2000-2002 tacomas...issues and info please....

can you tell by teh VIN where it was made?
ok, i will look at 01-02 tacomas from down south.

 

Don't need a VIN reading, 'cause there's only one source ...

All 1995.5 - 2004 Tacomas rolled off the assembly line at NUMMI in Fremont CA.

 

well if i plan on buying a 2001-02 tacoma from down south and bringing it up to snowy and salty Buffalo, NY here...is there any way to tell by the VIN if this truck has a bad frame or not?

once it is up here, i will get it sprayed anually with www.rustop.net

but as some guys said here, with this it may still rot out your telling me?

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/6549-95-2k-rust-help-toyota.html
The trucks with "bad frames" have been identified by Toyota already, and the vast majority of them have been recalled and crushed! At this point, you will be hard pressed to find a bad one. Think about this; Toyota is buying back these trucks at from what I hear is 1-1/2 times bluebook?? So who is going to go through the trouble of selling private party?

 

Actually, i pretty much ignored my white envelope and assumed it didn't apply to my truck with the underside rustproof treatment and the maticuous nature in which i cared for it year round.

The point is that it wasn't until stumbling on it elsehwere did i go back and really review the envelope and think i should have it checked as a precaution prior to the tune up at the dealership. My friend who did the shocks and struts 6 months prior didn't catch it, the dealership did, obviously because they were looking specifically for it and apparently put a hammer to it.

Do your homework and don't buy based on what others who haven't gone through it are saying alone. The assumptions are weak and you really need to be sure you have all of the facts. This was not an actual recall so there is a grey area and some trucks newer than the ones they are buying back at the 1.5 bluebook value are also being affected in similar ways. Mine occured from the inside out as many of those affected apparently were. The high salt areas apparently (and logically) expedites the deterioration for reasons obvious to us in the salt belts.

Again, do your homework and make an informed decision, taking into account our Buffalo area salt use, not a decision based on a number of people with limited knowledge of the problem and how the salt beats all vehicles down to some degree.

Also - I am pretty sure you had to own the vehicle prior to a certain month (March 08'?) to qualify for the 150 blue book value. The idea apparently was to prevent people in the know from buying these things up from all those not in the know and 'flipping' them to Toyota for a hefty profit.

Good luck.

 

Ruststop sprays the outside of the frame and inside the BODY panels. The frames often rot from inside out due to the defective treatment at the plant. All undercoat / rustproof treatments i have ever seen administered are only applied to the outer surface as far as the frame. Not much that will do for a frame rotting inside out.

This is why the dealer inspection of the frame includes hitting it with a hammer in the areas most suspect. The degree of the rot isn't always apparent from the ouside until weakened to the point of the hammer going through the frame when struck.

Facts.

 

up in new hampshire there was some place that would put some sort of electronic device on your vehicle to prevent rust. i saw once, IIRC one electrode goes at the right rear, the other at the left front, and there are sacrificial anodes in places around the body. they offered a no-rust-at-all, ever (long as the thing remains hooked up correctly) warranty. tried a little last night to look it up on the 'net but gave up.