Bent Tailgate...Help!

Hey everyone,

First time posting and excited to be a part of the community! I've been reading threads and reviews for years. I finally pulled the trigger and bought a new 2017 Tacoma exactly a year ago from a dealer about an hour away that was running a great black Friday deal. After about six months and 6,000 miles while washing it I noticed that the paint chipped on the back of the tailgate. I brought it in to my local dealer for service and they pointed out that the metal on the inside lip of the tailgate was bent and that it is considered a dent and not warranteeable (pics below). I was shocked! I've been meticulous about caring for the truck, done minimal hauling and don't understand how it could happen. The plastic protecting the metal is completely intact and doesn't have a scratch.

I've since been back to both the local dealership and the one where I bought the truck and both insist that it would be impossible for Toyota to produce a truck with a defect like this and that I must have dented it myself. Both dealers have said that it isn't their issue and have compared it to a truck being hit in the parking lot. They said that it would cost about $500 to fix the issue.

I did a quick search and have seen this was a major issue with 2nd generation tacomas, but was unable to find anything with 3rd gen. I am curious if anyone has seen this issue? What would you do if it was your truck? The warranty manual suggests reaching out to Toyota if the dealer is unable to provide a satisfactory resolution. Has anyone had luck with this? I appreciate any help for the new guy!

Greg

 

Well, it looks like it was bent AFTER it was painted since the paint itself was bent, so I don't see this as a manufacturing defect.

Edit: I looks like something was on top of the plastic part of the tailgate that pushed the metal downwards.

 

I've yet to see that, and agree that it does look self inflicted and not from manufacturing. The 2nd gen tailgate issue with bending is much different than that corner issue. They would bend in the middle from a few hundred pounds being loaded over them, the 16's are a bit stronger

 

I've seen this before. I once loaded some steel tube in the bed of the truck (a couple sticks so it wasn't super heavy), but I used a ratchet strap to tie it down. As I was ratcheting, I noticed the plastic cap on top of the tailgate start to deform. I know there is a small gap between the plastic cap and the tailgate sheet metal so I wasn't too worried about bending the steel (read: tinfoil) but know that had I kept tightening the ratchet strap, I would've bent the tailgate without too much effort. After I unloaded the truck, the plastic cap remained slightly bent for the rest of the day, but eventually moved back into it original shape. Being that the slight bend is in the corner, is it possible that you did the same thing? That's right where the load would rest if you had something at and angle in the bed. Just a completely plausible possibility.
Either way, since it doesn't look too bad (ie, lost structural support/major aesthetic damage), you might be able to save it yourself with some DIY ingenuity. Small taps with a body hammer or even a rubber mallet might bend that lip back into place. I can't stress enough that you want to move the sheet metal slowly with multiple, light taps as opposed to one big whack to get it to move. If you heat the paint with a heat gun, you lessen the chance of the paint chipping or cracking when flexing back into position.

You can then replace the tailgate cap or skin or both with a reinforced panel form one of our vendors. I acutally have a @RelentlessFab skin coming in soon, but there are other vendors that make just the cap if you wish.

 

Is it possible whoever installed your camper top did it?

Could’ve been just about anything. I recently noticed a worn out dip in my tailgate plastic cap and thought to myself “how the hell did that happen?” But figured it probably came from loading something at some point. It is what it is.