Yet Another Frame Rust Question(s)...

I have a friend who purchased a 2001 Tacoma AC about 4 months ago, from an individual. They took it to have the tires balanced and alignment checked last Friday, and the technician/mechanic found the frame rusted through at one of the rear spring shackle mounts.

I haven't seen the rust and I have no idea how extensive it is. The truck is a 2001 and went into service in the Fall of 2000, so it is out of the 15 year window.

My questions to help them out:
1) Is there any way to determine if the frame was inspected by a dealer and treated with the rust stop/proof?
2) If it was inspected and treated, is there any liability from Toyota to stand behind it beyond the 15 years?
3) Are they just out of luck?

Thanks!

 

I'm sure more knowledgeable people will chime in but one thing I do know is you can have a Toyota dealer run the Vin to see what has been serviced on the truck. There is also a web site you can run the Vin yourself and find out but I don't remember what it was right now.

 

A website to check the VIN would be great. Would CarFax show if the dealer had inspected the frame for rust?

 

No I don't believe carfax would show that info. Here is a link for more info.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/search/2388346/?q=rusted+frame+Vin+number&o=relevance&c[node]=4

 

• Here is the website http://www.toyota.com/owners/

 

Run the VIN through the website @FirstGen Jer posted, if it comes up that the truck has been inspected then it has a 15 year warranty from the time it was inspected....if I remember correctly. If it wasn't inspected, then unfortunately you're SOL as the deadline for inspections has already passed.

 

Just curious did your friend not know of the frame Issues ??

You might have said something !!

He was over come with the new Truck Lust ??

 

when I put my VIN in carfax it shows that a Toyota dealer did the frame inspection and coated it, it also says the same thing on Toyotaowners. if it was coated by Toyota then he has 15 years from the day the truck hit the road. like mentioned above, if the frame wasn't treated then he's SOL

edit
just read the part when the truck went into service, fall of 2000 would def put it out of the warranty for the frame. no point in really looking to see if it was treated or not. Toyota will not honor anything for it now. the only thing that may help is if the PO started the process with toyota. Google Toyota HQ and call the number. give them the VIN and see what they say.

 

They bought the truck for their son and didn't mention they were buying until after the deal was complete.

 

There are no service records at all available for the truck through the Toyota Owner's site... I guess they are just out of luck!

 

Ok I figured there might be a reason .

Being a Welder Fabricator most of my life I look at this as just a minor annoyance so many take it as the end of the world.

 

Get a welder to cut out the rot and weld in a new section.