MajorCommonBody & Rust

Toyota Crown: Underbody, wheel-arch and seam rust on older Japanese imports

Underbody, wheel-arch and seam rust on older Japanese imports is a common body & rust fault on the Toyota Crown on the 2000–2008 cars, and we rate it major. Putting it right costs $500 to $4,000 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. Below is what goes wrong, the symptoms to notice on a test drive, where to look, and what to ask the seller before you hand over any money. It is one of 24 documented faults on the Toyota Crown.

Vehicle: Toyota Crown
Years: 2000–2008
System: Body & Rust

This page covers the Toyota Crown as a model. Some faults only affect particular engines or build years — enter a plate below to narrow the list to one car.

All Toyota Crown faults24 documented faults on this model

What you are looking at

No photograph available

We do not hold a verified photograph of the Body corrosion yet. We would rather show none than show a picture of a different part.

What goes wrong

S170 and S180 Crowns are now 18-25 years old and import guides specifically warn of rust on the undercarriage, rear wheel arches and body seams, particularly on cars that lived in coastal or snow-belt Japan where roads are salted. Surface rust hidden under underseal can be well advanced by the time it shows. In NZ, perforated corrosion in a structural area is a WOF failure and requires a specialist repair certifier, so a rusty Crown can quickly become uneconomic to keep legal.

What you would notice

Bubbling paint on rear wheel arches or sill seams
Flaky brown scale on the underbody, subframe or exhaust hangers
Damp or musty smell in the boot, rust stains around the boot floor seams

How to check it

Where to look. Rear wheel arches, sills, boot floor, underbody seams and subframe mounts

Crouch and look along the sills, rear wheel arches and door bottoms for bubbling. Lift the boot carpet and spare wheel and check the boot floor and seams. If possible, look underneath with a torch at the rear subframe, floor seams and suspension mounting points - fresh thick underseal on an old import can be hiding repairs. Ask when it was imported and whether it has ever needed rust repairs for a WOF.

Parts involved: Body corrosion.

What it costs to put right

$500 to $4,000 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That is for this job on its own, not for the car.

An estimate, in NZD, for the repair as normally carried out. What a specific car costs depends on which part has failed and what it damaged on the way — treat this as the floor for a negotiation, not a quote.

Ask the seller

“Has it ever failed a WOF for rust?”
“When was it imported, and do you know what part of Japan it came from?”
“Has any rust repair or fresh underseal been done?”

Now check the Toyota Crown you are actually looking at

Everything above is true of the model, and it is free. What it does not tell you is whether THIS car has been looked after: its odometer history and whether the reading has ever gone backwards, whether there is still money owing on it, whether it has been reported stolen, how many owners it has had and what it is really worth today. That comes from the official records for that plate. Enter the plate for the free details, or get the full history and a market valuation from $13.49.

Not sure what you would be paying for? See what a full KickTyres check includes.

Where this comes from

The failure described above is documented in the sources below. The inspection instructions and the cost estimate are KickTyres’ own interpretation of them.

JDMbuysell Toyota Crown S170 buyer's guide (rust risk on older imports)
JDMbuysell Toyota Crown buyer's guide (underbody seam rust on coastal imports)
NZTA VIRM threshold for corrosion repair certification

Toyota Crown buyer questions

Is underbody, wheel-arch and seam rust on older japanese imports serious on a Toyota Crown?

We rate it major and common on the Toyota Crown. S170 and S180 Crowns are now 18-25 years old and import guides specifically warn of rust on the undercarriage, rear wheel arches and body seams, particularly on cars that lived in coastal or snow-belt Japan where roads are salted. Surface rust hidden under underseal can be well advanced by the time it shows. In NZ, perforated corrosion in a structural area is a WOF failure and requires a specialist repair certifier, so a rusty Crown can quickly become uneconomic to keep legal.

How much does it cost to fix on a Toyota Crown?

$500 to $4,000 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That figure is for this job on its own. A car showing the symptoms on this page is usually worth either walking away from or negotiating down by at least the repair figure.

Which Toyota Crown years are affected?

Our research records this fault on the 2000–2008 Toyota Crown. Build dates move around, especially on imported cars, so treat the range as the years to look hardest at rather than a guarantee either way. The official records tell you the exact build and first registration date for the car in front of you.