Another Frame corrosion question

So after doing some maintenance on the truck a week or so ago I noticed my jack stand pushed a inch long hole in the frame on my drivers side. I went to my dealership that I bought the truck from 3 years ago and inquired about the inspection and was basically told I don't qualify and that the program is only for owners that live in the "rust belt". I am the second owner of this truck to my knowledge and live on the coast in south Texas where there is nearly a 100 miles of drivable beach. When I bought the truck the dealer undercoated the truck but I think that didn't help the situation. There was what I could tell when crawling around underneath the truck before purchase and undercoating surface rust visible but nothing flaky or concerning at the time. Fast forward 3 years and here I am. I just sent an email to corporate to inquire about the requirements and stipulations of the program. From what the dealer gave me my truck is covered until 2024 by the program. They suggested me to drive my truck up north to a dealership somewhere where they salt the roads as they don't have the "equipment" or ability to perform the inspection or apply the CRC treatment.
I am afraid that I will end up having to trade in my truck before it becomes unsafe if I strike out on getting the frame replaced or inspected properly. Has anyone down south ever gotten a frame replaced due to corrosion? Any advice or suggestions / pointers or thoughts are welcome. Or should I just cut my loses on a truck that has no payment and trade it in or ride it till it dies?

 

I heard (so treat this as a rumor) that Toyota is using your registration address pretty strictly for the frame replacement program. You might call a dealership up North (maybe OK is covered?? You'll have to look up what states qualify) and see of they think they can get you a frame. Tell them.it already has a 1" hole in it.

 

So per Toyota's response.

Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

We appreciate the opportunity to provide further insight to your Warranty Enhancement ZKA concern.

Per ZKA parameters reports have indicated that these vehicles, when operated in specific cold climate areas with high road salt usage, or exposed to other environmental factors, may exhibit more-than-normal corrosion to the vehicle’s frame. The following states are included in the program: District of Columbia (DC), CT, DE, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, VT, WI, and WV. As your vehicle is registered and regularly operated in Texas your tacoma will not qualify for coverage.

Per dealer, notes at the time of inspection on 07/22/2019 the frame did not meet frame replacement guidelines.

We know this is not the response you were hoping to receive, and understand the reasons for bringing this request to us. The experience you have had with your 2013 Tacoma is important to Toyota, and the information has been documented under case number. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Chakilla
Toyota Brand Engage

So now I am left to question whether I should cut my losses now before it gets worse, I can trade it in then it becomes the dealers problem or ride it out till it's completely unsafe. The downfall is I will be back into a truck payment which no one really likes but is a necessary evil. I will try to post a couple pictures later after work.

 

Move on! You just got a warning shot across the bow.

 

Whatever you do with it, don't dump it off on some unsuspecting buyer.
Trade it in and let toyota deal with it.

 

No, it would become a dealer problem I am too honest to dump it off on someone.

 

If you like the truck consider Saf-T-Caps. They're not expensive and any welder can put them on. Save a little money by doing most of the prep yourself.

I did my truck and have zero regrets. They were pretty painless - I only had some small holes so I opted to not cut the bottom off the frame per directions and now have a stronger frame than stock.

 

Chakilla...WTF.

 

The first picture shows the hole put into frame by the jack stand the rest are just other areas that are starting to get bad. I know some people have it way worse but I think the undercoat that was applied has only made it worse and these are the spots pushing through the undercoat.

 

Yep. That Noxudol just hides the corrosion and makes it worse - Toyota quit specifying it because dealerships weren't following the (extremely time consuming) TSB instructions correctly and just spraying it on over the rust. If you want to save that truck start working ASAP. Mineral spirits and steel wool will take off the Noxudol pretty easily, then wire wheel and paint.

Here's the story on my '09 frame, same deal: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...s-and-saf-t-cap-install.663600/#post-23245602

 

Where was your used truck first put into service?

Run your VIN in the Toyota Owners VIN website. It’ll tell you the selling dealer that you’d have to google.

Go back to Toyota if it was in one of those covered states and appeal their decision.

 

I wish but it was a coastal truck its entire life right here in Corpus Christi.

 

My vote is to trade it in before the problem gets worse.

 

unless youre willing to put the TIME and EFFORT of properly removing that crap undercoating, and taking care of the corrosion, remember rust never stops once started, it only slows down, its up to you to make that determination of how much time and effort youre willing to input versus what you are willing to do and make your decision from there. If a jack stand punched a hole in it, I would be concerned over how "bad" the rest of it ACTUALLY is under that coating...and theres only one way to find out with a lot of effort put into it.

 

Currently my plan is to trade it in, but I am having to wait as I just replaced the rack and am in process of doing a warranty exchange on it due to some "float" in the steering since replacing the rack. I also have to remove clock spring as I have an airbag light and my horn don't work. Which also just recently happened. Plus I have an ECGS bushing to fix a leak on my front driver side CV that has developed since replacing my CV's earlier this year. Yes I realize I should have done it when I replaced the CV's but I gambled and lost and I was more worried about the upper and lower A-Arms.

I have essentially rebuilt the whole front end of this truck this year which sucks because if I would have known I would have just left it all alone.

 

seems like rust is rust, why does it matter where the truck is used? makes no sense that toyota wouldn't cover it in a non-salt state which is better conditions right? I would be appealing

 

I agree but I think this is a battle that I would not win unfortunately. I see it time and time again on the board where people that have issues worse than mine have been turned away.

 

@TXTaco211 Hey, theres another thread this was posted in:

 

here is the pdf they posted

 

PLEASE please contact corporate again. Whoever you talked to at corporate is an idiot. Like a straight up idiot. An idiot that almost spooked you away from getting a new frame. The frame recall or whatever clearly, very clearly states that those "cold weather" states are the ones that they are most concerned about BUT that ALLLLLLL states are covered IF there is a perforation. Basically it works like this

-is there rust on the truck? If yes and they are in a cold winter state, they get the goop frame treatment. If yes and you are not in a cold winter state, go kick rocks.

-is there a HOLE in the truck's frame? If yes, it doesn't matter if the truck never left the garage of a house in palm springs since it was first purchased, it qualifies for a new frame. Doesn't matter if it was only registered in Guam. Doesn't matter if you bought it in California and then immediately flew it to the completely unpopulated island and very remote island of Navassa. YOU GET A NEW FRAME.

screenshot is what specifically states what I'm talking about. I am also attaching a PDF of this exact paperwork which came directly from toyota. Print it out, take it to the dealership, tell them politely, yet firmly, to read the coverage and ask them how they want to proceed.