Hi all,
Having recently moved to a small village 2 miles horizontally and 500 feet vertically from the nearest main road we are looking to pick up an AWD vehicle before winter starts to bite.
Of of my wife's colleagues is looking to sell her 2000 RAV4 3-door 2L (the "Reebok" special edition model) for a decent price. We've currently got it on loan for a test drive and overall it seems in great condition for its age (88k miles on the clock).
The one thing that's concerning me is that it has some quite severe rust behind the back bumper (see attached photos). It's still sound at the centre of the plate but rusted right through at each end.
I can't decide if this is structural and likely to be an issue at the car's next MOT check, or if this part is simply a filler plate between the bumper and main chassis. We will likely be upgrading to a newer 4X4 in a couple of years and I fully accept that any 14 year-old vehicle is going to have rust in places, I just don't want to end up purchasing something likely to fail it's MOT check in a few months time! It's a shame as otherwise the vehicle is pretty much perfect.
Also, if there is a rust issue here are there any other spots on the chassis which are prone to rusting that I should pay close attention to?
Thanks for your advice in advance!
Tom
Having recently moved to a small village 2 miles horizontally and 500 feet vertically from the nearest main road we are looking to pick up an AWD vehicle before winter starts to bite.
Of of my wife's colleagues is looking to sell her 2000 RAV4 3-door 2L (the "Reebok" special edition model) for a decent price. We've currently got it on loan for a test drive and overall it seems in great condition for its age (88k miles on the clock).
The one thing that's concerning me is that it has some quite severe rust behind the back bumper (see attached photos). It's still sound at the centre of the plate but rusted right through at each end.
I can't decide if this is structural and likely to be an issue at the car's next MOT check, or if this part is simply a filler plate between the bumper and main chassis. We will likely be upgrading to a newer 4X4 in a couple of years and I fully accept that any 14 year-old vehicle is going to have rust in places, I just don't want to end up purchasing something likely to fail it's MOT check in a few months time! It's a shame as otherwise the vehicle is pretty much perfect.
Also, if there is a rust issue here are there any other spots on the chassis which are prone to rusting that I should pay close attention to?
Thanks for your advice in advance!
Tom