Rust!

[malosiaga]

I'm considering buying a truck. Asking price is $13k. Pictured are some rusty areas the seller sent. I understand it's difficult to know how extensive it is from a picture. If it's not any worse than it appears in the pictures, is the rust deal breaker bad? If anyone can, please give me an idea what it would cost to patch. When I say patch, I'm not interested in having the areas repainted unless it's necessary. I just don't want the rust to spread any further. Thanks.

[Killer Bee]

I'm no expert on body work but I'm pretty familiar with rust.. there's no way of getting around any respectable repairs without paint..

I would expect to find massive amounts of filler in those areas that really need sheet metal or complete panel replacement.. what do the other areas of the truck look like?

if you're not able to inspect it in person, I would be very cautious and expect the worst and hope for the best.. Joe just uncovered a rust scam on ebay in the 67-72 section craigslist finds thread..

can't really speak to the price without knowing anything about the truck other than it's a rusty lowered square body..

good luck!

[sweetk30]

That level of rust and 13k = HARD PASS if it was me .

There is going to be a lot of work and hidden stuff .

[TKCR]

It would almost be a pass for me too, with the areas of rust. Can the rust be fixed? Absolutely, but to pay $13,000 for a truck and have to fix all those area, I wouldn’t do it. And just seeing the very little sections of pics of the truck and not the whole truck. There are other things I’m seeing that I would have a hard time forking out $13,000. One is that big dent in the door. Another is all the molding trim is crooked as a dog leg. If someone can’t put the effort into putting the trim on straight, then my guess, they have half assed other work.
When I bought my truck, my Dad told me to take a Strong Magnet, which I had one, and it would pull just cupping it in my hand and running my fist on all the metal. I didn’t find any hidden rust. He said it could look good, but if they had used a lot of bondo to hide the rust, then the magnet wouldn’t pull. But your not able to do that since the truck is elsewhere. I would be curious to see more pics of this truck. Just seeing these pics, looks like they put lipstick on a pig, and they are looking to make a bundle of money.
Good luck.

[mongocanfly]

i would pass..unless theres something really special about the truck...
what you see, multiply by 10...gonna need a good deal of bodywork and paint

[Dead Parrot]

Not an expert.
What I see is a truck that was rusty and had a new paint job thrown over it without properly fixing the rust. Very likely that within a year or so of purchase, other paint areas will start bubbling up. 2nd the thoughts on the crooked trim.

Assume that the rusty areas you see are much larger under the paint and the paint just hasn't fallen off yet.

My guess is someone bought this for a low price, did a quick paint job, tossed on some shiny bits and are trying to flip for a good profit. Possible the current owner is now realizing they got took and is trying to pass on the problem.

[kipps]

That amount of rust would be normal or better than normal on a k20 farm truck in Virginia. The kind of truck you buy for $1500 to start a build.

But on a $13k truck that you intend to drive as-is, it's pretty bad. For that price, I would want it to be almost immaculate.

[malosiaga]

Thank you all for your advice. I'm definitely not interested in a money pit. I've attached pictures of the entire truck for those of you that are curious. Been hunting for something with dual tanks, AC, power windows and locks. This one checked those boxes. Hoping to find something with original paint and some natural patina. Just want to drive it around and enjoy it. Don't want a show truck.

[old Rusty C10]

cab corners are a fact of life with squares the parts are cheap but unless youre doing it yourself, figure each of those corners are about $1000 in a shop , assuming they just do the outer piece, more if they have to patch the inner cab corner too those patches are also available for the bed bvut again cut out patch if they put rust preventative/neutralizer its another thousand for that bigger hole and several hundred for the smaller one id say you have professionally three to five thousand in repair ( including paint) and id value that truck somewhere as is in the $5000-7000 range

[truckin 79]

Well you live in GA so there is bound to be rust in vehicles of that year, take that into consideration. Since you do live GA that rust will only get worse with the humidity. The trim of these trucks almost invite rust to happen. The worst of the rust is in the cab but the rest of the truck looks decent. The bubbling rust is like a volcano and underneath is where the worst of the rust sits waiting to erupt. I say you probably have a year or two before the rust really pops out and says hello

[71gmcC15]

If its shiny it scares me. Lol. This is a good story to go with this and and applies to this pickup. I was lo ok long at a sigle cab long box 05 chevy wt. Nothing fancy just something to drive to work and back. Anyway the pictures online looks pretty good. Had fender flares so I was skeptical anyway I whent and looked at it in person a quick workaround and it didn't look bad. Then i started to relay look and i noticed a peace of the cab coner paint was peeling. Then I touched and a huge chunk of bondo fell out. I got I'm my pickup and drive way. I figured if thare trying to hide that then what els are they hiding. I rather see the rust not cover up. A honest pickup if you will. Like I said shiny scares me.lol

[dagnabbitt]

The cab corners are the worst, it doesn't look like much but as others have noted it is labour intensive to do those.

[malosiaga]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I will pass on this one and keep looking.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by malosiaga

Thanks everyone for your replies! I will pass on this one and keep looking.

Looking at the other photos you posted, it’s a pretty truck, until you get the close up pics on the rust. It’s a shame.

[jkk]

Run Forest Run

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by jkk

Run Forest Run

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by jkk

Run Forest Run

Run Fromrust Run!

[Corts60]

Hard pass with that amount of rust.