Looks pretty EOL to me. (Sorry to say.)

 

You even have to ask ? The mechanic did you a favor . I would have this thing towed to a salvage yard and be done with it.

 

If you can find a rear suspension cross member and the rest of the car is in good shape and you really like it, it could be worth it to you to replace it. Is the rest of the car that rusty? We recently had a 90's Camry in which was fairly clean except for the rear cross member. We were able to locate a clean rust free part and swap it out for them and probably bought them another 5 years with the car.

 

If you're paying a mechanic to do the work, no question the car is past the point where it's worth putting any money into it. You can replace the sub-frame, sure, but other things will keep going on it - brake lines look past their prime, I'm sure the rest of the car is in similar EOL condition.

As far as how long you can drive it, depends on your situation. If you're able to afford a replacement car now, you should start shopping.
One pothole won't take this car out, at least it doesn't look quite that bad in the picture. Also depends on road conditions and mileage driven daily, whether you take it on the highway. Either way, I wouldn't want to drive it more than a few months if I had to.

 

When I asked about just replacing this simple piece of metal his response was, you are going to be breaking bolts and other parts just to get this piece off and that will cost even more. The bottom two inches of the car are all a pretty uniform brown and flaking like this.
I keep looking for other options because the top 80% of the car is in decent shape and I have never had to do any non wear maintenance on the engine. I guess it is pretty unanimous that corrosion has killed this car and this particular spot has put the clock at a few months.
When it does go will I be able to drive the car 10 or so miles to get it home or will I have to pull off to the side right there? Just wondering if I can drive it until it breaks or if that is a bad and unsafe idea.
Michigan sucks

 

...
When it does go will I be able to drive the car 10 or so miles to get it home or will I have to pull off to the side right there? Just wondering if I can drive it until it breaks or if that is a bad and unsafe idea.
Michigan sucks

You may drive a car for a few years before it completely falls apart in your driveway causing you no harm. This is what happened to me once with a rusty car - front brake line failed and brake fluid leaked out on my driveway. I saw the puddle, thanked the car for being so graceful instead of failing on the road, and promptly got rid of that rust bucket even though everything else was in working order.
You may also have to swerve on the highway to avoid a deer tomorrow and end up upside down in a ditch because your rear wheel may fall off the car after the subframe failed.

Both scenarios are plausible, as well as everything in between. Nobody will be able to tell you how exactly it will fail.
Also, saw Thank You to your mechanic and maybe even buy them a pack of doughnuts. Mechanics with any amount of honesty are becoming extinct.

 

That bottom 20% is the structural part, if it looks like that cross member then the car is done.

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That "his simple piece of metal " iswhat holds the rear of your car together.

Hes right about the costs....Unless you have a bunch of $$$ to toss at it....Id scrap it. You can use it for a bit but that's going to be a safety hazard soon. Those brake lines look bad as well....

Rust kills.

 

It is just frustrating that a metal bar will total the car because all the bolts and parts around it that would have to be removed are corroded in place. After 31 years I would feel better if the computer failed, the head gasket blew or it threw a rod. All the complicated parts are OK. It is just this weakened vital metal bar that is the final critical and expensive to replace part that ends the car while all the electronics are working fine.

 

You can try have it replaced. get a price quote from the mechanic to

1. replace that part

2. For all the other foreseeable parts he thinks will need to be changed as well like the bolts etc...

3. Add a at least another $600 for extra things that are not forseeable.


Some mechanics like to just scrap cars because they feel its not worh it.... but maybe for you the price might be doable

 

Just noticed the mileage... 350K?

You got your money's worth fo' sure ,

 

The frame we swapped out actually went really smoothly, warmed the frame nuts up and they came off the studs no problem. Left the lateral links on the knuckles and took them off at the frame. It's certainly not impossible but given the rest of the vehicle is as rotten it's not a good way to spend money.

 

You should thank your mechanic for being honest with you. A less reliable person might start sticking you with a bunch of repairs, but your car will still need to be scrapped afterwards.

Be thankful you were able to get 350K miles out of it under those "salty" conditions.

 

Short answer: It's nuked! Time to give the poor old gal her last rights. You could try to get another one and have her donate any good parts that are left.

 

Brian,

I have a 1994 Tercel with 235K miles.... in MN Rust Bucket area......
The control arms are stamped metal and can rust away and be replaced.
ONE pic does not show the whole story.... I removed/replaced lower control arms that had more rust than yours.

Before the give up.....
Go to www.rockauto.com and look up the lower control arms.... and see how much they are. Last time I looked they were $35 each lifetime warranty with all the bushings. Can show you where a TheCarCareNut youtube videos are located so you can pull and tug on the tires and see what may need replacing. These are BOLT on parts that you can do, bring to HS or College Shop and have them put the parts on..... then pay $110 for alignment.

Nice to have a rust bucket to drive in winter..... keeps the better car in better shape and not exposed to SALT.

I would like to see more pictures of the under side.

MY Tercel no longer has running boards but is still running and starting in -30F temps all winter.
Just put new tires on it.... new calipers & brakes on hand to put in shortly.... original calipers are rusted/hung up
OLD parts for the 1990s cars are cheap

 

That's not a control arm. Thas the rear subframe that the control arms bolt up to. Very important piece for the structural part of the body that the control arms themselves bolt up to.


The piece is about $900 from toyota before other components / labor.. Doable but unlikely / not worth the repair for the car. Mechanic will also likely refuse the work

But OP can really decide if he wants to sink that money into the car.

 

I would like to see more pictures of the underside
Poster said car is in nice shape on the top side

U pull sites have many of the older cars.... this sat my locations have 50% off and drawings for free tools

 

Old Toyotas don't die. The earth slowly reclaims them.

 

It never hurts to get a second opinion, but that lower structure looks downright dangerous right now to me.

I see perforation, and I see cracking. It would not take much to break it in my opinion.

Replacement used parts will have to come from a warmer state, you'll likely need quite a few parts by the time the job is finished. New parts, even the bolts, etc. can add up to very considerable cost.

20 years in Michigan is a very long time.
You must be a good driver. Congratulations for keeping this car safe and whole all that time!

Hard time to be looking for a new car, I know!

 

Pardon Our Interruption...

Parts are pretty readily available, there's even kits of questionable quality. I'd feel better with good used parts myself. If the rest of the car is in good shape it could be worth the money given how crazy car prices have been lately. That's how we ended up fixing that one old camry, the repair was more affordable than replacing the car so it got fixed. It was otherwise in good condition with only some cosmetic rust on some body areas but structurally a sound vehicle. that was well maintained and importantly had exceptionally low miles for it's age. That's not the case here in regards to the miles, you may find that this vehicle will need a trans or engine replaced due to the high miles after spending the money on this fix which would be unfortunate. Weigh the miles and age and cost of this vs something newer with lower miles and probably a longer time before large repairs are needed.

 

Local Trusted Shop here (NH) did complete rear suspension rebuild on the '00 (less struts) for about $1,000, including labor. New parts, bolts, and bushings. Labor was the biggest cost factor. Add rear sub-frame cost of $300-400 ...

$1,200 is 3 to 4 car payments. $1,500 is 4 to 5 car payments. (At 3 - 4 hundred / month.) If the repair gets double/triple/longer use, and providing the rest of the vehicle can "pass inspection" ... it may be worth it, even with the miles. OP knows "what he has" w/ the vehicle, which counts: considering the used car market, these days. Agree with all if fixing, it should be addressed "sooner vs. later", mechanic correctly noted the stress cracking of metal, due to rust & metal fatigue, guessing there's not too many pothole impacts left .. before failure.

 

Yeah, what brought it in was the muffler. All joints rusted through, $800. On a corrosion inspection this was the worst. Front door running boards about to break though. Fuel and brake lines look bad. The mechanic recommend not to fix for all of this and the fact that most of the bolts and parts need to get to this frame part would break when trying to remove them. I stopped him when his guess to get to a safe car reached $4,000

 

Sorry mate, shes done... but she served you long and well.

 

For that kind of coin - you might be able to score a newer '08 -'12 Camry off of Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, etc.

Or a better Gen 3/4/4.5 model, and have a "parts car" ripe for harvesting.

(That's what I'd be shooting for, if here.)

 

Front door running boards about to break though.

Having been involved in a severe rear end collision in our 98 Camry back in 2006, I can tell you that this car is simply not safe to drive. Along with the subframe rust you mention that the running boards are about to break through. Those running boards are part of the structural integrity of the cabin of the car. The cabin of the car should remain relatively intact in a severe front or rear collision. The rear of the car and the front of the car are designed to absorb most of the impact of a severe hit and collapse, with the cabin remaining basically sound. With rusted out running boards the cabin is no longer structurally sound. Stop driving this car and send it off to the salvage yard and find something safe to drive.

Just my 2 cents.

Mike

 

It's given up the ghost... The remaining parts of the frame and undercarriage must be evaluated hopefully this is the worst of it

 

the studs and nuts holding the subframe to the chassis look very bad. here in Texas i can get ya a perfectly good subframe. however when those nuts and bolts come out, IF hey come out without breaking, than they may break when torqued down again

 

Just rebuilt my whole rear of mine. New subframe bushings, all the rods and trailing arms. New kyb struts, h&r springs and oem hats and other parts of the strut. Labor done by me except pushing subframe bushings in. That was $100 from a shop. Well worth it. But mine has like zero rust. Texas car.

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