2016 Taco at Car Show with rust??

Hey guys. A little bit about my background with Toyotas. I previously had a 4th gen 4Runner V6 (sold). I currently have a 2007 FJ Cruiser and a 2004 Land Cruiser.

I previously looked at Tacoma's a couple of years ago for the versatility of the bed. But I halted my search as I figured a redesign was on the way in the hopes of something better coming out. Also if any issues on the 2nd gen would be corrected for the 3rd gen.

The auto show came to town and figured now would be the chance to get an up close look at various models from different manufacturers all at once in one place. There was a Tacoma there and I got up close and personal with it. I remember seeing something in the 2nd gen section about rust, so I looked underneath the truck and was kind of disappointed at what I saw.

6 miles on the odometer and there are multiple rust spots all over the welds.



I'm not sure if I'm being too hard, or if this is a new industry standard. But these trucks are nearly $40,000. They had a 2016 4Runner and 2016 Land Cruiser that didn't have these rust spots.

Is this "normal" for a Tacoma?

 

• It's possible the frame paint/protection hasn't changed since 2009.
• Higher strength steel is more susceptible to corrosion and cracking.
• The threaded holes on the frame, which accept the diagonal brace that connects the transmission crossmember, are also present on 2005-2015 trucks. On my truck those holes are always wet after rainfall, so they act as drain holes. On 2016 trucks, those holes are plugged by screws.

 

Is that rust? or just welding induced metal discoloration?

 

I have noticed this on some new chev/gmc 1/2 tons. It's discouraging to see on a new truck

 

Toyota has such a good reputation around where I live that they could build complete rust buckets and it would take 1-2 human generations for people to realize. I have seen this first hand with Honda ATV's, took 25 years for people to realize there are other better, or at very least as good brand out there. Just my $0.02

 

This is going to get interesting

 

im no meteorologist, but im going to go ahead and issue a shitstorm warning

 

The third gen owners are fixing to get butt hurt. Be prepared

 

That's not rust. Looks more like brazing

 

Come on come on......who's going to be first?



Oh damn, I'll just go for it.....

 

Come on dude, Toyota brazing a f'ing truck frame? That's for bike frames for thin metal. It's rust and the 3rd gen is going to rust out faster than a 1975 Honda Civic.

 

Always liked things broken in, it shows it's flaws better!

 

Broken in is not rusted out.

 

Yeah, if you wanna catch more than just a "test drive".

 

News flash all steel rusts. If it gets a chip or scratch in the protective coating it will rust.