Frame Recall - Bought a lemon

Haven’t read the whole thread so sorry if this is a repeat. Do some research, contact your state’s consumer affairs arm of the attorney general, and contact a lawyer. Do not hire a lawyer, just get a consultation. It may be the case that if the frame is bad enough to fail inspection, the dealer was required to disclose the defect. It’s obviously a safety issue.

Once you know what the law says, and if you have recourse, go back to the dealer armed with facts and fight. Let us know how it all turns out.

 

First off Carfax is a joke, not everything is recorded and there are many ways to get around things being recorded. It’s your do diligence to inspect or have it inspected by a mechanic of your choice before the purchase.

Don’t get me wrong that totally sucks losing that kind of money, but the seller pretty much stole your money. Toyota doesn’t owe you anything they did the coating which was what was done back then, then certain years were eligible for new frames. Before that they bought them back and crushed them. The warranty period is over, sell it for what you can and take it as a lesson learned.

 

Call the local TV news. There has to be one channel in your area that loves doing the poor consumer got scammed, let's name and shame bit.

It might get the dealer to buy it back to save public face, or it might just hassle them.

 

The kind of language I’m seeing in articles on the subject by various law firms across the country say things like: “state law requires a dealer to disclose structural frame damage that impacts vehicle safety if they were aware of it or should have been aware of it”.

Who knows if this is the case but if it were me I’d for damn sure find out.

 

This was a private sale. Was unsure of recourse and how much luck I’d have sourcing a donor rolling chassis. Seems its a cut-your-losses lesson.

For those driving the point home, yes, next time I’ll be looking at the frame. The car is incredibly clean so it was an afterthought. I got it.

 

Yeah but that doesn't apply if you buy it from a private seller, which is what appears to have taken place

 

Wow that sucks, that’s a lot of money to lose. I would try to sell it and recoup as much money as possible, don’t put anymore into it. My 03 failed the frame inspection it had the crc coating done also, My dealer ordered a frame replacement but I’m to picky and didn’t want the truck back so I made a deal with Toyota corp and my dealer on a new 15 at the time.
They couldn’t take my name off the 03 due to it was unsafe and could not be sold. So the lawyers had documentation stating it stayed in my name until the frame replacement was done and safe to sell.

 

You know where they are, perhaps you should drop by and politely inquire -- with a few (large) friends for safety.

 

Dammit I didn’t see that it was a private party transaction. There are definitely fewer protections in this type of transaction.

I would still inquire with the state AG and an attorney and see if there are any applicable laws that will bail you out.

 

Buying a rolling chassis isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you know someone with the means to do a frame swap for cheap. Problem is finding a frame, and in Maryland, that isn’t a rusted pos and was in a rollover or similar that didn’t screw the frame.

I unfortunately ended up in a similar situation to yours, just with a dealer instead and I knew better and thought the frame wasn’t that terrible and ended up with a pos. Vehicle is long gone now and I cut my losses and feel much better now not having to look at and literally drive that regret everyday. Private sellers and dealers alike straight suck.

I’d sell it with full disclosure otherwise. I’ve seen a ton of vehicles (4Runners and Tacomas specifically) pop up on fb marketplace, etc needing some frame tlc in Maryland. With 65k on the truck someone might be willing to take that on, maybe not even at a bad selling price.

 

100% because fuck people going radio silent after giving you a shit deal as a mom trying to help her child.

 

Sounds like a good way to get shot by a lowlife

 

I dunno, Is small claims court an option?

 

Sasquatch has arrived from the Oil Change Disaster thread to definitively and authoritatively inform New Member OP that he's an idiot and there's no way, no how he's gonna get a damn thing for it.

Come on dude, lay off. We already know what you would've and wouldn't have done.

 

Call John Woo and get a white dove to fly out of the holes in the frame right before it pops off.

 

I think you'd have to prove they knew, or should have known, about the problem. Since, as noted in this thread, most people don't crawl under their truck, it going to be hard to prove. Now if they tried to get it inspected and it failed, that would be different.

 

Honestly with the used truck market being the way it is, don't be afraid to shoot high and fully disclose the issue.

 

yea i listed it to CL with full disclosure about inspection failure and frame pics. I’ll sell at a loss (hopefully) and chalk it up as a lesson learned. What a shitty time to take a hit and car prices are ridiculous. Ooof.

 

It’d be interesting to find out when it last had an inspection.

 

Stupid question...(Just saw this on the main page)

Are aftermarket or OEM frames purchasable for the older tacomas?