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Pickups Toyota Tacoma Toyota Tacoma 2004 and Earlier Frame Problem
923 messages, Last post on Nov 16, 2009 at 8:28 AM
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Replying to: mcalautt (Jan 30, 2009 4:23 am) I'm scheduled to get my check for my 2001 TRD in less than two hours.
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I would like to say this forum was very helpful for me and this is obviously a huge problem for toyota.. By reading this forum and gathering information it was at least fun to get service writers back peddling. What a friggin nightmare I have a 01 tacoma and to me toytota is nuts to put a new frame in vehicles worth about six grand.My truck was rear ended and needs 2 grand worth of work and I told the body shop to hold off,since I can drive it and wait to see what my frame status is..He told me the frame was changed in 01 and that explains the 98 to 2000 buy back they can't get them as someone posted. The retail price of a frame I was told is 3 grand,to me it would make sense for toyota to make some kind of offer to owners,if they would buy a new truck. I am also waiting for my letter and a call back from the dealer for a appointment.The frame warranty I believe he said is for fifteen years and the 01 to 04 trucks have just been added as a potential problem,last month I was told the 01 is fine. .Oh and that this is not a recall I guess just a huge blunder.Living in new jersey I feel it's not a question of if the frame will rust out it's just how soon. No wonder the beds are now made of plastic they probably would make the whole truck out of plastic if they could.
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Replying to: jokerman17 (Jan 31, 2009 12:30 pm) it isnt a recall, im not sure how toyota got away with this not being a recall but they did. Maybe because they call it a "buy back" program and they "extend" the warranty on the frames. In my experience, it didnt seem to matter if you were going to buy another toyota. I had initially said that to the boston rep that came to look at my truck at the dealership and then when ISG called me with an offer I declined because I thought I should have got a little more. My case manager called me and basically said I was lucky and that this was a "good will" buy back. As I mentioned before, he claims " we are not in the business of buying trucks back". so that made my decision simple. I wont ever give my money to toyota again. As I said before, they act as if we are lucky they are even doing anything. Also, think of this... Toyota had a 3rd party company manufacture these frames so you can only assume toyota is going after them as well so toyota will be compensated in some way so its not totally out of pocket for them.
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Replying to: jokerman17 (Jan 31, 2009 12:30 pm) My case: My Tacoma was a 1999. I took it in for inspection in August, 2008. I was told the program covered 1995-2000 Tacomas. My Truck had enough rust that made it eligible for buyback. But I didn't leave it at the dealer -even though one service guy tried to get me leave it - telling me it was a "safety" issue and it was dangerous. I told him I drove it to the dealer, I'm taking it and driving it while I wheel and deal with the Tacoma ISG Rep. They don't have any choice - it's your truck. You have the right to take it. I FIRST drove it as much as I wanted;. AFTER I settled with the Tacoma ISG rep, and he paid me, THEN I took Tacoma's loaner for 30 days. That way I took my time looking for a new vehicle. How the extended 15 year warranty works: My brother took in his 1998 at the same time I took in my 1999. It didn't qualify for buyback - not enough rust. However, Dealer said Tacoma will extend, immediately the entire frame warranty for ALL TACOMAS, for 15 (fifteen) years from the date it was purchased new. He bought his in December 98, so he can breing it back, once a year, until December 2013 and have it checked for rust, and if enough rust shows up on it, that is eligible for buyback. I don't see how they can't extend the warranty for 2001's, 2002's 2003's etc. if rust remains a problem. I would sit and wait and drive it sparingly and try to drive something else old until it's resolved. I wouldn't spend $ 2,000 or $ 3,000 on it until I found out about Toyota covering it ean,ezn1o |
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Replying to: mcalautt (Jan 31, 2009 12:44 pm) |
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Well, Kevin is polite as a corporate drone can be. I know it's not his and Ms. Bishop's fault, so I do my best not to lose my mind when I deal with them, even though that's essentially what Toyota pays them for; to be the first in line for the firing squad as it were. But, like you guys, I have no idea when the "kits" will be available, what my "kit" will include as all models will have different "kits" according to Kevin. When the dealership could expect my "kit" to arrive, or how long it would take once my "kit" got there. Sounds like they're building a model truck or something.  He did mention leaf springs, but that's it, and even those he didn't seem too sure about. I mentioned the absence of any formal acknowledgment from Toyota corp that there are frame rot issues with their Tacomas. The way I see it, regardless of how they're treating us who are aware we have a problem, the fact that they seem to be in no rush to let others know they might be putting themselves and their families in harm's way is frightening and disgusting. Is the corporate logic so far advanced that they will refuse to issue a recall and cross their fingers that noone is killed in a Tacoma due to frame failure while this little mess is being swept under the carpet by keeping us quiet by replacing our frames? It's downright scary when you think of it like that. Kevin said that a formal letter was being sent out, but in "waves", that these mass mailings "take a lot of time" to get off the ground. Chalk that one up to bull, I've seen a backwoods secretary priority mail a thousand envelopes in under an hour. Don't tell me a corporate monster like Toyota can't do the same. Kevin told me even though I had opened a case that I would receive a letter. He even says it could take months, and that I could very well have my truck back from the dealership by the time the letter arrives. Gee, that makes me feel a lot better, and all the parents driving around with their kids in the back should do so in blissful ignorance and as long as it doesn't affect corporate earnings, right?! All right ... off that soapbox for the moment and on to another one: A complete dissatisfaction with the NEW Toyotas. I love my 2001. Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin' ... until a serious frame issue pops up, but that's beside the point. I've been tooling around in a dealership provided 2008 Highlander until last Thursday. Kind of like a luxurious schoolbus ... handles about the same too. Anyway, the windshield wiper fluid light comes on. Pulled over, got a gallon and poured it in the resevoir ... and kept pouring. Turns out the resevoir is busted and fluid is pouring all over the concrete. Huh? Call the dealership and trade the Highlander rental for a 2009 Tacoma. By the time I get home, there is a message on my answering machine demanding a call back right away. The rental agent says the service department has looked at the Highlander and determined that I must have struck something as the interior bumper plates are pushed back and that's what crushed the windshield wiper fluid resevoir. Huh?! She said that the techs have seen it a lot this winter and I must have struck a snow bank. According to the techs the snowbanks are especially hard this year. WTF?! Long story short, I owe them $395 for damages incurred while in my possession, even though I think I'd remember if I smacked a snowbank, don't you? And that leads me to my initial rant about the new Toyotas. Are they that fragile that I might have crushed the front bumper supports and wiper fluid tank by simply parking the car into a snow bank? If I Dukes of Hazzarded it into the parking lot, I might understand, but the idea that a brand new vehicle can be messed right up with something I could probably inflict with my fist is really pathetic. So now I got this 2009 Tacoma and I'm scared to death to drive it in fear that it might suddenly incur some random damage I'll be held responsible for. Uggghhh. Fixing up that old Ford truck out behind the garage is starting to look more and more inviting. Toyota has pissed in my shoes too many times in the last month.
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Replying to: Sambone5769 (Jan 31, 2009 5:05 pm) |
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Replying to: Sambone5769 (Jan 31, 2009 5:05 pm) This is the other reason I worked a trade-in deal with my dealer. Having their rental is a liability, and can become an extra expense in this already nightmare-ish problem. If you can and it's in the cards for you, get your dealer to take yours in trade  kbb trade value (as if the frame problem did not exist) and then take it to buy an aggressively discounted new car from them. You do sadly get a new payment, but you also get a new car, and the nightmare goes away. They also get a 'sale' at a time when they need them and Corp will pay for frame work (not the dealer). It worked for me. Didn't want a payment, but more so didn't want the nightmare to last another 6 months... or longer. |
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Replying to: doubleusn (Feb 01, 2009 11:55 am)
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Replying to: doubleusn (Feb 01, 2009 11:55 am) However, I think it might be in my best interests to take a spin around there used lot and see if there is something that might work as a trade. Even if they offered me top KBB for my Taco, that's not saying a whole lot since the value has plummeted recently. I'd like to get a truck back. Not a TOY that breaks if it's sneezed on wrong. I use my truck, it's not just for looks.
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