New First Gen Tacoma - Frame Not Sprayed By Dealer

Hello Everyone! I'm new to the forum and the 1st gen. Just bought a 2003 with low miles (105k) a few weeks back in Massachusetts, has been in New England all it's life. It has the original frame in OK shape for a Northeast truck (Originally purchased in New York). I looked into the whole frame recall before I purchased the truck but I took the gamble due to a good deal.

My fall project was going to be to get the bed off and give the frame a thorough corrosion treatment. Before I do that I wanted to see what your thoughts were about pursuing a new frame replacement from Toyota. I don't have a full list of the owners before me (possibly 3), but one of the previous owners got the frame inspected at Toyota and it passed.

Unfortunately, the truck was never brought in for the corrosion spray offered by Toyota. It may have been due to the truck switching hands at the time the letter was sent out. From your experiences, what is the likelihood of Toyota honoring the frame warranty?

I would like to try to get a case together, any recommendations on where I should start, straight to HQ? or a local Toyota dealership?

Thanks!!

 

In my experience the local Toyota dealer is usually clueless, best to call Toyota

 

Hi Northern Taco, have you seen anyone on this forum go through the issue I have and successfully get a frame?

 

Call Toyota Corporate first, start with them, work your way down.

There's a ton of frame threads here, so if you have time to burn you can search and find a day of reading. But, if Toyota says your truck isn't covered, there's no point. Start with the mothership first.


Welcome to TW.

 

Thanks! I was thinking at first that a frame replacement would be in the best interest of the local dealership and thus maybe they could come up with a better argument than I could to get the work from Toyota. From reading the threads it just seems like when Toyota makes up their mind its over.

 

Local dealerships don't sway whether or not you're eligible, Toyota does (and Toyota supplies the parts and pays the bill), so that while that might make some sense, the buck stops at corporate, and so far as I've seen that is a yes/no situation, either you're eligible or you aren't.

Bear in mind dealerships are privately owned businesses and have no affiliation with Toyota, they're the puppet but Toyota works the strings. IMO, any other route than direct to corporate is going to be a waste of effort since corporate is the one who will approve you or deny you. They may send you to a dealer for inspection, but you'll be working with them through a dealer, not the other way around.

 

All good points, thank you for taking time to respond.

 

Sure.

I hope it works out for you. Lots of new members join and ask about frame replacement coverage and offhand, it seems like maybe half are SOL. Couldn't guess how many guys have joined and said "I know Toyota is replacing frames for free so I bought this truck last week and called Toyota and they denied me, what can I do?" Yours looks to be in pretty good shape, so definitely worth taking care of either way.

You'll find a lot of info on frame treatment here also.

 

Thank you! This forum does have a treasure trove of information, a great resource. I was pretty aware of the issue, did my research, and being from the northeast I think my level of rust acceptance is higher than other parts of the country. I love the truck, always wanted one, and it's been great so far. The dealer spray painted the frame, they weren't to honest or clear with what they used to cover the frame, so I would rather get it taken apart and go to town and do it right. I'm just nervous about the gremlins I may find.

 

If you have no problems They will not replace the frame !!!

If you can push your hand through the holes then you have a issue !!

Like stating my warranty is almost over I want a New Engine even though it still runs great

 

It was inspected a while back for the frame recall and passed. I don't have access to full car report like carfax so I cant pinpoint the date but it was a few years back. It would be nice if I could go for an official Toyota frame inspection now if I still have the warranty to see what they think. The softest spots on the frame seem to be between the cab and the bed.