People still buying first gens? This new guy is!

Just bought this 04,






went straight to Toyota with her. They took some frame pics and what do you know? New Frame! Of course I wouldn't have even known to do this without TacomaWorld, so thank fellas. Still trying to work out what parts I can get the dealer to install for me. Any suggestions? Of course the cap and horrible fog lights must go, that's obvious. Thanx again!

 

What's wrong with the cap? 1st gens rule I do agree about the fog lights. Don't let the dealer install anything. What mods are you going for?

 

Sweet truck! I like the cap too, looks good on it. Welcome to TW!

 

Thinking about lift, this one in particular

http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/Ultimate-Tacoma-lift-with-Bilstein-shocks_p_394.html

I have also heard of bushings and axel seals that may need some addressing so for the most part I am trying not to spend a dime until I know the truck is back together without any surprises. The parts are on order for the frame swap, my service rep says about 2 weeks before they can start.

I like the look of a LED strip mounted to the bull bar, nothing huge and noticeable but something functional for fog and light off-roading. The guy who owned this before me hacked up the wiring and put the switch on the dash below my Diff lock switch, fixing that is a priority.

Also I have been searching for a front bumper but the only ones I actually like are for second gens. I like the single bull bar look and everything out there seems too busy or heavy. Definitely doing some Retrofit Source FX-R's when the frame swap is done.

The cap is growing on me... maybe it can stay. My apologies for the novel, but I am pumped to own this truck!

BTW Nice Truck What front bumper is that?

 

Thanks alot glad to be here!

 

Nice 1st gen! New frame ftw!

-Like others about the cap, I agree, keep it, it looks good + you'll get some additional functionality out of it.

 

Welcome!
Nice truck.
Keep the cap.

 

Holy shit are you serious? I spoke to a dealer here and they said they cant do anything for the 2006 I'm buying because its beyond warranty.

I'm going to try another dealer. What was with your frame? was it flaking or was it straight rott?

 

Here is my Tacoma story thus far, another novel coming your way hope you have a minute. I will add pictures when the weather turns around up here in New England. Rain for 3 days straight...

I bought the Tacoma from a local used car dealership in my town. Funny I had just swore off scouring craigslist for a 1st gen and decided I would see what the local dealerships had to offer. On my way home I pulled into the first dealership in town and there was my 04 Tacoma sitting at the entrance. Walked in and in so many words said I'll take it. Looked underneath to check out the frame and everything looked fine to me, a bit of surface rust but no holes. Nothing out of the ordinary for a 10 year old truck. Wrong, but maybe not. After initiating the buy I went home and googled the shit out of Tacoma recalls. I found that the only active recall is the spare tire mount so I stopped in the following day (local dealership) and sure enough it was rusted pretty good. This is when I knew my next stop would be the dealership.

I bought this Tacoma for $14,900.00 with 127k its a TRD, DC, auto, 3.4L. There was a period where I knew I could possibly get a frame but that whether or not I qualified would dictate how good of a deal it truly was.

Moving on, the day of pickup I drove it directly to Toyota and dropped it off for inspection. The following day I heard from my service rep who said that yes the tire carrier would be replaced and there was some rot on the frame he felt was worth reporting to Toyota. He informed be however that Toyota would require an inspection sticker and some photos to process the request. This is where things get a bit tricky and I felt I could get screwed. The dealership would not inspect it due to the frame, they would have to fail it and Toyota would deny the replacement saying "well you shouldn't buy a truck with a rotted frame". The service manager told me to go get it inspected and move forward or return it to the local dealer for a lemon law claim. To shorten this a bit, worst case scenario I get it to pass inspection and Toyota denies the claim, I don't qualify for the Lemon law and I am stuck with a shit frame. I asked the service manager what he would do and he told me to get it inspected, "there is a chance you could get a new frame out of this". I only need to get 2-3yrs out of it as a daily driver so I agreed and got it inspected.

To break this story up and answer your question. This is NOT a recall but rather an act of good faith by Toyota meaning they can end it whenever they want. Official recalls can never "end". At least that's how it was explained to me. Now it is important to understand there was a period which your dealer is referring to (Ended Dec 2012) where in certain cold weather states, Toyota bought back 96-00 Trucks and began applying a Frame coating to 00-04 Trucks. On trucks that received the coating Toyota would warrantee the frame for 15 years past the purchase date. Now I am not sure how this applies to 04+ models, if I were you I would call the Toyota Corporate hotline and complain. Just make sure you try to stay on good terms with your dealer, its not their fault how Toyota deals with this mess. They are getting a bit greedy if you ask me. Dana just settled for $25 million payout for the frames they put out that rusted. Make sure you mention this in your call, there was a period where I was rehearsing the very conversation you should expect to have with Toyota. By some margin of luck I don't have to and I wish you luck in your attempt.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/12/retire-us-dana-idUSTRE70B7KZ20110112

On to my frame, the cross member where the spare carrier was mounted was rotted and flaking, I thought for sure this is why I would get a new frame if at all. Wrong again, it was actually the cross between the bed and cab where it intersects frame that had about a 1 inch deep chunk missing from it (Pics to come).

The one and ONLY reason I am getting a new frame is because the previous owner had the frame coated back in 09 and based on the pictures it was clear that coating failed.

After the info was sent in it took about 24 hours for them to make a decision at Toyota. My service rep called me with the good news and an enormous feeling of relief swept over me. 3 weeks for all the parts to come in and they would bring the truck in and give me a rental free of charge.

Its been about a week and I have been searching the forums for things I should note before the replacement and parts that may need replacing that Toyota will not pay for (Exhaust, anything driveline related and front springs/shocks)

Again my apologies on the novel, believe it or not this doesn't sum up a quarter of the information I have crammed into my head over the past week. I suspect it will all be worth it in the end. Maybe not for my girl, who has had to entertain the question on at least 20 occasions, "Hey babe guess what?!?" to which she replies, "WHAT".

ME: "New FRAME BITCHES?!?"

Best of luck to anyone in this process, if there are any questions I can answer for you feel free to PM me. I am new to this and am far from a Tacoma expert so might take a day for me to get back to you.

 

Nice Truck. Thanks for the input guys, I think I have to keep the cap with the landside of votes supporting it. The cap came with a set of roof racks that have seen better days, any suggestions on covering up the now unused mounting points or possibly adding a different rack?

 

Just got that same top painted to match my truck. I agree with some of the others, keep the cap even if you just put in on saw horses somewhere. It comes in handly especially when the weather is crappy.

 

Thanks! I'll call Toyota customer service now.

Edit: they want me to go to the dealer first. I'll go there and see what they say.

 

Let me know how you make out.

Edit: Oh I thought you said you went to the dealer, they turned you away and you were looking for another dealer.

 

Thanks I definitely have to be prepared for that weather factor. You guys had a tough winter down there this year though bet there was a day or two in there you wish you had that 4x4. Look forward to seeing the finished product, when does it go on?

 

It's on, Just haven't changed my signature yet.

 

Coating Failure



Coating Failure



Spare tire carrier (actual recall)



Rott



Another angle



And one more

The last three are the cross member in front of the shock mount. main reason my claim was accepted but if the frame was never coated I would be SOL

 

Yea, imagine that? Took a chance and it paid off. This forum is the reason I bought this truck. Researched it, felt confident but could have gone either way.

Funny though the local dealership I bought it from replaced those shocks free of charge and STILL didn't realize this damage/said nothing. I told them about my trip to Toyota and they acted all surprised. They even called me in before taking another 1st gen Tacoma as a trade and had me look at the frame. So they are either really stupid or are committing HARD to the we didn't see it story.

 

Decided to wash. took a quick pic for ya. Here is my painted to match topper with before and after pics.

 

Very nice!

 

*cough* beautiful truck (wish I had a DCab)

*cough* if you ever want to get rid of your paint-match items hook a brotha up!

I usually leave my cap on (3 yrs now) but just recently picked up a used Undercover hard tonneau for $100 to use for the summer and it was already helping with mpg, I got 18.7 driving through NY picking up CL items