95-2K rust help from toyota

[unclecrook]

Just got back from the dealer, they took my truck.
Said I should expect a call from Toyota in about two weeks and as far as they know I should get "%150 of the Original Sale Price".
The service manager was sure this is the official settlement.
They were nice enough to give me a loaner ('09 Camry) until the check arrives, with the hopes I would buy my next vehicle from them. I thought that was pretty cool.
Anyway just thought I'd share, we'll see what happens.

-Ted

[beastlytaco]

welcome to tw. and hope everything goes well for you and your taco sells.

[AMSRacing]

It is 150% of current Kelley Blue Book, not the original sales price.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by AMSRacing

It is 150% of current Kelley Blue Book, not the original sales price.

This is true.

Altho I prob got more than what the truck cost originally. I got 16k+ and with other incentives it was over 18.5K.

No idea what it cost new. It was a 2000 4x4 reg cab.

[Goodlett824]

do they give you a chance to remove ur wheels and tires if you got after market or should i put the factorys back on when i take the truck in?

[hillbillynwv]

You must remove everything you want BEFORE you take it to the dealer, once they deem it unsafe because of the frame you cannot take it off the lot or remove anything from it.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by hillbillynwv

You must remove everything you want BEFORE you take it to the dealer, once they deem it unsafe because of the frame you cannot take it off the lot or remove anything from it.

Not entirely true.

It depends on the dealer. It also depends on how many rentals they have to give out.
If you read thru the thread, you will find several people who had it inspected, it failed and were told to come back at a later date.

[Goodlett824]

im still gonna take them off even though i think the frame still looks good but i guess im not rlly qualified to say if it is or it isnt......................i also heard that u get a chance to buy it back as long as u sign a waver that says u wont drive it on the road a parts truck would be nice

[unclecrook]

The dealer I went to said "It's going to the scrap heap so take whatever you want." I've even gone back since then for stuff I forgot and they did'nt care. But taking wheels off in the parking lot might be a pain.
No check yet. I did have to go in with a copy of my title and current registration. Turns out if you did'nt buy your Taco before 04/08 you don't get the deal.

[Goodlett824]

so how do they check the frames is there some special guy from toyota that says this is to rusted or this will be bad in a year or do they just hit it with a big wrench and see what happens(im sure somebodys alrtty said sumthin bout this just to lazy to look)

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Goodlett824

so how do they check the frames is there some special guy from toyota that says this is to rusted or this will be bad in a year or do they just hit it with a big wrench and see what happens(im sure somebodys alrtty said sumthin bout this just to lazy to look)

They have a huge bulletin from Toyota and a special hammer to beat on the frame.

No kidding, Toyota had a hammer made up.

[rachunter]

Just FYI

Toyota is also buying back some of the newer model Tacoma's. I bought a new Tacoma in 2001 and I sold it to my buddy in 2005 so I could by the new model truck. He took the 2001 to have it looked at yesterday and it failed.
Toyota will be buying it back but the bad news is they are not paying 150% of value for the 2001.
They are only paying Blue Book value, no extra.

[KneeDraggerR1]

Well i got my '98 looked at and they said the frame just has surface rust and that it is fine. Not what i was really hoping for really. I dont really see how it is good when i can push on the top side of the frame with my own hand and make it crunch and knock peices of rust off. Oh well i guess, looks like im keepin her til she falls apart. Not that i really want to get rid of the truck, but i dont want to be driving a unsafe vehicle. :/

[DavidL]

If a truck stayed in the south all its life, do you think a 95-00 Tacoma would be a safe bet in terms of frame rust? I'm in the market for a 4x4.

Or should those years be avoided altogether and go for an '01 and up?

Do you think a carfax report would be a good idea, to see where the truck has been registered over its life?

[oldtacomaguy]

I'd get the Carfax report and have the frame inspected before I bought a 95-00.

[yance]

Just to reiterate what others have said before you take your truck in to have it inspected. Remove what you want to keep. My 00 ext cab 4x4 trd just got bought back and it sucked removing everything in the dealership's parking lot. I knew I had a hole in my frame, but I was hoping to keep driving my old truck til the process was complete. Mistake. No matter how hard I tried, they wouldnt let me drive the old truck home. Which I dont blame them. But if you are removing stuff, keep what ever you want. All they care about is that it can be driven in and be able to read the miles and odometer. They are going to scrap the rest.
Unfortunately I got to see my old buddy being loaded on the trailer for the scrapper. It was a sad day.

[oldtacomaguy]

Originally Posted by yance

Just to reiterate what others have said before you take your truck in to have it inspected. Remove what you want to keep. My 00 ext cab 4x4 trd just got bought back and it sucked removing everything in the dealership's parking lot. I knew I had a hole in my frame, but I was hoping to keep driving my old truck til the process was complete. Mistake. No matter how hard I tried, they wouldnt let me drive the old truck home. Which I dont blame them. But if you are removing stuff, keep what ever you want. All they care about is that it can be driven in and be able to read the miles and odometer. They are going to scrap the rest.
Unfortunately I got to see my old buddy being loaded on the trailer for the scrapper. It was a sad day.

Bummer. heres my 97 just before it was put on the trailer

[Dave]

Originally Posted by DavidL

If a truck stayed in the south all its life, do you think a 95-00 Tacoma would be a safe bet in terms of frame rust? I'm in the market for a 4x4.

Or should those years be avoided altogether and go for an '01 and up?

Do you think a carfax report would be a good idea, to see where the truck has been registered over its life?

CarFax really means very little. If say an accident was never entered into CarFax, it would never show up.

Dishonest people tend not to report to CarFax. So all in all CarFax is not 100% or even half that in my experience.

[Coyote]

Lots o' good info here, Thanks.

Found this site while looking for further info on the frame issue. Happy to say that I just got back from getting my 95.5 4WD inspected by Toyota and it has been pronounced SOLID. Of course, I'll get it checked again in a couple o' years--just before the extended frame warranty runs out.

She's been a good to me for the last 12+ years and I didn't want to give her up yet.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Coyote

Lots o' good info here, Thanks.


She's been a good to me for the last 12+ years and I didn't want to give her up yet.

Too bad, much better to take 150% of its value and run.

Or buy another like most of us did