What to do with my '02 PreRunner with rusted frame.

I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner SR5 (2.7l) with 89,000 well maintained miles. The truck is in excellent condition besides the area above the right leaf spring shackle on the frame. I missed the LSC 90-D so I am on my own. I just left the Toyota dealership who conducted the spare tire hanger recall and had them inspect the frame. They said they couldn't find any other holes but can't give an accurate assessment without taking a noodle scraper to it. He said it may last 5 more years, or 5 more months before more holes appear or it may not get any worse but once rust starts, it is hard to stop it.

I will not sell the truck without disclosing to any potential new owner about the frame problem. I am sure most people looking for a Toyota don't even know about these issues and if I were unethical, could maybe get 8,500 for it. I am buying a Silverado and the dealership found a broker who will take it for $3700.00. The truck is in excellent condition other than the frame. I even have brand new tires on it.

You guys think I should take the deal or try to sell it outright with disclosing the frame issues? Selling without disclosing the issue is not an option for me.

 

I thought toyota had a 15 year period to get it fixed from date of production?

 

this. I thought they extended the warranty on the frame to 15 years. Have you called Toyota corporate?

 

I wouldny let it.go.for 3700 just yet...

 

I would have the warranty only if I had taken it in for the frame treatment during the Limited Service Campaign. I missed it by 6 weeks. Since I didn't, I am on my own. The warranty applies to those who had the frame treated.

The service manager at Toyota dealership called his regional manager. He said they won't do anything although he wishes they would. He makes big bucks off these frame replacements he says.

 

Wow...yeah Toyota put that little loophole in there about getting your frame treated by the 2011 deadline.

A real shame with only 89,000 miles

A couple of your options might be...spray the whole thing with por-15, remove all the rest off of the rest of the frame and get the rest of the frame treated with a coating. I would take it to a shop and get them to weld on a replacement piece for that rusted out part.

If it's worth ~$8700 with a good frame (I would say it's worth more actually), but you can only get $3700 for it now, that's a $4000 loss. How much will Toyota sell you a frame for?
Nissan sells replacement frames for their old hardbody trucks. The most expensive one is $3600, and they want $1800 for the mid-80s 2wd truck frame. I know Nissan is not Toyota, but maybe that's benchmark or guideline.


For all you people about to say "you can't weld rust". I'm aware. You do know that when you sand rust away, you get clean metal...eventually.

Can't get a price for a Toyota frame (or any parts for that matter) because I can't find a single website with half-decent schematics and prices

 

Around 3-3.5k ish

http://www.villagetoyotaparts.com/s...9376&ukey_driveLine=6141&ukey_trimLevel=13972

 

Thanks for all input. I don't want to put 3,000 down for a frame and another who knows how many grand for the install. Then I would still only get about $8,500 when selling it. I may just cut my losses here. If I can squeeze another $500 out of them then I may just dump it.

 

It all depends on what you were going to do with the truck. If you had been wanting to sell it even before you found the frame issue, then yeah, it's not worth it.
But if you were planning on keeping it forever...You would have a tough time getting a 2002 Prerunner with 89k miles with a BRAND NEW frame for less than $10k-11k. Anyone agree?

You are right though. Simply handing over $3000-3500 for a frame is not the end of it. Labor and $ to replace other parts (broken hardware, worn bushings, etc etc) will quickly add up.

BTW, in my previous post I said that $8700-3700 was a $4,000 loss. I had a typo. That's a $5,000 loss.

 

The NADA value on my truck in my area is $9500.00 in excellent condition which mine would be if the frame problem didn't exist. I can get the frame repaired above the leaf spring by a local welder who has a reputation for being a whiz at these things but that still leaves the issue of a untreated frame.

I can keep it, fix the hole, and maybe sell it in the $5,000 range. I am sure somebody wouldn't care about the possibility of it rusting through in other areas or maybe somebody just wants a parts truck.

Does this sound unreasonable ?

 

Definitely not

Personally, if it was me, I would try to find some way to treat the frame and prolong the rust issue as much as possible. Wouldn't really matter to me if I was selling it or keeping it. I was looking at a 98 Frontier 4x4 for sale. The guy said he had the entire frame and undercarriage coated by a shop. He said it cost him like $450 and it looked damn good.

Of course, you won't be able to recoup all of the money you put into the health of the frame, but you can tack on a little bit of it. A fresh undercoating would put a lot of people at ease, and that has value.
Getting back to my point, I would treat it either way. For keep, it would provide peace of mind and pride that I'm taking care of what I own. For sale, I would have a more clear conscious. Even if the buyer knows of the issue, I still want to do anything [reasonably] in my power to make sure that frame isn't going to snap in half on them in 5 months. *not that an undercoating will reverse frame rust* BUT I don't want to sell junk if I have the choice.

For example, I recently sold my Nissan pickup. I could have gotten $3000 for it as is. But, I decided to put $500 in repairs into it and get $3500. In the end, I netted $3000 either way, but it was a much safer and more reliable vehicle, and I was selling a better product and didn't feel so scummy for selling it.

 

Matt, I thought about that alot. The Toyota service manager told me that to really know the condition of the frame, I would have to start sanding off the rust and it could happen that the frame may develop more holes. He said they had one they were sanding to treat and the noodle scraper started going through the metal. That owner got a new frame instead of a recoat. He further emphasized that once the rust sets it, it continues. You have to scrape if off.

If that happens, then it probably isn't worth $3700 and I have a truck I can't sell for much more than scrap. It could sit in the driveway for months before I find a buyer. I am honestly leaning toward taking the 3700.00 which will be closer to 3900.00 with tax taken off from the new truck purchase for that trade in amout. One in the hand is better than two in the bush.

I have learned a very expensive lesson from this. Stay up with your vehicles recalls, LSC etc. Stay on the message boards. Things could be worse in life. I have a healthy family and everything else is icing on the cake !

 

Id pressure wash it wire brush it pressure wash again and coatit or paint it

Look into por15. This is after you patch it up.

 

Your points are very valid. I am inclined to agree with you. Getting $3700-3900 now may be your best bet. There could be more rust hiding and you don't even know it. I think you should post some pictures BTW.

What you're saying about if "that" (referring to cleaning up the frame and finding worse damage) happens is kind of contradictory to your morals. You say you will not blatantly lie about or hide the rust you know about, but the frame could he 10x worse and you have no interest in discovering the true condition of the frame.

This is kinda purposely being blissfully ignorant don't you think?
Kinda like your engine suddenly starts making a very concerning knocking noise. You're 80% certain it is catastrophic to the engine. But you do not inquire further so that you can honestly answer the buyer "I do not know" when he inquires further.

 

Its more cost effective to dump it.

let her go hoss!

 

I stopped by a highly recommended welder who told me I would have to go to a junkyard, have them cut out a 3 -4' length of frame from another Tacoma and the will attempt to weld it in after cutting the other piece out. The problem he says is he may start welding it on and the frame find out it is bad in the area he is welding to and cant get the weld to take. This attempt of his is around $1500.00 not including what the junkyard will charge to supply the piece. Of course, who knows if the Tacoma I am taking metal from is any good.

I am taking the 3900.00 and cutting my losses. The Tacoma is the dealerships problem now. I have with a good clear conscious unloaded this truck at a fair price for it's condition.

 

I'm in kansas and just got a complete frame replacement without any record of a previous preventative treatment during any time frame . I could be totally lucky (which I'm starting to think I am), but maybe it's worth a trip to a kansas dealership to have them inspect it. They went off of "in service date" which was 01 for this vehicle.

truck is a 02 double cab, and perforation didn't show up until a couple months after I got it from a used car dealership. The replacement happened just last month.

 

Definitely call corporate. I just bought an '03 in TX. They assured me and sent me in writing that the frame was covered for 15 years (Jun 30, 2018). The previous owner took it in for the spare tire carrier but never had any undercoating applied. If your truck has always been in KS I don't think you need to have the undercoating. I'm speculating a bit here but I think only those is the 20 "rust belt" states had to meet the undercoat requirement. Anyways... Call corporate.

 

Beating that dead horse again... According to Toyota corporate and the local dealership (where the truck was purchased new in 2002) we have no chance of a replacement frame or any help. Believe me. we tried.
Kind of afraid to drive it, waiting for the frame to fold, or the spare tire to undo and kill any poor driver behind me. Took it in after the spare tire recall, and found out about all of the previous problems. Read the previous posts on Tacoma World, bad stuff!

Looking for help with what to do with it. 2002 silver single cab, auto transmission, just cracked 50,000 miles, good shape except for rusting bumpers, one recently acquired minor parking lot dent. Had planned to keep it, figuring it was good for several more years of driving - our other Toyota, an 99 Camry LE is doing great. We have bought only Toyota's for 25 years, and felt good about them until now.

So it is just sitting in the driveway, and we need another vehicle. Pretty sure we can't sell it in Massachusetts. Would like to trade it, but don't think any dealer will take it. Maybe sell it for parts, and for how much? Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks for reading.
By the way - dealer refused to honor spare tire recall because of rust problem. Thought that was why we were notified to bring it in? Anyone else have this problem?

 

You are exactly where I was. I traded mine into a Ford dealership (who also owned the Toyota dealership next door) for just under $4,000 . Sucks, yes. They said it has to go to auction and they can't sell it. My guess is that somewhere down the line somebody will sell it like there is nothing wrong with it. Some poor 17 year old kid will buy it knowing nothing about the frame recalls. All he knows is he got a Toyota Tacoma. I however, did not want that on my conscience. You could always sell it and write up a disclosure verifying you told them about the issue. You will basically be selling "As Is" just like any other old clunker out there.