame rust. Haven't owned a Tacoma so was wondering what you all thought about this. Looks like it might be rust-coated over but maybe I'm mistaken? Would love advice

 

That’s been sprayed to cover the rust
Don’t buy it unless you can do an in person inspection, know exactly what you are getting in to and it’s the right price

If you are in an area that rust isn’t an issue, just walk away

 

If it's actual undercoating, walk. Every bit of rust already there will now rust even faster because water can no longer evaporate.

 

The fact that it was painted over to hide it is a huge redflag that that truck was owned by a dishonest person, so who knows what else may be wrong with it that was not addressed properly. Huge pass.

 

Paint over rust. Excellent job by previous owner.

 

I would never buy a truck from the East Coast even if I lived on the EC. I agree with the others and would walk away.

 

Definitely sprayed over, you can see evidence of that on the shock.

 

Love the blacked out shock!

 

Is there any rust protection that anyone knows of that can actually be applied to existing rust? Like to stop it from spreading or am I making stuff up? Haha

 

Yes, but most used trucks for sale will just be spray painted or undercoated to hide the rust.

If you were to take on this project yourself, you’ll want to remove the bed and cab from the frame and properly clean, prep, and treat the entire frame.

 

Only acceptable under coat is OIL-BASED under coat

Fluid film, wool wax.

Dont accept anything else like paint or rubberized. Ask the seller what kind of undercoat that is, from pics looks like bubbly paint/rubber cover up

 

Run away from that one

 

I'm from the East coast, and my advice is to RUN, not walk away.