bought a lemon, help!

Depending on what the budget is and how much you like the truck. I'd take the frame swap assuming they could get me in a loaner at their cost.

There are some that will demand a bar of gold and a pound of diamonds like some sort of Karen

 

What do they mean by chassis? The whole frame, rear leafs, engine mounts....?

Is it a 4.0? If so, have them do the head gaskets too.

But not really- demand your $$$ back plus a bonus not to post their name here...

 

My advice would be cut and run.

As rusty as that undercarriage looks, and a-lot of the other rusted components wouldn’t be replaced.

 

Some solid advice here.

Unless you want to deal with that headache of chassis replacement and possibly having to fork over additional monies for the components this same dealer breaks (would you actually trust them after they sold you the rust bucket?) I would return and continue the search for another truck elsewhere.
The one mentioned a few posts up looks pretty clean- why not follow up on that lead?

 

You cant polish a turd

 

Cut and run, get as far from that vehicle and dealer as you can.

 

Haha
This is gold. I’m using this.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/problems-after-frame-replacement.556701/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/frame-replacement-problems.386471/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdYVu5r1gc0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-utKYQ-Su4

 

Do you have the option of getting your money back?
Here we have to give the dealer the option of fixing what’s wrong before they have to return your money.

Can’t say by one pic trucks maintenance, exterior, interior conditions.

Dealers here in NE have gotten good at doing frames and how to make money doing them.
I know of 6 trucks that had frames done only 1 had issues.
All of us had about 300$ in charges at the end.
One of us had to return a few times with issues but his was a first gen truck.

Even if you got a newer one it will need a frame at some point if you plan to keep it.

Have they given you anything in writing?
Did they keep the truck?
Thinking someone doesn’t know what they are talking about since it’s out of time for Toyota paying and it would be the dealer paying?
This may be an issue seeing how they won’t have to use Toyota’s frame procedure.

They do have to cover all work for 1 year according to corporate.

lemon law requires 3 failed attempts at least.

 

Get out of that sale before the lemon warranty expires. Imagine what else has been ignored in that truck over the years. Dealer is trying to keep the sale alive, they will do minimal work, the money is in their pocket already.

 

I think getting a new frame makes this doable, but there are additional considerations:

What else will they agree to replace during frame swap? You have some good leverage here, as they should have done the frame already and now they are backtracking to avoid the fallout.

Here are the details of everything that was done during my frame swap. Keep in mind, much of this was done at the dealer's cost, but some was done at the owner's cost, just happened to be done at time of swap as they were in there anyway and it was cheaper for owner to do so at a discounted labor rate.

-Frame itself (dealer/ toyota)
-Front control arms (dealer)
-All brake lines (dealer)
-Rear spare tire subframe (dealer)
-Several broken/ rusted bolts during disassembly (dealer)

-Ball joints (1st owner)
-Front wheel bearing and hub assemblies (1st owner)
-Clutch and associated parts (1st owner)

Also keep in mind, mine is an 06 that lived part of its life in NY state, and there are things I have done since taking over the truck that I associate with having lived a life on salted roads. Granted, I have done a lot because I hope to keep the truck for a long time, so all of this in not neccesarily just for my personal safety, but for the long life of the truck. Having said that, you now have a lot of leverage for them to assure that you will walk out of there happy.

-Replaced badly worn stock front shocks and springs
-Painted/ rustproofed inside of doors, trailer hitch, which were very rusty and not considered part of frame
-Replaced all idler pulleys, engine pulleys and serpentine belt which were pretty abused from age and salt.
-Replaced all brakes- had one seized front caliper and rears were not dead, but were badly rusted
-Painted/ coated diff housings
-Removed, troubleshot, and replaced all 4wd actuators (there are 3 on my truck- front diff, transfer case, rear locker- all needed servicing. You should check to make sure that all your 4wd components engage smoothly)
-Changed all oils (engine, trans, transfer case, rear diff)
-Replaced rear leaf springs per toyota recall (should have them do all open recalls while they are in there)

I have done more than this, but these are the big ones. Essentially, you could return the truck if you wanted, so I would have your independent mechanic inspect again and make a list of any and all issues he observes. Negotiate like you havent bought the truck yet. They can give you your money back or do things at cost until they make sure you are happy.

Any documentation of head gaskets having been done? My truck was made after date of new headgaskets being done in factory, but that is a concern too.

 

You should register the vin on the toyota owners site and you can see some of the maintenance history...

 

With some education and experience for sure, but people are trusting and new to buying.
All you ever hear is how reliable Tacoma’s are, lots of new buyers probably aren’t aware of the rust issues.

 

get your money back and WALK , no negotiations , no threats

 

I think the point that this is out of toyota's timeframe for replacement could be a game changer here. There is a very good chance that whoever you talked to doesn't know what's going on. Under no circumstances would I agree to let this go longer than the 30 days you are covered by the lemon law. If you agree to have it replaced, I would get full detailed notes signed off on by toyota. I could see the dealer slapping a new frame under it and balking at any other work needed and you ultimately suffer the cost. There are a lot of details, a lot more time and legwork involved in organizing and overseeing the frame swap.

If it were me I would propose this to the dealer: Return my money, replace the frame, associated componenets, and I am your buyer when you are done, but we will negotiate on the price of the truck after I have had an independent inspection done post frame replacement. Essentially, they will end up doing the same thing if they return you your money. This is not your problem. Having said that, I think if you want to deal with the extra hassle you could end up with a great truck for a reasonable price.

 

I would get your money back.
Don’t deal with them. They tried burning you once.

 

NO, as mentioned, get your money back!!!!! Walk away from that nightmare of a truck and buy ‘07 or newer.

 

+1

Pathetic

Nice in theory. But they've already broken trust. I'd not trust them to fix it correctly, even if they did spring for a new frame.

Smile, say no thank you, take your money and walk away. Never ever go back. There is only repentance because they were caught.

Yep.

Yep yep

For sure.

PS. The next time you buy a used vehicle, pay your mechanic to do the inspection PRIOR to the purchase. It will be worth it. And you can use his findings to help negotiate price a bit.

 

Imo, if their mechanic gave that a score of 96 out of 100, I would question the quality of work they do. Also, if carfax shows clean but other mechanic says possible accident I would question everything about the truck. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

 

I am with CP... on the Holly Shit. Well this is worse then them Chinese made Beer Cans on wheels. If you looking for a rust free truck try to find one in Az or Cali. I be sure some of the members out here would not be opposed to kick some tires for you. Shipping a car/truck across the country is not that expensive anymore.