Is rust underneath a car surface or structural?
It is very difficult to tell just by looking if rust underneath a vehicle is only on the surface or something structural. Because people cannot gauge how bad the damage is, they struggle to decide if the car is worth the hassle of buying, especially when a shop quotes $2,000 to fix what appears to be a minor issue.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Taking the car to a mechanic for a physical inspectionDid this help you?
- 2Posting photos online for community opinionsDid this help you?
- 3Buying the vehicle and ignoring the cosmetic rust on the bodyDid this help you?
- 4Focusing the inspection on the vehicle's undercarriage rather than the topDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Hello, should I buy this Tacoma with what appear like a not too big rust issue? A shop quote $2000 without windshield if it breaks. Not sure it it’s worth the hassle.”source ↗
“I noticed some rust underneath and I can't tell if it's just surface rust or something structural. How bad is it?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 19How to assess car damage and talk to a mechanic remotely
- 24Is used truck frame rust fixable or should I walk away?
- 11Is chunky oil buildup a dealbreaker on a used car?
- 7How to inspect a used car yourself without looking clueless
- 7Found damage on a used car after buying it from a dealership
- 6Is my car totaled?