How does this rust look to you? How does rust affect the undercarriage besides the frame?

looking at buying a step van far away and had a mechanic go there and look at it. Said it's got some rust underneath which was surprising considering it's in Oklahoma. I don't know where it was before that but looks like a USPS truck. Current seller got it from a dealer and said he rarely used it and maybe 10-15 miles on it max in 3 years. Used it to display some Trump political messages here.

What do you think about this rust?

The rust in the upper mid-left area looks worse. IDK what that is.

Some stuff that looks cracked or broken and cut.

I am guessing that's part of the wheel well but not sure why it looks like that?

I have a few questions about this pic too.

What is the rusty looking thing to the bottom right? Heater?

I also noticed it was wet underneath it so it seems like it might be leaking.

The mechanic said the brakes needed to be bleeded and they were working on them so you can see brake fluid there but I was wondering what that other green spray can thing was there?

Thanks for reading.

Mechanic thought it would be maybe 2-3000$ to fix up. He mentioned it would need new tires, windshield, rust underneath and IDK what else. I wondered about how the rust can damage other parts underneath. Oh he said the clamps to the gas tank looked like they needed to be replaced.

ANother weird thing is in his ad he states the mileage is 83945, but the mechanic took a picture which shows 83918. The seller is 82 years old.

Pretty standard fare for something around where I live. Nothing there is particularly terrifying though you will have to deal with some rusted/seized bolts probably when you work underneath it.

The rusty thing in the cab is the heater.

Step vans are built with a useful life in mind, so long term cosmetic protection (the heater box) is not important to them.

Those miles are very low, which means it was probably used in an urban environment with lots of stop and go use. Not a UPS truck; pretty sure they never used that style. Too small for them, FedEx, etc. And it would have a crap ton more miles on it. Looks like a Grumman body.

Well,  it sure about anything else, but the can is BG inforce!  A high quality penetrant.  Advertised on lots of conservative radio station, so if he was an 82 year old trumper, that makes sense  

Anyone?

In reply to ddavidv :

Pretty sure it was a USPS truck. That model and year Workhorse P42 was used by the USPS, not UPS. UPS doesn't sell their trucks. I wonder if the mileage was turned back because it was so low or if something happened to it to be taken out of service. Maybe if I went there with an OBD reader I could tell.

In reply to joey48442 :

Haha good eye. What's the purpose of this oil?

1rub said:

In reply to joey48442 :

Haha good eye. What's the purpose of this oil?

It's a lubricant. It makes it easier to loosen rusty fasteners

In reply to ddavidv :

Was wondering about those rusty bolts and how you would get them off. I saw some videos of guys taking apart the rusty leaf springs and sanding each leaf down and painting them. I saw a guy on Youtube called Trout Junkie using a neumatic chisel to remove heavy rust with pretty good results but I don't have an air compressor which I think I would need for one of those.

So, i guess the questions for me are:

1. What is your intended use, and for how long?

2. Will you be paying someone to do the work, or doing yourself?

3. Is there a specific reason for this particular body/chassis?

Looks normal/not bad for around here (southeast PA where we get lots of salt). Depending on the model truck different things rust off first and usually can check those out easiest. On gmt800 trucks looking at the rear shock mounts say a lot (even if the body is rotted off). Not sure there is any info on a tell tale for these as probably not a ton sold.