Extremely rusty engine bay on 2 year old truck

I’m thinking the previous owner had the bad luck of driving on a road while it was raining, right after a maintenance truck had laid down brine in anticipation of a snow storm. If it was a hard rain the splash from potholes etc could have reached the engine compartment. During the winter I get splash reaching all over my engine compartment, even to the top of the plastic engine cover.
 
I use a 50/50 mix of Simple Green and water....3 or 4 times a year. Almost 6 years old and nothing rusted or damaged from it.

Simple Green is pretty effective but gentle.

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Yikes! I live in MN where they use brine/salt and our 2015 Rav4 doesn't have any rust under the hood like that. Engine bay has also never ben washed.

There is more than likely some unknown history on his truck, that rust is pretty accelerated. What does the underside of the truck look like? I believe a majority of the Taco's suspension is stamped steel, I'd be worried about that as well.
 
Couple more pics up close. Upon further inspection they don’t look too bad, although not good either. It’s mainly the hose clamps that are nasty. Under the truck everything is clean besides the brake line fittings which are in the same condition as the clamps. Very odd. I really think toyota got a bad batch of metal for this truck. Some clamps have rust and others look pristine, but all the factory markings look untouched.

I do like the truck though.

Did you upset anyone at the dealer?

Did you negotiate a really hard bargain, such that the dealer made little profit on the vehicle?

Did you refuse to purchase aftermarket equipment?

"What are you suggesting NDL?"

I am suggesting nothing :)

Either Toyota sourced bad metal on a bunch of unrelated parts; the vehicle was prepped, someone made an honest mistake, left degreaser on the parts too long, orrrrrr....

That it's a NY truck is wholly irrelevant; I lived in NY for most of my life, and have yet to come across something that bad.

I wouldn't mess with it; I would get Toyota involved, and have them replace the parts. The vehicle is under warranty; if you start messing with the finish on parts, could it be said that you did something to affect your warranty? I don't know.

The clamps are nothing, but that PS pump needs to be dealt with.
 
Couple more pics up close. Upon further inspection they don’t look too bad, although not good either. It’s mainly the hose clamps that are nasty. Under the truck everything is clean besides the brake line fittings which are in the same condition as the clamps. Very odd. I really think toyota got a bad batch of metal for this truck. Some clamps have rust and others look pristine, but all the factory markings look untouched.

I do like the truck though.
Dang! My 2019 V6 Tacoma is spotless with just some surface rust on some raw cast parts underneath.

MY guess is this truck was parked ocean front. For a year. Underneath OK, salt mist spray/condensate blew in front ways.......I would only bought the dog 4 banger for a very a substantial discount.
 
Must be a Tacoma thing. Now, while my 2nd gen is 11 years old, it has the same type of rusting. Kinda of hard to tell as this is the only picture I have (when I was doing a TB cleaning), but you can tell all the clamps have the same type of rust:

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Basically from what I've noticed is the engine bay gets alot of spray from underneath, and if you don't take care cleaning it off it will start to have surface rust issues. Hell even the oil filter gets a layer of salt spray! The 3rd gens have the exact same layout under the hood minus the engine difference. Every pulley, clamp, bracket, etc. on mine has it. My trucks been through 2 previous owners, 1 being a "beach bum" so it has seen a good bit salt.
 
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I have a newer Toyota Avalon, my engine bay looks similar...not as bad as yours but similar. Toyota must have went to the lowest bidder on clamps and brackets for the engine department and spent the extra on the frame covering/coating. Lol

I wouldn’t “worry” about it, like someone else said...you can replace those clamps easily and chances are the power steering reservoir will still last forever (while looking ugly).
And speaking of power steering reservoir??? That truck still has hydraulic power steering? Everything I’ve seen for the last 3-4 years has gone electric steering. That thing is a 2018?
 
I use a 50/50 mix of Simple Green and water....3 or 4 times a year. Almost 6 years old and nothing rusted or damaged from it.

Simple Green is pretty effective but gentle.

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That engine is beautiful, I don’t know where you live, but I imagine it’s not in a rust belt state. Even cleaning an engine twice a year isn’t going to give your type of results in a rust belt state.

Sadly I speak from experience.
 
That engine is beautiful, I don’t know where you live, but I imagine it’s not in a rust belt state. Even cleaning an engine twice a year isn’t going to give your type of results in a rust belt state.

Sadly I speak from experience.
I live in the Ohio Valley. So it can get messy at times.

But the ol' girl has been paid off for several years. Just rolled 80k. Many stories of these 1RG Tacomas going well north of 300k miles. That's my goal. So I do what I can to take care of it
 
Some cars corrode more underhood. We bought two Hondas within a month or somof each other. The odyssey is completely rust free underhood, while every last fastener underhood in the accord is red rust.

both have about 60k, same basic use, etc.
 
I had a '95 Subaru (only new car I ever bought) and every bracket rusted just like the OP's. >>>>cheap metal used
The rust on the pulleys might be from sitting idle.
That PS element ....??..an example of them (car company) trying a different supplier which used cheap metal?
 
Not even my 96 Jeep XJ looked that bad underneath, nor does my Liberty or LR3, and those both see off road... especially the Liberty...it's been in several feet of water more than a few times! I think someone was aggressive with some cleaner. I don't see how salt exposure would do that to it, especially if it's in nice shape everywhere else.
 
Not even my 96 Jeep XJ looked that bad underneath, nor does my Liberty or LR3, and those both see off road... especially the Liberty...it's been in several feet of water more than a few times! I think someone was aggressive with some cleaner. I don't see how salt exposure would do that to it, especially if it's in nice shape everywhere else.

Funny you mention that. Grandmothers 2ng gen Liberty that I maintain has not a spec of rust under the hood. Now, the rest of the underside... hah that's another story...
 
You didn't inspect the truck before you bought it?

I did. Wasn’t a deal breaker but just disappointing to see.

Would have dropped the hood and walked away when I saw that. It's not like a Tacoma is a hard to find truck. If I was spending that much money on a used car, I wouldn't be buying it in NY. Actually, no place north of the Mason Dixon. May take more effort but will avoid headaches that you will encounter down the line with this one, not to mention the cosmetic aspect of it.
 
Take it back to the dealer and see what they say. That is crazy amount of corrosion for that new of a vehicle. Heck the only rust i have on my 2003 with 225,000 miles is the front skid plate. Something is wrong.
 
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