We are looking at buying this car. It has 65,000 miles and has some rust on the undercarriage. Everything else looks great. Has a clean carfax report and is selling Honda certified. It was originally from NJ (now down in Texas) so we’re assuming this is the reason for the rust. Looking online we’ve found mixed answers on if this should be a concern. So…should we be concerned or is this normal and nothing to be worried about?
I would get a good mechanic to do an entire inspection of this vehicle before you even consider buying it. In my opinion, a Carfax report is worthless and Honda certified is not much better. I think this may possibly be a vehicle that was in a flood.
While there is some snow in NJ, it is nothing like upstate NY and upper mid west. Most cars in NJ aren’t rust free after 5 years, but the rust should be surface at best and not compromise the car. I’m not sure I’m buying the salespersons story. It sounds like the car might have spent more time in areas of heavy snow and road salting.
I’d have a good body shop examine the rust to determine extent of the rust and if any critical parts are rusting. If there are other cars without rust you might look at them. The good thing about Texas is the rust shouldn’t get much worse over the next few years.
My late father used to say “there will always be cars”. Walk away from this one. You can find something better.
We really like it, so I think we’ll take the advice of having a mechanic look at it. If they don’t give it the ok, we’ll walk away.
Honda Pilots are good SUVs. I’ll bet there are other Honda Pilots available. As I remember, the Honda Pilot is a unibody, so you are wise to have it checked out by a mechanic. If he gives it a thumbs down, you will be able to find another one.
Very light surface rust is not a problem but if it appears to be a bit more serious than that you should run from this vehicle.
Do not rely on Carfax as being accurate or complete and don’t put too much faith into the word “certified” either.
Both of those words are suspect.
It seems to be light surface rust from what we can tell. We do need to have someone more qualified check though since we’re not experts by any means.
I don’t put “too” much trust in certified, but it does come with a warranty which is more than most other used vehicles offer!
I have light surface on many parts of my undercarriage on my 4runner and my wifes Lexus…It’s NOT uncommon here in NH. It really depends on how much rust and where.
My Opinions:
I Live In The Rust/Salt Belt. Folks From Here Go To All The Way To Texas And Other StatesTo Buy Rust-Free Cars. Lucky You.
Don’t Buy One Imported With Rust.
Rock salt gets dumped on roads and mixes with melting snow/ice. That crap (literally salt water) goes everywhere when one drives through it and it sprays into a mist. The cars here turn white in the “winter” 6 months.
There’s probably some salt residue and rust lurking where you can’t see it, inside frame members and body panels, etcetera. It’s still doing its thing and gets a little reactivation once in a while when it ever rains there or the car is washed.
Forget about it - The car, not the rust. Keep fishing. I like the warranty on Certified Pre-Owned, too. Find a different one. You’ll sleep better.
CSA
While I’d say you can’t buy a car from New Jersey with out surface rust on it, I would question how it got to Texas? Normally cars showing up in Minnesota from New Jersey have been repaired after being totaled out and were bought at action.