Purchased 2016 Tacoma, was not informed of recall (rust on frame), looking for advice.

Hello,

I purchased a 2016 Tacoma in last October, upon first glance we noticed a thick coating on the underside of the truck. We asked the salesman what the coating was for, he did not have an answer for us and brushed it off. I thought that with winter approaching, it was in preparation for the salty roads.

We asked the salesman if they could remove the coating for us before purchase, to which he obliged. We took a quick look underneath the next day and everything seemed ok.

Fast forward a couple months with the truck, when taking the vehicle on logging roads, the back end would start squeaking, I took more time to look at the underside of the vehicle, only to notice the incredible amount of rust.

I did some digging around online, only to discover the recall for 2016 Tacoma's, rust on frame. I now understand that the coating we saw before purchase was the band aid Toyota is using up until I believe December 2020.

We are looking to address the lack of notification of the recall with the dealership this weekend. My hope would be that they would replace the frame entirely, which was stated in the recall notice if the rust is bad enough.

I am looking for any advice going into this meeting with the dealership, any similar stories etc.

Also, if applying the coating is the only option the dealership gives us, I guess I want to know just how bad do you think the rust is? I made the big decision to purchase the vehicle, anticipating it would last me 15-20 years...I have little confidence now which is unfortunate.

Thank-you.

 

I'll be interested to hear what others have to say, but depending on where you live for a 4 year old truck (and how many miles?) That doesn't look that bad to me. But I get it, any rust is disappointing.

 

Very normal rust. Go look at other tacomas in your area.

 

I mean, what can you do. Get the tsb coating and call it good. Toyota will replace the frame if it gets a hole.

Depends where you are if that's considered bad.

Personally I would wire brush all that rust off exept the suspension, paint, then fluid film it's not bad at all for indiana where I live. Not at all last save able long-term, but it's a ton of work.

 

That’s really not too bad. Certainly nothing they will replace the frame for. Can be cleaned up and protected though.

 

The truck has 57k miles, and I live in BC Canada for reference.

 

Agree. Fluid Film is your friend. I only see surface rust there and it's nothing to worry about if you start applying Fluid Film every fall.

PS... I don't sell the stuff. I just use it and it's worked well for me for years.

 

Definitely doesn’t look bad for a tacoma... it’s a lot of work, but wire wheeling and repainting is your best bet. Or you could calcium chloride your frame until a hole appears and hope your dealer replaces it...

 

I live where salt/brines on the road almost half the year. That looks normal for a 4 year old truck thats rarely had the underside washed or been properly rustproofed. Another 4 years you wont see any black paint under there. Normal for toyotas, and not structural at all. That coating they knocked off was likely a rubberized undercoat. Good riddance to that. It would have accelerated the corrosion by trapping inevitable moisture against the steel.

 

Don’t be upset about it, that’s not what I’d consider rusty. As others have said, you can clean it up and protect it from here on out and it will treat you well for those 15 years you dream of (maybe, nobody knows for sure on the 3rd gens yet )

 

It's fine, just clean it, recoat it.

 

Doesn’t look bad. I wouldn’t really worry about it.

Also, if the dealership or Toyota has any record of the protectant being applied and later removed upon owners request, they won’t do anything to fix or replace that frame.

 

It’s unfortunate. But yes pretty sure the purchase was “As is” unless there was some factory warranty left. Which is transferable. Have them clean the rust and protect per the tsb since they did remove it.(dummies)

 

Thanks for the reply, the general consensus is easing my mind a bit lol. Is there anything to be said about the dealership not notifying us of the recall on the frame? Cheers.

 

Not really, it’s a recall on the frames that are bad. They can inspect it, if yours was in need of replacement then sure. But it’s not like a recall in the sense that 200,000 trucks with these vin numbers are recalled. If it’s not actually rotted, it doesn’t get replaced. And I’m good spraying mine with fluid film or Woolwax yearly, it’s easier than trusting a dealer to make anything right.

 

There isn’t a recall for frame rust for your truck, there was a warranty enhancement. Recalls are safety issues that need to be corrected, this is just Toyota saying the frames need some extra love

 

Screw that. My 10 year old Dodge Journey daily driver does not have that much rust.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone, it sounds like the rust is average for the year and miles (57k) and my location (BC, Canada).

It also sounds like there is not a lot of grounds for the dealership to replace the frame. Our next step if that was the case, was to have them spray it with the protectant coat they had before. Is this reasonable? I do not know if it is Fluid Film or not (which I understand works very well).

Thanks for the help.

 

My 2017 looked very similar when I traded it in. I'm in New England, so it saw plenty of salt. When I discussed frame recall with dealership they said it was fine and it didn't even need the coating.

 

Clean, paint, then coat would be best.