2003 Frame Replacement Denial

I wouldn't accept the no. I bought my 02' Taco at insurance salvage yard in Iowa. Long story short, they volunteered and did a frame replacement for me with a truck that has a salvaged vehicle title. I even brought my own front suspension parts and they swapped it out for me. It depends on the dealer its really easy money for them.

 

I’ve read on here that they take a photo of an open end wrench at rust through points found to illustrate the size of perforation and send the photo to corporate.

That hole does look bad. Definitely try another dealer in the area. It sounds to me the one you’re dealing with isn’t too interested in helping.

 

Kind of off topic, but unless you camped out on the beach at Fort Stevens State Park for the past year there's no way that truck is from OR, nonetheless Portland! Where did it spend most of its life?

I will say I had some push back at the local dealer when getting the tire carrier replaced a couple years ago under a recall. It wasn't in terrible shape but the cable fitting was looking a little corroded and made me a bit nervous since it was the only part keeping the spare from falling out onto the road. After I was persistent and asked to speak with the regional manager, they took care of it. I showed them the recall letter and it was the first time anyone had come in with one or so they said. They were also not aware of the frame issues. Bottom line is I doubt any of the dealerships in this part of the country have had to replace a frame under the recall, so they may be unfamiliar with the process that other dealers back east are more familiar with...

 

Dusty T- yeah youre right. Portland never salts the road. Last year the city literally shut down completely uprepared to deal with the mini snowpocalypse we had. So it makes sense why they aren't as familiar. I called a few dealerships on the coast where i work part time asking about the frame replacment and they had no fucking clue what I was talking about, or they thought it was about "some big class action lawsuit where lawyers were trying to get money out of Toyota but that's not happening anymore"

My truck was originally sold in New York, and I think the previous owner from me had it registered in Colorado. I bought it last year at a used car dealership in Portland.

 

The squeaky wheel always gets the oil! Good job on your efforts in eventually get the warranty honored!

 

As I said before The Toyota Dealer in Portland most likely has not seen many bad frames So was completely clueless as to what to look for.

I wonder if they ever have done a frame swap ??

Remember to the Techs it is just another day at work to get through and repeat.

 

do research on this forum. good advice from people with the same scenario

 

No question, this frame is toast. How that passed an inspection is beyond me.

 

Sounds to me like their “inspection” didn’t consist of actually tapping the frame at all with a hammer. Glad you got under there yourself. Now get back to the dealership and give them hell before the warranty runs out.

 

Take it to another dealership. Toyota loves doing these swaps because corporate pays them good money if your vehicle qualifies.

The manager had a big smile on his face when i brought in my toyota for a frame inspection. Unfortuently it didnt qualify but they were eager to touch up the frame protection that was done in 2010 by a different dealership since im guessing they make decent coin from that as well.

 

Makes perfect sense. Did the used car dealership divulge where it came from or was that from a Carfax report?

I had my doubts about buying my own Taco because it had spent a year in the Midwest. This was going on back in '08 when I was researching these vehicles and learned about the corrosion issues with the 95-00 Tacomas at the time. Of course, it has continued to be a problem with the 01-04 models as well. I haven't been on the forums much, and it's pretty depressing seeing all these posts about rusted frames with the First Gens. They're such flawless rigs in every other way .

Absolutely. Get this taken care of if you can and good luck! I would have no reservations about getting a new frame if it were my vehicle. Should buy you another 20 years if you stay in OR!

 

Tomato 1981- Yeah, its been tough finding clear answers about the frame replacements for the extended warranty as apposed to the official recalls, but this forum is where I was able to glean enough information about the Tacoma recalls/extended warranties to understand that my truck might qualify. I'm still pretty new, but from what Ive seen this is a really great resource for sure!

Its not been easy to get any additional information out of Toyota. When I was first talking with corporate I asked if they could send me a copy of the official wording of the extended warranty, and they straight up told me that they dont have anything in writing that is available to the public. Also would not answer any "theoretical questions" that did not specifically pertain to my vehicle, and I couldn't call back and fool them because they wouldnt really even get a conversation going until I forked over my vin number and then they realized I had a case going already and funneled me back to my trusty agent who is the only one thats allowed to talk to me.

Does anyone know if there is a thread within these forums or otherwise that is specifically for sharing frame replacement stories. Like a searchable catalogue that might be useful for the last round of 2004 Tacoma owners who might be trying to find answers? Whenever I figure out what happens with my replacement I'd love to share a synopsis of my experience to hopefully save some other person a little headache if possible.

 

Dusty T- About where my truck came from... I think I might have heard the colorado bit from the dealer, not sure. On my paperwork from the dealership after my inspection it says "Originally sold in and/or currently registered in cold climate state." And when I asked about that, the service advisor was able to pull up on his screen that the truck was first sold in New York.

I never pulled a carfax on my truck. Probably should have, but my mechanic friend gave it a run through and decided it was a good deal. I didnt know as much then about any of the rusted frame issues. (otherwise I would have looked more closely at a super cheap 2006 Tacoma that was rusted to shit. Probably could have done the recall slapped a new bed on it and had a killer truck.) I want to see if I can get a copy of my service record from Toyota though.

 

You can register your VIN on the Toyota owner's web site and see the Toyota service records. You should be able to see back to the first one. A carfax will show all recorded records, service and registration. I have both for my truck. It helps to have as much history as possible.

I don't have a copy of the extended warranty letters. At one time I did have them for both the '95-'00 model years and the '01-'04 model years, but they're gone now. Someone here may have the '01-'04 letters that they can share. I'd like to have a copy of that one again also.

 

I also agree that it would be helpful to have a frame issue sticky with the Toyota correspondence for both service campaigns/extended warranties Toyota put in place for the first gens.

These are often mistakenly called "recalls", but in fact were voluntary actions taken by Toyota without any regulatory oversight. Institudied as a service campaign and extended warranty, Toyota then controled the terms and conditions of these programs. If it were a recall, there would be no expiration date. Compare that to the spare tire carrier or LBJ (for specific model years) recalls, which Toyota will honor regardless of the age of the vehicle.

 

I tried to find mine in my paper collection (I have most every piece of paper dealing with the truck) but I think they actually held onto the TSB papers when I took it in. I never thought to ask for them or maybe I just have them somewhere else.

 

The thing about Car Fax is it is all volunteer the few shops I deal with " Car Fax what is that" So much work is not entered .

My Truck had no luck

 

By no means perfect. Missing all the work we do ourselves, or have our machanic friends do. But I have found the registration records useful in determining where my truck lived, which gives me an idea of the harsh conditions it was exposed to. I was lucky in that the two prior owners of my '03 went to a lot of shops that reported to car fax. The first owner also went to the dealer a number of times.

 

I also had the paperwork when I owned my '01. I let it go with the truck when I sold it. My '03 did not come with any service records or the warranty letter.

 

Just a little update:


Well. Im still waiting to see what Toyota is going to do. The Toyota of Portland dealership service manager got transfered to another location and the service advisor never called or wrote me back after I sent him the photos I took. Also the Customer Experience agent made it politely clear that he doesnt have any roll in anything except basically acting as a filter... all he can do is read me information from a screen about whether my truck is eligible for "potential repair." He said he couldnt do anything with the photos I sent him. He can't even forward them to regional because its a one way communication channel from regional to them.

Finally had time to take the truck to another dealership to have another inspection. They took pictures and wrote up a work order and notes to send to Toyota Regional. But oddly they basically refused to let me have a copy of the work order. The repeatedly said I really didnt need a copy of it, that they needed to wait to hear back from regional on their decision. I even pushed the issue and said that I wanted paperwork on my visit that day because my warranty was running out, so if Toyota took too long or denied the replacement I would have documentation to dispute things. Again they wouldnt give me a copy and said if Toyota denied it there wasnt much I could do anyways so it didnt matter.

I called back today and they said they still hadnt heard anything from regional. When I asked for clarification on what had been sent to Toyota and if the from their service opinion the truck failed the frame inspection or not, they said they dont make the decisions like that anymore. Basically they just take photos and notes and send it to regional, and regional makes all the decisions. I asked him what the notes had said and he told me the service manager properly documented the inspection but that he didnt know personally what the notes were on the paperwork. Seems weird to me to continually block me from knowing whats written on whatever they sent to regional.

We'll see what happens. I'm starting to think I might end up needing a lawyer to send a demand letter to regional.