New to Tacoma and now hearing not so great things

I just purchased my first Tacoma this past weekend. I bought an 05 Tacoma SR5 RWD only. It has less than 50,000 miles on it and have been very happy so far. I just read yesterday some horror stories though, alot of them involving rusting frames and how some of them had been recalled and how much it was to have them fixed. Is this a big problem with these trucks? I already inspected the frame and so far seems to be fine. Not too much rust if any at all. But i do have some rusting on the bolts of the bed liner. I attribute this because the previous owner lived very close to the beach. I guess what I'm trying to ask is what do I have to do to make sure my frame doesn't get rust damage in the future and keep it preserved?? Before this I had heard nothing but great things about these trucks and I want to make sure I dont have any problems like this in the future. This is going to be my baby for life...

 

The rust issue was with the 1st gen trucks, not your 2nd gen. And in most cases Toyota was replacing them or buying back the trucks altogether. Sure you may end up with a little surface rust or something here or there, but you won't have to worry about the issue some of the 1st gens had.

 

X2. If you lived up north in the "rust belt" it might be worth taking precautions, but little road salt in TX. You'll be fine and get tons of miles and years of reliable service and pleasure from your Taco. Congrats!

 

As already stated, 1st gens were the problem. My 2005 with 145k has been great and still running strong. No major issues so far.

 

Well now that I took a better look, I do have some rust especially up front. Not too much in the back. What should I do? Who should I take it to to have it checked out? I just want to make sure it lasts mea long time...

 

You could try Ziebart. http://www.ziebart.com/undercoating/

 

Pics? Now remember, before u get too worried about this "rust" u are seeing, paint doesn't stay on forever so any rocks or debris on the road or pretty much anything off road can and will scratch and chip paint off. This is very common and in most cases is nothing more then surface rust! Its a new truck to u so u may just be over worried about stuff!

Oh and welcome!!

 

These are a couple of pics

 

.
Was your truck locally owned (from Texas) or was it a truck from ocean beach areas or up north where salt was used?

Are you on the coast in Texas ?
.

 

Yeah i agree, it def looks like surface rust! I think ur good dude

 

Yes from Texas. The guy apparently lived a few miles from South Padre Island. That's why I'm a bit concerned. I live about 60/70 miles from SPI.

 

Geeze for a 2005 that looks pretty darn good!! I've seen 2009s that look worse than that. I wouldn't worry if I were you.

 

Ok. Thanks guys. Feeling a bit better now. But I'm going to keep an eye on this now...

 

no washes in 2 years?? any reason why not?

 

rleal07,

Toyota stood behind their products that had rust issues. They either bought the truck back or replaced the frame. That is a rarity for a manufacturer. Drive with confidence in your truck.