Expired warranty on rusted out frame

Anyone have any luck with Toyota on their expired warranty on rusted out frames?

I bought a 2002 Toyota Tacoma in November 2016 via private party. Went to get new tires on it in February of 2018 and while on the lift the frame cracked in half. Frame is completely rusted and corroded over the rear tires. Called Toyota and gave them my VIN-the warranty expired on the manufacturer defect on November 11, 2017. Spoke to a supervisor and was told there was nothing they could do because the warranty is expired.

New frame quote is $8000. Collision repair center recommends not having the frame welded as it will still be unsafe to drive in the mountains or at a high speed.

Thanks-Justin

 

Your fucked honestly. Unless you can somehow get toyota to donate you a frame.

 

If you don't have the time/money/know how to find a used frame and swap it then your only real option is to part it out.. sucks man

 

Sorry man. There's not much you can do unless you know a good welder, or can find a used good frame out West and have it swapped.

I'd part it out or sell it whole and cut your losses if you don't have the time or patience to fix it.

 

It can always be repaired the cost might not be practical .

If you lack the skills to do the work yourself .

OP I am guessing the frame issues came as a surprise ??

 

A lot of clean 2002’s out here in So Cal- I sold my beloved OR DCSB 4x4 TRD SR5 (still my Avatar) 1 year ago with about 275k miles on it for $6500 and it had no rust at all - your least expensive option if you can’t fix it yourself would be to sell it and try again, but dont buy a salt belt one unless it is clean and has a new frame. Sorry about that!

 

A friend of mine had a Tacoma that did the same thing, the warranty was also expired, he put it on Craigslist and sold the whole thing to a guy from New York for $3000. The guy told him since he’s from New York he’ll just weld the frame and run it

 

Anything is repairable if you have the know how......I just did a pretty big frame repair on a trashed 1997. Folks here told me I was nuts. Less than six weeks later it's 99% done. I have $1100 in the repairs. Could have been done for under $700 but I opted to use some new parts.

 

your only options are:

1. Sell it for parts
2. try to repair it if you have the skills or have a frend who does (having it done to a shop is $$$$$)

• Before attempting anything, bang on it thoroughly with a hammer to have a better idea of the extent of the rot. Then if it is worth repairing, you have this company that makes frame repair parts:https://www.autorust.com/product-category/toyota-tacoma/

My frame was good, but I did a major tune-up to the truck. People tell me I'm crazy too because it's an old truck. So what? All it did cost me is time because I did all the work myself. I'm very proud of this truck now Keep up the good work, my friend, and don't let others discourage you from finishing your project!

 

Heck of the project you have in hands now.....

 

Firstly, I'm sure the lesson learned here is to look under the vehicle next time you buy a used car. Hell, I look under a new vehicle before buying it. That amount of rust doesn't suddenly appear in 2 years unless maybe you routinely submarine the thing in Mono Lake...

You have either a big expensive/time consuming project on your hands, or a parts truck. If your frame is that badly rusted, most of the other bolts/hardware is probably badly rusted and worthless, too.

Drive somewhere where they don't salt the roads and isn't coastal (no frame rust) like central CA or AZ and find a junk yard with a rolled truck of similar year. Trailer it home and make the swap.

You could always trailer the truck home as is, and throw some rebar on the frame and booger weld the crap out of it. Seen that done before - not that I'd ride in one like that, though... Even if you could adequately repair the broken section, the rest of the frame is likely just as bad, and not too far off from a similar failure. So unless you can get INSIDE the boxed frame sections and clean/repair the rust there, too, dump the frame and find a rust free donor for the desert.

 

Not the OP’s, but its never a pretty picture when one discovers this issue for the first time when its loaded on a lift

 

Man that sucks

 

Really a bummer. Not much you can do about it though but either dump it or get ready to spend a lot of money! Someone should get into the business of fabricating aftermarket Tacoma frames, probably make a killing! There's companies that do them for Jeeps because stock Jeep frames are wimpy and they've turned into multi million dollar industries. If I knew anything about welding, I'd be all over this.

 

Not just Tacoma, but Tundra/Sequoia, older Pickup/Hilux and 4Runner frames as well as they've also suffered from the rust problem too.

 

It's the bending tooling that would be expensive.

OP, frames can be found but we have no idea where you live. Maine? Hawaii?......Siberia?