First time toyota owner with concerns

First let me make this clear this is not a rant. More of a statement and I would like everyone's honest opinion. I live in New England. Back in 2006 I traded in a 2001 Ford f-350 with a v-10 for a 2006 Tacoma sport double cab. At the time I didnt need the Ford anymore and gas was costing me a fortune so after much thought I decided to downsize. I was happy with the Tacoma, I had done my research and decided that Tacoma's were legendary for their reliability and quality. It was everything I needed and nothing I didn't, my payments were low because of my trade in and compared to the f-350 the gas mileage was incredible. It's now july of 2010 and I can honestly say I will never own another Toyota whether it be car or truck. in 2008 my 17" aluminium alloy rims began to corrode as many of yours have. I took this issue to my dealer where I have all of my services done and they said it was "environmental" and they wouldn't do anything about it. I was persistent and finally the Toyota regional rep agreed to have them re-finished on Toyota's dime. The service manager told me it was a "one time good faith offer" because I have had all my service done at the dealership. My truck was still under factory warranty but I couldnt help feeling like they thought they were doing me a favor as if I didnt drop 30k on a compact pickup truck. So they sent the wheels out to be re-finished and when I got them back I was not happy. It looked as though the place they sent them to used silver metallic spray paint to cover the corrosion. When I told the dealership I wasnt happy they said they wouldnt do them again. So I felt cheated but let it go. So yesterday I got a price of 65$ per rim to media blast and powder coat black. I was all set to do it when something caught my eye. I had heard a squeaking when I got out of my truck and i poked my head under to take a look. I was shocked to see how much rust has accumulated on my frame. The truck is 4 years old with 34k miles on it. I wash it regularly and dont go off road at all. All of the mounting hardware for the shocks are completely caked with rust. All 4 bilstein shocks are covered in rust as well. There are actually pieces of metal flaking off of my frame. So I decided to give the whole truck a once over and make an appointment to have it looked at on Tuesday. My Ford never had even close to this much rust and it had double the miles on it. Also behind the door handle on the drivers side is all covered in scratches ..... from my fingernails hitting it when i open the door ........ does that sound right to any of you? Fingernails scratching clearcoat??? The question I am asking is this ........ do you think Toyota has abandoned their commitment to reliability and quality? They have lost a customer for life in myself and my family members. As soon as I can I am trading my Tacoma in for another Ford. This post is not intended to offend anyone or to start a fight I was merely trying to determine whether this is a common problem or if it's a "fluke".

 

My 09 has fingernail scratches behind the drivers door handle and I am not impressed with the amount of rust I have on my frame after 1 winter .

That being said I love my truck , but I would be lying if I said I totally disagreed with your observation that Toyota's build quality has diminished in the last 10 years .

 

Your never going to own a toyota again, your going to buy a ford, and you come on here with, "this is not a rant". Good luck with the ford, and see you later.

 

i have heard about the rusting frames and terrible service at dealers. i guess i need to look under the truck at my frame next chance i get to make sure i'm not in trouble. my dealership treats me pretty fair, but i've heard some bad experiences about that on here. any dealership is gonna be cheap if they can be; no matter what company. i also have noticed scuffs on my driver's side door handle, that sucks, but i can't afford to get it painted. honestly, i don't blame you for your opinion considering what has happened to you, and i'm sorry that it happened. but i'm going to stick with my truck.

 

There are a lot of rust issues on these trucks, especially when exposed to road salt.

As far as the comparison to the Ford, I have a question about that. Your Ford is an 01, what year did they start using the newer road salts? I know nothing about salted roads, but I have heard that they are using a different product now and that new product is more aggressive? Just wondering if the first several winters on the Ford may have been under better conditions?

 

The paint... yes the paint Toyota put on our trucks sucks. Well known, and honestly most manufactures are no better these days. Honestly I'm surprised it took you this long to even notice... I got rock chips on my 08 the first 500mi easily. It's a truck... scratches don't bother me hell I put a bunch of AZ pinstriping on my last.

As for the rust... well they don't put a good rust preventative measure on the frame or anything for that matter. I will agree it's a massive quality oversite (especially considering the first gen rust problem). That said... being in the NE I wouldn't own a car without doing rust prevention every single year... no matter how new or how old. That is an environmental issue, not really Toyota's fault. Here in AZ... it works fine because rust isn't that big of a deal around here with how dry it stays and no winters to worry about.

As for the rims... well they're rims. I scuffed the hell out of mine out in the desert on my 08. That's a wear and tear item... that simple. As for corrosion... something you got on them caused it... be it what ever cleaning material your'e using, the chemicals used on the roads on the winter... something. It's a chemical reaction to the material... doesn't sound like a defect to me.

I agree they could have gone about it in a much better manner to take care of you, and I do agree quality has slipped... even Toyota themselves have admitted that. That said, IMHO it's still the best truck on the market for it's class... and an F150 is a different class (full sized). Even then, Ford's have their share of issues too, as does any manufacture.

 

well said

 

My honest opinion is this: Although I live in SoCal, I've got friends & family that live in the northeast: Delaware, Buffalo NY & we've all talked about the harsh winters, salting of the roads etc; that they & you encounter, I'm not saying that your description of rust on your Tacoma is inaccurate or exaggerated but what I WILL say is that your Ford isn't exempt from the rust you describe. Neither is any Chevy,GMC, Dodge etc; Its a common sense thing really if I lived in an environment that was wet,cold,salt roads etc; Then I sure as hell would prep my vehicles for it thru generous undercoating several times a year if necessary I wouldn't rely on ANY manufacterers application of frame preservative, My cousin in Buffalo was cruising down the road near Tacawanda (or some damn place)in his 04 F150 hit a bump only to have the passenger side of his bench seat drop about a foot thru the floorboard due to excessive rust rot. I'm sorry for your experience & the Toyota dealership you went to are a bunch of douche bags , I am curious though to the length of your fingernails & do you polish them j/k

Look, I live where it gets almost as hot & dry as AZ so you KNOW I flush my cooling system & replace antifreeze & do A/C service so I keep the potential for failure to a minimum , so you should do whatever is necessary to gaurd against the elements for your next vehicle ... just my 2 cents....

 

Yeah I wont be getting an f-150 ........ I hate the new look of them. As for the road salt in my area as far back as I can remember its always been the same sand and salt mix spread with a machine. None of the liquid stuff. I am well aware that every other automobile manufacturer has quality problems, however, consider the fact that I paid 30,000 and at the end of the day it is a compact pickup. I paid 31,000 for the f-350 in 01 and it looked as good as new when I traded it in. I miss it now.

 

oh and hendooman it's Dbags like you that make people not want to post .... keep up the good work "senior member"

 

.

FWIW ... my 2009 Tacoma has been on the road almost 18 months with about 15,000 miles and has virtually no rust underneath and looks brand new. Granted we have almost zero salt in Atlanta and no salty sea air or salty air mist either.

When I lived and worked in Canada with lots of road salt in Montreal ... I had a new company car every year and after the first winter, they always looked like hell underneath.

Good luck with your Ford, but I think that you are jumping from the frying pan into the fire. ...

PS ... We have had maybe 20 Toyota cars & trucks since the early late 1970s or early 80s and most have been super vehicles. However, in the maybe the last 10 years, Toyota has really slipped in the Q/C dept. with a greater part of the Q/C slide in last 5 years.

.

 

I'll also throw in a point that I had my truck up in Oregon, drove up hwy 1, and went down to the beaches quite a few times (though granted it was almost all summer). I got one tiny little bit of surface rust on the frame where I presume I scratched it out in the desert... no biggy. Also, every time I went to the coast I immediately (within 24hr) did an undercarriage rinse.

 

If you live 100 feet from the ocean like me , it's not that feasable to rinse every time .

LOL

 

I do live about 5 miles from the coast. I guess I'm just really fed up with the whole thing. nobody wants to look under their vehicle and see a ton of rust. I can post pics if anyone is interested. The rims are especially bad. It's almost funny in a way. You pay more for the sport package and the dam thing starts to fall apart 4 years later

 

i miss my 05 3/4ton chevy. that truck was super comfy, strong, the frame didnt rust bad. i had it until 2008 and had 70k on the odo. absolutly no issues. plowed every winter no problem. i got my taco and the frame is much lighter material. probably why it rusts faster. my tacoma came from the factory with an undercoating spray. When i move back to ny i will be buying another 2500hd. Best truck ive ever had. Love my taco but my chevy was better...

i wont get rid of my taco though. i will add a chevy 2500 to my stable. if you do your due dilligence you wont have issues with the taco. (wash once a week in winter, undercoating and treating any rust spots every winter and spring it will last.)

 

Every car I have owned gets the fingernail scratches. I think that is just a common problem on all vehicles, and really an unavoidable issue. As for the rust, I dont think it has anything to do with Toyota, more to do with the conditions you are driving in. Your hailed "Ford" that you speak of is known for rust as well. When I was buying, I was originally looking at a full-size, and looked at a couple of F-150s from CarMax. I saw multiple 2007's that were completely covered in rust underneath.

 

How do you people manage to scratch the paint with your finger nails btw? I don't even touch the paint with my finger nails around the door handle.... not even remotely close. Are you trying to finger-fu the door every time or some crap?

 

FYI; The Tacoma Frame is made by DANA Corp who also makes Frames for Domestic trucks, DANA Corp used a cheap thin paint coating. Although we shouldn't have to, i wire brush/paint my frame every year. A little upkeep and my 2005 Tacoma frame is like new and i live in the ocean state!!

 

Nice! I live in SoCal (Temecula) and will be purchasing my first Tacoma in a couple weeks. Do you have any other desert maintenance suggestions?

Ander

 

good luck getting the same F-350 you got in 01 for $31,000. Probably gonna be $45k for the same truck. No disrespect, just sayin'.