I am looking to buy this 2007 FJ Cruiser with 153,000 miles for $15,999 from a dude in my neighborhood. He just got married and drove this around for a couple of years as his daily. He just purchased a truck for his small business, though, and does not need it anymore and is willing to let it go. I really love the FJ cruisers, and this one is clean on the inside and outside and has a nice lift; my neighbor really took care of it. However, when I went to see it, I noticed some surface rust on its underside. I know rust is car cancer, but if I bought this FJ Cruiser, would I be able to drive it around for another couple of years just while I'm in college and starting my career, or do you guys think the rust would develop into something unusable?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FubCc2SNnp5y43SF8
The rust doesn't look too bad. You can see that there's still a lot of meat left in that metal.
That being said, I think $16k is too much money to pay for something you're only going to drive for a couple of years. Especially for a student. You should probably look at smaller more fuel efficient cars.
You can clean and respray for that surface rust for less than $20 bucks. For these cars, since they have become collectibles the price has shot up in value and will most likely continue to go up, from what I've seen it's a reasonable price especially if everything runs solid. But you can talk it down probably. If you do value the car, then keep it well after college, gambling in a sense. If you are just browsing for a couple years a small ecobox will fit you better.
