Is this damage to the truck bed?

Hey guys
Just bought a 2020 Tacoma TRD Off Road for my son and after we got it home we noticed this damage inside one of the rear wheel wells.
Is this damage to the bed?
Can this be patched up?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

I’d say yes. What does the other side look like?

 

-_-

 

If it were me, I guess I'd want to know what the other side looked like as another poster indicated.
I'd be looking for intrusion from the top-side of the bed to see if the damage might have been caused by a heavy pointed item being transported in the bed.
But, I'd also want to look at, and compare the frame on both sides and see if there is any asymmetric welds.
How's the condition of the bumper and the fender on that side of the truck? How about the tailgate?
Any evidence of replaced / painted parts?
I'd also look and see about a CARFAX report to see if it was involved in an accident.

 

That right there is the hole made by a something large shifting in the bed and ramming into the wheel well. Not a bad hit but enough to crack the bed. You can fix that one pretty easy with fiberglass. Just grind out the crack a bit and remove lose material (dont grind all the way through) then using some fiberglass and some chop mat fill it back in. Wont be 100% as strong but will hold up well. After you fix it, sand it smoothish and spray some black paint over it.

 

Or someone loaded cargo with a forklift and hit the wheel well with one of the forks. It wouldn't be a deal killer for me. Had you seen it earlier it would have been a bargaining point to get a little off the price. I'd leave it alone unless it gets worse.

 

If you literally just bought it and the purchase was from a large reputable dealer take it back.

If you bought it privately “as is” then you’ll have to fix it or live with it…

 

epoxy. it will be stronger than ever. but i would try to see if the dealer will cover it first. might get a new bed.

https://www.addcomposites.com/post/composite-repair

if they can patch holes in helicopters with it, i'm sure you can do a hole in your wheel-well.

 

The Asshat loading metal roofing in my truck got the forks stuck on one of the screws on the tailgate and tore one out.

 

So the other side is totally fine and I don't see any signs of frame repair.
CarFax does shows "minor" damage reported. But I knew that going into the purchase.
From the dealer reports they gave me the truck was inspected for frame damage and it shows OK.
It was purchased from a large Toyota dealership in San Diego, CA about 3 weeks ago, but all the paperwork does say sold "AS IS"
Not sure if they will take care of it or not...but I can ask.

 

Did you look on the inside of the bed? A few of us suspect that maybe someone loaded something that impinged on the bedwall where the damage is, either during loading, or when the truck was in operation.
(in other-words, the minor accident could be totally unrelated to the damage to the bed).

 

If don’t already have a bed mat, get one. It will prevent stuff sliding around and bashing into your bed sides. It can be easily removed when low friction is an advantage, e.g. loading/unloading a heavy pallet

 

If you bought it knowing it had some damage (with an appropriate price) I would just leave it.

Maybe mark it or carefully photograph size to see if its growing, but I would very much doubt that any reasonable repair will be worth the efforts.

 

i would just add some epoxy to the damaged area. doesn't even look like it really needs to be patched.

 

This comes to mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs

 

As is in that sense is that it doesn't carry a dealer specific warranty versus leftover manufacture one. I'd think they'd want to make this right as it could be hidden frame or other damage if you made a stink about it.

 

Ouch.

People think I'm crazier than an outhouse rat when I jump on these threads and harp endlessly on "if the store uses a machine to load it, save your truck, go rent a trailer."

But that's why.


I hope they made it right at least.

 

The guy inside gave me 25 or 50 bucks off a exterior door. I got a new screw and retainer clip for the tailgate and had to hammer down the bent metal so it's good to go, wish l had rented a trailer though.

 

I personally would not sweat that for a second. Drive it and be happy!