warning - New Landcruiser Rust problems

hi
it appears these days before taking delivery of a new vehicle one needs to craw underneath it in a pair of overalls with a camer to make sure we don't get ripped off or duped it's digusting the way customers are taken for granted by dealers /stealers

Hi, I bought a 79 series single cab in June 2013, It was the same, almost identical to yours. I took it back at the first service and showed them. When I got it back they had painted it black. I was not concerned about it at all, just seeing if they would fix it and they did.
Is this your own vehicle?

Cheers

yea its mine

You. I like you.

Hey Buddy, that's a bit harsh!

The poor bloke has spent a large amount of his wage slave coinage on a new car only to have it not meet expectations.

Lots of people here use their vehicles in the bush and do nothing but routine maintenance at the local auto supermarket.

The bloke didn't buy any of your mentioned black top cruisers, he bought a state of the art bush legend only to find it rusting away in hours!

Continually re-coating the underside of your car and caravan makes you sound like a 70's era Franklin owner towed by a Mahindra!

Lighten up there old buddy, we are all here for the fun and entertainment.

Geoff

thanks geoff, you are a top bloke.

Ah.. Big rock... Had my prado in there, for just an oil and filter change... I waited while they did it... The dint they put in the front left guard was free... I should have gone out with the service guy and had a look, when I saw it written on the job card...before I paid the bill..

This is not a new observation folks.
Look in just about any new car yard where they have cab chassis vehicles and you will find some surface rust.
I would rather see it then have them cover it up.
Whatever you do, don't take it off road.

Anyone buying a new car will be treated like idiots. Every car manufacturer does it. Toyota doesn,t have the monopoly.

Can of spray on fish-oil, 5 minutes work and forget about it. Its a 4wd not a Ferrari..

Daale

I agree with your principle, but really, this is not a serious issue. If all there is is what's shown in the photos I think if I were you I'd fix it myself - wire brush, a bit of neutraliser and some self-priming enamel should do the trick.

I think if you pursue this the dealer will give you a bad rep, label you as a vexatious client, and possibly you will find it harder to get a sympathetic ear for a bigger warranty issue.

Just my take on it.

Cheers

thanks Frank.

I did take the liberty of fixing it myself. was much easier than going to and back from toyota. was just annoyed with them. And atleast i know its a good job now.

you want something done right these days you gotta do it yourself ;)

Daale, Now I understand why you are so worried about a few small areas of surface rust, you wrap your car in plastic before going bush to protect it, LOL

once i was painting under my patrol and after i noticed all these tiny little specks of paint up the sides. over spray goes everywhere.

I can appreciate how anal you are in protecting your 4wd, but if you don't intend to go offroad, maybe a Commodore would be a nicer car..

I've never had overspray from using a can of spray paint on the chassis area....

I do intend to go off-road. That's why I want painted it. Helps reduce the corrosion from been on the beach etc.

The lights didn't comply with ADRs because of the rear mounted spare wheel, so they had to put lights on the bumper in Australia.

LOL!, I reckon your right Notso, Landrover have had this rust problem sorted for sixty years!,.. the others just cant keep up .


Cheers Axle.

Or any where the road has not been swept by a large group of peasants on hand and knees using toothbrushes to ensure no nasty pebble could jump up and scrape a bit of paint …… or after rain or heaven forbid in the rain ,might just get the undercarriage wet ,, shades of 'Ted Bullpitt ' not the Kingswood , ' I just polished the dipstick '.

i boo your comment

i took it to the dealer

the service manager didnt even want to stick his head under their.

Forgot to add that to fully understand why these parts are not painted, one must first understand the assembly process.

Take the flanges on the transfer box.... having painted surfaces before assembly will result in a soft joint which in time has the potential to loosen as the paint wears off and cause a drive line clunk through movement between the two mating surfaces.

To "touch up" after assembly in the factory is not feasible either. No vehicle manufacture will introduce a paint process in or around painted bodies for fear of introducing overspray. The driveline is assembled right next to where the painted bodies are on the assembly line having the trim installed.

Other parts prone to be paint free are the areas on which the body sits while on the carrier in the assembly plant. The areas on the diff are likely to be where the diff sits during the driveline assembly process.

I understand your disappointment but in this case, other than the dealer doing a touch up in good faith (which they won't be able to claim back the cost from Toyota), your best option is to do exactly what you've done. Do it yourself.

Fab.

thanks for the educated response. Yeah disc rotors obviously they go rusty and it gets rubbed off when you drive the car, thats been run of the mill stuff for years. if the flanges cant be painted because they go loose when the paint thins out then thats a functional reason for them not to be painted.

under the spring perches and the inside of the control arm mountings on the diff aren't painted, it almost looks like the diff is painted after assembly for that reason. the steal there isnt even that thick. would kinda be the same if ARB didnt paint the back of their bullbars because no one sees that area.

The pictures you see were only surface corrosion at this stage it pretty much just rubbed off. how would it be after a few trips to the beach? it would take atleast fifty thousand kays for this paint to be rubbed off and then the signs off surface corrosion would begin.

The control arms and the chassis are so nicely painted. I dont understand why the diff isn't, i seriously thought it was out of another vehicle or toyota had forgotten to paint it.

if this is run of the mill qaulity these days then whatever but I'm not the only one who thought it was a bit bizarre.

xyz

xyz

if i had posted on this forum first maybe i wouldnt have even called toyota. The opinions are so different.

i'd be interested to know what you reckon of this incident

xyz

G'day Daale,
Interesting read and video clip.

I can't comment on the specifics of this blokes case, especially where the clutches are concerned.

As for the corrosion, I note the upload date of the video as 2012. Wasn't there a Tsunami in 2011 in Japan? Maybe there may have been some sort of contamination there.

Regardless, all imported cars come into Australia via boat. Things to consider are how long they sit at the wharf prior to loading, whether they are shipped direct or trans-shipped and how long they sit at the wharf in Australia.Check the build date of your car against when it was Aus complianced.

Once upon a time, imported cars were sprayed with a wax compound to protect them. These days, plastic wrap is used to protect the "A" class surfaces with does not include any of the underside. It's a cost saving all manufacturers use. The wax was time consuming to remove.

Just some food for thought.
Fab.

The only date i could find under the hood says 04/15.

Sitting on the wharfs will make the untreated areas discolor with surface rust but isnt really an excuse for a large amount of unpainted surfaces which was my concern.

The video clip shows rust in the same places as mine. they obviously went untreated. Not sure how a tsunami affected vehicle would make it through QC and all the way here -maybe but its a long shot. Maybe he just flogged it on the beach and never washed it.

"Firstly, that's surface corrosion, hardly EVER going to be a problem."

Surface corrosion isn't the issue its what it turns into down the track that had me worried. A lot of the feedback on this forum has been kindly put that it wont affect the life of the vehicle, I am relieved to have that kind of feedback but in my experience living in WA a lot of my weekenders involve going to the beach, exposed surfaces like this get heavily corroded very quickly. Personally i would prefer a little more protection than a cans of wd40 for me new cruiser. The less exposed steel surfaces the less corrosion, simple. If its already painted it just means all i have to do is wash it when i get home.

My dad bought a ten year old nissan patrol ute which had rusted through the chassis in one spot, we had to cut that section out and re weld in a new steel section. Not sure how it got so bad but we put it down to alot of sandy beach work and perhaps not enough preventative maintenance by the previous owner. Sure chassis can have thinner steel than the parts i have shown but not so not sure how much i can agree with your comment.

"Secondly, I doubt painting it will be of any long term benefit. Stone chips will take care of that."

mate that's alot of stone chips to uncover all that paint. my bonnet and bull bar will be up for a respray very soon if that is the case.

"Thirdly, I doubt ANY manufacturer doesn't have corrosion of equivalent parts."

A relief for me if true. Still haven't seen another month old car with more unpainted or corroded surfaces bigger than a 50c piece in any one area- brakes aside. As mentioned earlier my dads 10 yr old bt-50 had no signs. a mate bought a ford ranger the same time i bought my car, will check it out tomorrow night. hopefully you are right and I see something similiar to mine.

"With all due respect mate, I reckon the mechanic would have had a hard time keeping a straight face over this one"

Geez your rude hey. I sent the photos through to the dealer when i was unsure about what to think of it all, the dealer told me to bring it down straight away. Got down there the mechanic told me they get a lot of concerned customer's bringing them back like this all the time, although toyota wont do anything about it so he was reluctant to do the inspection or even take a glance and just wasted my time. It Made sense to me at this stage why they were so desperate to sell me a rust protection kit when i bought the car.