US Tacoma with Rusty frame in Canada. Toyota wants nothing to do with me now

If you drive a complex piece of electro-mechanical equipment it is your responsibility to inspect it or pay someone to inspect it once in a while. There is no auto manufacturer that is going to replace a 15 year old truck frame for free. Steel rusts eventually and that's not going to change...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09aQlPRwXmk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnXu1tLJT8M

 

I am reading a lot of negativity here, Jesus h Christ folks, simma downnow.

Rusty frames are a normal occurrence, or have y’all not seen “fast’n’loud” “fantomworks” or “Texas metal”?

Toyota had an issue with less than acceptable product application on the frame allowing the rust to spread faster than industry standard...
They did offer a fix, be it litigation or voluntary.

I remember late 90’s Chevy trucks having paint peel due to an environmental requirement to change to water base paint.
Chevy refused to repaint the trucks.
Dodge refused to admit there was an issue with the Durango truck, Firestone tried to blame the drivers...

Toyota should not be held accountable for the rest of time for rusty frames, in the OP’s case, because it was a US truck sold out of country I believe Toyota can void all. I know for a fact this happens with motorcycles imported from Canada. All warranty and recall services become null.

We are all guilty of not checking our vehicles out every time we do something, majority of people don’t even know how to check oil let alone check a frame. The internet can be of help, however, most of us are not gonna look for issues before we buy, human nature.

The only recommendation I can give OP is call Toyota USA and ask them if they would be willing to do a “good faith” type deal, usually it works out to something like you pay labor and consumables and they pay for parts.

If the phone operator says no, the ask for the next higher up and so on, relay that this is your mothers rig, she is a senior citizen....

Don’t get sappy, but, don’t get mad either. Treat this call like you would if you were trying to convince a jury that you did not commit the crime.

A frame swap is not to hard a job, it does help to have a lift, you could always go that route if you have the time and skill.
Last one I helped with took 24hrs start to finish.

Said my piece I’m out.

 

Last year, I bought a '99 Jeep Wrangler with a very rusted out frame. The seller had already bought a solid replacement frame, I got it in the deal.

The frame was cracked under the driver's door... someone had welded the transmission skid pan to the frame.













I spent 5 weeks doing the frame swap. While I had it apart, I also replaced all brake lines, rebuilt the brakes, installed new ball joints, steering knuckles, shocks, brakes, tires, clutch, carpet, and top... and rebuilt the 5 speed transmission.



It turned out pretty nice...

From what I have read, the frames on the TJ Jeeps and Tacomas were all actually manufactured by Dana... I don't know if that is true or not...

OP, if I had your truck, I would be looking for a replacement frame and do a frame swap... it's not terribly difficult, just a lot of work.

Good luck...

-Bear

 

its a shitty situation for sure. I would try to talk to your local news station and see if they can put some pressure on the dealership you went to. Worth a shot?

 

It mattered to that dealer, not Toyota. They were just trying to weasel out of a job they did not want to do.

 

I bought my 2007 Taco used in 2014, and immediately started getting the official Toyota mailings re: recalls and such. I was actually a bit surprised that they found me so quickly!

 

^^^THIS^^^

 

I didn't take my truck to the dealer, I started with Toyota Corporation. Then did the rest by calling the original dealer and down the line. Mine was a unique situation. The dealer said it had been sprayed over, and that turned out to be false information. My mechanic said it had never been sprayed. I started the conversation with that.

 

Dear Osity: I am in the same situation as you, a Canadian owner of a US 2005 Toyota Tacoma that was bought new in Oregon and imported into Canada in 2005. I have owned it since 2007 through a purchase from a private Canadian seller in Surrey, BC; it currently has 78, 600 miles on it. Toyota Canada has done a few recalls for me and Toyota US notified me about the pedal acceleration recall, however, they appear to take no responsibility for continuing their communication with me about the the rear suspension recall or any warranty enhancements, despite me living at the same address for 31 years. I have been taking my vehicle to the same service station for 7 years and was just told last week that there is a golf-sized hole in the frame by the front wheel. No one wants to take any responsibility despite the lawsuit in the US and the class action suits in Ontario and Quebec.

 

dimur, Join my Tacoma facebook group for frame recalls....

 

There is a great amount of confusion on this point.
In fact, the reality is that if you DON'T get it sprayed, then you MAY NOT get a new frame when a hole develops.

The rationale is very simple;
The act of choosing not to accept free maintenance is your assumption of the full risk.

 

That is one of the downsides to second hand ownership and private imports... unless somebody actually NOTIFIES THE MANUFACTURER, they won't know who to send a notice to. Usually within the same country, bringing the vehicle in for service at one of the manufacturer's dealerships will update the record, but even that gets a little questionable once you're across the border. Has the vehicle even ever been serviced in a Toyota dealership in Canada?

 

So look, the problem here obviously isn't mileage, its age. The vehicle doesn't actually have to move much for it to rust. Just one run to the grocery store in the beginning of the winter to slather the whole thing in salt, and then let time do its thing.
If you don't drive the vehicle enough to get your money's worth out of it in terms of mileage over the ~10 year design life, then how, exactly, is that the manufacturer's fault? Or if you don't take steps to extend the vehicle's useful life beyond the designed 10 years, how is that the manufacturer's fault?

I completely understand where you're coming from with the 102,000 km. That isn't enough mileage to justify the vehicle. But realistically, that's over 14 years in salt.

For her next vehicle, you might want to point her to something CHEAP, because she doesn't drive enough to justify an expensive vehicle in this environment.

 

Unless it’s an actual recall or the vehicle is still under warranty, Toyota Canada will not do anything for US CSP’s or similar. Similarly, Canadian action items will generally not apply to US vehicles.

The best/only way to really deal with the situation in my opinion is to take a trip down to the US and have a dealer there take care of it. That is assuming that the program is still valid.

Toyota Canada has no obligation to assist owners of vehicles they didn’t sell. The fact that they are so open to performing warranty and recalls is extremely nice of them and not something all manufacturers do.

Jeff

 

I know a service adviser at a Canadian Toyota dealer. They *do* perform frame swaps on US market vehicles. While this behavior may not follow with all manufacturers, apparently it does for Toyota, which seems to be more globally minded than some other car makers.

 

Canadian dealers can and have done frame replacements on US vehicles, but the context matters.

For a 2005 Tacoma, before TCI recall 223 expired this would probably have been taken care of, but now that isn’t the case anymore.

Jeff