Rust settlement

Hit it with a hammer.

Not kidding. This is what Toyota will do at the inspection.

 

I'm in the same boat with my truck. . . It's really flaking off in large sections and my dealership already said they couldn't do anything for me. . . .

 

Get under it and look? The frame is only boxed in the front.

 

All vehicle frames will have rust, but I have never, ever seen a frame ROT so badly after so few years. I have a 25 year old Chevy k1500 and the frame has no holes. Lived it whole life on the east coast of Canada, conditions for rust don't get much worse than here.

 

Wonder if they will do the 150% buyback? I'd rather do that than have to deal with replacing my frame.

 

That would be nice, as I'd make out like a bandit. However I don't think they'll do that again

 

Actually, Toyota seems to be the only one where substantial frame damage occurs after such a short period of time. Rust on other manufacturers frames? Sure, perforation to the point of a true safety risk and substantial loss of value, nope.

Personally, Toyota needs to just galvanize the damn things if they can't find a steel mix for their frames that delaminates and falls apart like swiss cheese in less the ten years.

The funny thing, unibody Toyota's seem to hold up quite well underneath to rust even though the metal is thinner then an actual frame by far.

Gotta be a tough row to hoe when you realize A unibody Honda Ridgeline is going to be around for a decade after your Taco is a rusted heap in a junkyard somewhere. [Yes I own a Taco, also A FJC so it's not like I'ma Yota hater]

 

I missed the initial frame inspection earlier this year, it's now expired. I wonder if they will send me another notice to have it inspected again?

 

To be fair, unibody construction, whether a ridgline or regular sedan, isn't an open framed exposed metal design like that of a true body on frame truck. Unibodies along with the entire underside of the vehicle are coated entirely with a very strong rubberized sealant. The metal never even sees the light of day throughout its normal life.

Now, Toyota has already admitted to there being a flaw in metal design in certain areas of the frame. Which is why the failure of the frame typically occurs in the same spot.

 

N

No, unibodies are NOT coated with sealant underneath except for certain seams and spots, they are of course dipped and treated but most don't even get a true coat of paint most color is just overspray. What is different is the metal makeup which is likely a far better grade then Toyotas rust prone likely high carbon frame. And honestly, the paint is the most useless crap ever seen, even K Mart .99 cent a can paint is better. Doesn't help that I don't think they clean the frame well before it's ''paint'' coating either.

I honestly believe that the blame for the initial 'blame it on Dana'' rust is still an issue because of the Toyota specced steel qualiy used along with it's composition and not the actual coating even though it can't hurt. You don't see the actual bodies fall apart from rust [actually that part impresses me because I owned Yotas from the 60s and 70's and you couldn't STOP one from rusting right before your eyes], they look to still be in excellent shape even when the frame sheds rusty bits like a 20 year old Yugo sitting in a bath of liquid brine.

I also have no doubt that the 2016 and newer 3rd generation will STILL have frame rust issues, in fact, I'll make a bet on that. It really isn't that damn hard of an issue to fix, I have no idea why Toyota still hasn't truly addressed it by changing the spec's of the steel used.

 

This problem has now lingered for so long that it's a real perception issue. I know they tried to blame Dana and got a settlement from them on the 1st gen. But it ultimately comes down to steel, paint and process. This isn't rocket surgery, engineers and factories have figured out how to make steel truck frames that don't rust this badly. I don't know that it's the steel but the cleaning, prep and paint. My feeling is Toyota is milking the Tacoma for profits and I don't know if it's a corporate decision or someone down the chain, e.g. the Tacoma team trying to produce good numbers. I mean the domestic truck leadership are Detroit-trained afterall.

 

Does anyone know what objective criteria Toyota will use to determine if they will replace the frame?

 

Time to look into aluminium yoda....

 

HAHAHa total Rickyism from Trailer Park Boys

 

Wondering the same thing. My '14 looks great right now, but if it goes south in a couple years, I will be jacked. I want to keep this truck for a long time.

 

This must be your first Toyota. It's cute how you tried though

 

They do frame inspections in San Diego?

 

Bummed! I bought my 09 three years ago because it was after the frame issue, the frame looked like new. Now I'm seeing huge surface rust on frame, will have to look closer to make sure it's just surface.

 

I've been saying this for years. Galvanizing the frame would add only $1000 to the cost of the truck and most of us would be ecstatic to have that option.

 

Yep