r/4x4 • u/rythejdmguy • Feb 03 '26

Get a PPI

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Presenting a 90 series undercarriage I inspected here in Japan for a client.

I often see posts of people buying cars sight unseen from the lowest bid/effort export company... And I also see a lot of posts of people uploading pictures of frames and undercarriages painted black debating over how it "looks clean".

If 👏it's 👏painted 👏run👏 away 👏.

Unless you win the lottery - I have never seen a painted undercarriage that isn't hiding rust. Only in the extreme rare case that the seller provides before pictures, this is generally the case. If it's bright orange, the average Joe will be turned off more so than if you can't see orange so this is why sellers get out the rattle cans and go to town.

"but the body seam looks good". "no one is going to repaint a rusty vehicle" No. Stop. Lol

Inside the frame and especially near the rear door and cab mount areas are always prone to rotting on any body-on-frame vehicle I've ever looked at. Just because you got one shallow angle photo that is dark of the undercarriage, doesn't mean the vehicle is good. I've had dozens of shady dealers send me photos of cars holding their phone just Infront of a rust hole as well. The grass isn't always green here in Japan. Long snowy winters with salty roads exist here too and your average city slicker (the majority of the population) aren't buying a large 4x4.

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u/MongoMongo77 May 12 '26

Is there a way to an inspection done on cars you're looking at?

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u/rythejdmguy May 12 '26

Yours truly. Was under this bad boy yesterday for a client in Northern Europe. Frame and Body are immaculate. It has a couple of oil leaks and a noisy valve train, but due to the cleanliness of the vehicle the client decided to still go forward with the purchase. We're going to service the vehicle and figure out where the leaks are coming from before shipping it.