A friend of mine just got a vehicle, "clean" toyota sienna 1998 (o gbe goon) he came to the office to display his new baby, we took her for a spin she drove well a/c was chilling cabin was quiet no strange sounds all seemed fine, I happened to notice his abs light was on so I told him he had an abs issue and I would help him check it out over the weekend, long story short, I ran the scan, error was "left rear sensor open" I told my self this was easy would just check harness of sensor and if ok replace sensor open and shut case 30mins tops job would be complete. little did I know how my friends smile would change very soon. I placed the jacked underneath the car and started winding and I noticed the jack was just causing a dent in the body so I thought well minor rust, I removed the jack and placed it on the suspension and jacked it up, placed a support under the chassis and went straight to the abs sensor, I noticed a lot of rust in the suspension area, the brake lines, bolts, hangers for the abs harness were so rusty that they were hanging on to the harness instead of the other way around, fuel tank was rusty and was looking wet in one area, metal pipes leading to the tank were also rusty not just your mild rust I'm talking evil rust! I called him to come and see and he was shocked! Even the abs sensor bolt was so rusted and all the edges were smooth and the only way to replace it was replacing the entire hub. Long story short the car is parked at a dealers place now he has lost interest in the car after I educated him about rust.

Niralanders before you buy ANY car as long as its not "brand new" please remove that big man attitude drive to a pit and inspect the bottom of that car in the absence of a pit, jack it up place a support beneath it that is capable of supporting the vehicles weight in case the jack slips, fold your sleeves get 2 floor mats and go and see the under of the car urself. If there's excessive rust, its not worth it, someone would end up buying my friends sienna and will think he got a good deal only to find out he has to chisel and cut and buy whole parts (e.g if he has a leaking exhaust today I'm sure he would have to change the entire exhaust) before any part under the car would come off when its time for replacement. Please let us pass this message on to friends so they don't fall into the same trap.
[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ8kCNCHQBVKAde9JWxNE40lhnIXU8ek99EwypdZQw7axAJNiRfcbUaiy0[/img]

[img]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQH-S-kcOcKtWrqPEhaiZrnzOiOZAOTBSxV4zaCi3H-M2dQJe0V7x1bl59X2w[/img]

The pictures are just examples my friends car was worse.

Lol u4got 2mention d price,

useful tips! thanks for sharing!

Good topic bro, I never skip that check. In fact that's my second check after checking for obvious and/or hidden tell tale signs of accident.

Noted. I'll watch out when buying mine.

derrick333:
Lol u4got 2mention d price,

The price? Its not my car. But ill ask him later.

Nice one bro.Thanks for the info

GAZZUZZ:


The price? Its not my car. But ill ask him later.

Yes Na,mayb d car was so cheap