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Pickups Toyota Tacoma Toyota Tacoma 2004 and Earlier Frame Problem
925 messages, Last post on Nov 29, 2009 at 8:03 AM
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My 2001 went in for normal service on 12/23 and I was told that it was not safe to drive because of the rust problem. The dealer said that there was to be some type of corporate program to address this that was different than the pre-2001 program, but they had not gotten details from corporate. I contacted corporate and on 12/24 spoke with a rep who said the program is as outlined in other threads. They will be replacing the entire frame for free (gee thanks) and that I would be getting a loaner car in the interim. The type of vehicle is up to the local dealer I was told so you may not get a like replacement. The corp rep said that was as good as it was, meaning there was no corp plan to provide a loaner truck or even a 4WD - it's up to the dealer. On 12/26 I spoke at length with the service manager and luckily was able to get a RAV4 loaner. While not a truck at least it is 4WD. The bad news is the dealer still has no formal notification from Toyota on the program, they have no parts to do the frame replacement, they do not know when they will get them, they have never done this (and the manager did not think any dealer has done this yet), and corp is shut down until next week. He 'guessed' they might have parts in 2-3 weeks and then could begin the work. Since it would be the first one he believed corp would be sending a couple engineers to assist and other dealers might have service tech's there to observe. Needless to say I am not a happy camper as I have no other alternative, will be w/o my truck for likely 4+ weeks, and am the guinea pig for this. I would much rather have the same option as pre-2001 owners but that is not available. I have yet to receive any notice from Toyota on this. My advice is to take it to your dealer and request a like replacement and complain loudly to the corp folks about the program.
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Replying to: pokienoze (Jan 03, 2009 12:41 am) |
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Replying to: devilfan (Jan 03, 2009 9:33 am) but yes, they are doing a frame swap. Not a good idea however, I heard that the frame is not coming bare. It should be coming with suspension components and other new parts as well.. I guess thats better than an entire part to part swap out. |
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I've been reading this thread and thought I would share my experience thus far. I just found out the frame on my 01 was shot on Friday (after dumping $1,000 into it to pass state inspection). Now Toyota has my truck in the dealership impound lot. So far, the dealership has been very kind. They put me in an '08 Highlander with no questions asked and all they ask is that I put the gas in and carry insurance. They told me they would put me in a pickup as soon as a rental became available. So now I've got a case with Toyota and was told I should hear back in about 7 days. SO far so good. I got to admit I'm a little gun shy about the frame replacement that Toyota seems to want to do. I don't like hearing ASE mechanics saying it's a horrible idea and I have my own reservations, but I seem to be picking up on the fact that there is no other option. I did ask the service manager and he said Toyota was giving the NEW frame a 15 year warranty. I am unsure at this point just what that warranty covers... I mean, I get the impression that it covers the frame only and doesn't take any abnormal wear and tear caused by a frame swap into consideration. The service manager even mentioned how they "come with new nuts and bolts and fasteners to replace all the rusty and corroded ones that will break and snap off in the removal process". That makes me feel a LOT better. (Insert sarcasm here). I guess I have a hard time believing a couple dudes from small town Maine can pull off the same quality job that an army of robots did on the assembly line in Japan. Maybe I'm being paranoid. I do have a couple questions I hope y'all might be able to help answer though. Is the frame swap REALLY a bad idea? If that's what Toyota is offering to do, is that my only option or should I fight it? If my frame is swapped out, will I be able to sell it or trade it in in the future for a fair price? I'm confused and bummed out and a little disillusioned by all that I've read here and hope between all of us that we can get some straight answers and a fair resolution. I love my truck, but I bought it for reliability and dependability and high resale value. If I don't have all of those things, why should I continue to drive them? |
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Replying to: Sambone5769 (Jan 04, 2009 3:51 pm) it will not be the same.. you can almost guarantee new squeaks and rattles along with intermittent electrical problems.. The odds of you getting a tech that has actually done a job like this are slim to none. Im not saying it cant be done nor am i saying no one is capable, what im saying is, in the environment that they are going to do it in is going to lead to these problems. Techs get paid flat rate so its in thier best interest to get the job done right.. so for example, if toyota decided to pay 60 hours for this job and the tech can get it done in 40 hours he still gets paid the 60. The frames will come with new fasteners and some suspension parts from what I understand. You can fight back and I would if I were you.. try to get into the buy back program. Who cares if they give a 15 year warranty on the frame if the swap out is going to cause other problems.
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Replying to: Sambone5769 (Jan 04, 2009 3:51 pm)
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Replying to: bigbe (Jan 05, 2009 4:57 am) your options and mileage ? what did you get for a check ? just curious so I have something to come back with as I assume they may try to low ball me  I have a 2001 v6 4x4 auto SR5 136000.00 MI
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Replying to: mcalautt (Jan 04, 2009 6:35 pm) I too would be interested in finding out how much the person who recieved the check got and what kind of truck they had. If they do end up replacing my frame, I feel like it would be in my best interest to turn right around and sell the truck ASAP for as much as possible and deal with the losses. If I can assume I'll be plagued with electrical and other issues for the forseeable future, I'd rather just not deal with it.
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Replying to: Sambone5769 (Jan 05, 2009 5:45 am) maybe even trade it in.. It is really sad but thats what it seems toyota is more concerned with..thier money. Im really mad about all of this cause I have been a toyota preacher for years and I loved my truck. My truck ran like new and it had 136K on it.. I had no reason to beleive it would not make it to 300K. I had no payments to make on my truck and I bought it new.. we just bought a new house and I cant afford a car payment ..
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I just turned in my 01 Tacoma (sr5, auto, 96K) on the buyback program. I was told by the rep that I was lucky to get my money because the buy backs were coming to an end. He thought that frame replacement was not a wise idea. Unfortunately, others probably won't have a choice other than legal action. I bought another brand because I have not seen anything from Toyota about how they are addressing this problem with the frames on new trucks.
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