Major rust perforation on Ohio-based 2009 Toyota Tacoma

Let me start by saying I know there was a customer service program for 2005-2009 Tacomas that expired, but hear me out. There is a ton more to this story I'm happy to share, but this is the bare bones version:

My father gave me his 2009 Toyota Tacoma just before he passed away this past May. He had taken it in in 2018 in Ohio for a rust perforation exam per the letter he got warning of that. That dealership said there was none and did nothing. Fast forward to early June and I took the car to my mechanic here in SC and they won't work on it at all due to the rust issues. The amount of rust perforation that occurred in just five years can't be normal, I said to myself.
Since then, I have been talking to Toyota Brand Engagement for 2 1/2 months trying to get them to admit that the frame of a Tacoma with 128k miles on it should not reasonably be as rusted as this one is in just 5 years.
Everyone from the Brand Engagement agents to the service techs at my local Toyota dealers all agree. But my case keeps getting closed and denied because the "customer service program" has expired. Thing is, my father did the right thing and took it in. And the dealership did nothing. And there is no way that the rust holes on this truck should be like this after five years. Obviously, I'm working to get a new frame and that seems reasonable to me. But it's going to be an uphill climb.
Does anyone have any advice on what to do. I can be a squeaky wheel for a long, long time and I'm in that process. But I wondered if anyone had any successes they could share or even any documents that might help me. The truck has a lot of meaning to myself and my family and I'm not looking to give up on it.

 

If there wasn't a 10mm hole in the frame at the time of the inspection, It passed.
You can NOT, pry, bang or poke at the frame to make a hole, or make a hole bigger.

In short, The frame could have been "rusted" when he had it inspected. It just want bad enough........yet.

 

If it was "fine" in 2018 and it's got a big rust hole in it now..odds are that it's user neglect.

If you live in wintery salted roads and did nothing every year to mitigate rust, that's 100% on you

 

I'm unsure of what steps my father took from 2018 to 2023 before he had his stroke and couldn't drive it any longer, but I know he was meticulous about his care of his vehicles. I also know that Toyota is notorious for having rust issues with frames as evidenced by their class action lawsuits. I'm mostly asking if anyone has had any experience with the programs and contact with Toyota, but I appreciate your opinion and interest in the care of the truck, Clinch Mountain Preacher.

 

I've never seen a case won that was outside of the warranty period.
Not saying it doesn't happen. But I have never heard of it.

There have been quite a few people on this forum try to get theirs replaced outside of warranty..
None that I am aware of had any success. But I don't blame you for trying. You never know what might happen if you don't try.

 

I hate to say it but that truck looks like it never saw a car wash in the winter in it's life. It amazes me how few people take their vehicles through a wash with an undercarriage spray here in the rust belt.

You may be able to find a decent frame in a scrap yard and swap everything over as a family project. Otherwise, I would think you're screwed. Toyota doesn't owe you a thing.

Nobody knows what your dad's dealer told him regarding the frame, whether they told him there was rust that should be addressed or not. My '06 went in to the dealer, who found no holes. They did schedule the truck in for 2 days to spray the frame with a coating because there were spots that could become a problem.

 

In case you have any interest, there is a wrecked 2008 on here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/totaled-08-prerunner-part-out.838178/#post-30011060
that my be good for a body to frame swap. Being down south, likely the frame is in good shape. Just a thought.

 

A lot of people in the salt belt do meticulous maintenance but never touch the frame, it absolutely boggles my mind. Yes I never heard of fluid film until I got on tacomaworld but I live in SoCal and I fluid film my rigs, you would think living in the Midwest or anywhere they salt it would be common knowledge to fluid film

 

In 2018 they looked for any rust holes in the frame. At that time there were probably none. Five years later of driving in the great salt north could easily create rust holes where there were none in 2018.

 

Sadly, that is kinda what happens, it accelerates rapidly when it gets to a certain point

I sounds like you have some sentimental attachment, but living in SC, just go get a clean truck, and sell this one if you can.

I’m sorry for the loss of your father

 

I know exactly what you are going through. I have a 2005 that just this yr would not pass inspection bc of the holes. Toyota washed their hands of it and said the program expired in 2019, end of story. So I just paid 4500.00 and got the frame repaired. I couldn't part with the truck since it only had 87k miles on it and I had it from new. Tough battle but Toyota won. Sorry

 

I recently bought a 2000 Tacoma xtracab from a one owner in Kansas City (not even the true/real rust belt,etc) and the guy said he never got the letter or it got lost in transit. Older gentlemen had tons of service done on it and shop finally refused to work on it due to the rust issues. The frame is one of the worst I have seen in person. Shame Toyota couldn't just replace them all as most are going to have this issue.

 

They never fixed the issue, it’s not like the new frames wouldn’t rust too

 

Toyota is great on a lot of things, the frame bungling and some others are a tough pill to swallow.

 

That sounds like what I am going through. My biggest issue is that I just have to trust that the dealership saw nothing and that they didn't offer the undercoating to him because there was nothing. I've even gone back through weather records since 2018 to see the weather events that would have required heavy salting and how that corresponds to the mileage my father drove on the vehicle. I know a few on here are saying Toyota owes nothing, but the fact that it is an issue at all and my father did was he was supposed to do truly irks me. I'll keep going for a while and see what happens. thank you for sharing your story and if you have any suggestions on departments you spoke with in your efforts, I would love to hear them. Thank you!

 

Dear Toyota, please look up the term galvanizing, then galvanize the frames of your pickups and fix the biggest bitch people have with your vehicles with frames. I'd gladly pay more for a properly galvanized frame over some fru fru fancy shit.

 

For what length of time would you like Toyota to fully cover the cost of corrosion on your going-on 20 year old truck?
30 years?
40 years?
Infinity and beyond?

 

As much at the frames are a known problem on these trucks, you cannot seriously expect Toyota to replace the frame on a 15 year old truck, under warranty.

 

believe it or not that FF or other spray products that are NOT hard rubbery tar-type undercoatings is not common knowledge in parts of the MW including the Toyota Dealershops, which boggled my mind!
i took my old 97 rig in once some years ago for an alignment inspection after recently spraying that FF stuff in various places and the service manager came to me with pics of Multiple Leaks Found. I was told they would have to rinse the bottom of the truck off so they could pinpoint the wheres and whats that were leaking. I covered my mouth to stop the chuckle and told them i had this anti-salt spray underneath there that they had not ever seen or heard of

i don't think they honestly know what they are doing at that Toyota place! or this would not ever be an issue by now after the Gen1 lessons learned or in Toyota case NOT learned
not even a customer education program + plan such as they did with the Floormat thing that was a thing

they honestly do not care imo

 

If the truck had not gone in for an inspection in 2018 and was deemed ineligible for even the undercoating they were offering on the vehicle at that time, I wouldn't think that. But for a truck to go from "no perforation" in 2018 to the rust damage that now exists a few years later, I honestly do. He did the right thing taking it in when he learned about the problems with Tacoma frames and I think Toyota did the wrong thing by doing nothing at that time. I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, certainly, but my post is mostly about folks that might have had conversations with Toyota about this over the years as I am going to continue with my efforts on it.