Tacoma frame rust ?

[glockman]

I need the expertise of the Toyota crowd. My dad recently sold his Jeep and mostly due to Steve and Brandon and Cody on HITR bought an 04 doublecab Tacoma. I'm not sure if he thought he was 16 but he bought it without even looking under it. When he got it home he finally looked at the undercarriage and found it is severely rusted. There is literally flakes of metal coming off the frame and the fuel tank skid has a hole rusted out of it. The body of the truck is in extremely good condition, no rust anywhere. I don't think it was a mismatch of body/frame though due to rust several body fasteners and no signs of wrench marks on any body bolts. I know Toyota had some issues with frame rust but this seems extreme. How much should be considered normal and was there any recalls on these trucks.

 

[chans]

The frames do rust a lot. They have a 15 year warranty on them so take it to the dealer and have them check it out.

 

[sixstringsteve]

x2. The dealer will tell you if it qualifies or not. If it does, they'll completely replace your frame for free, or buy it back for more than it's work (I seem to remember 1.5x market value?)

And he made a good choice! If he needs any adivce on mods, we'd be happy to help. One thing he wants to do asap is replace the lower ball joints if that hasn't been done already (that may also be under warranty)

 

[Spork]

recall information:
http://tacoma-upgrade.com/2009/06/i...2004-toyota-tacoma-frame-recall-for-rust.html

 

[glockman]

Thanks. I'll have him take it to the dealer. Any specific dealer that is better than another in it county.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sixstringsteve]

Carl Malone toyota is great. avoid brent brown like the plague .

 

[Box Rocket]

Mark Miller downtown seems to treat the offroad community pretty well. At least they always have with me and my Cruiser/Tacoma.

 

[Marsh99]

I'm glad your dad has seen the light. Most cars in Utah have frame rust, but you need to check it doesn't have frame rot.

 

[SLC97SR5]

Mark Miller is my favorite. Between my Dad and me we have purchased 6 Toyota's from them, 4 of them being 4Runners. With my last new Toyota purchase I shopped Brent B, Karl Malone and Bountiful Toyota...no one came close to MM.

They have been around for some time and as such have senior/experienced techs. Dan and Tom in the parts department are good dudes.

Karl Malone sucks.

 

[Caleb]

I've bought many cars from Karl Malone and they've been the best dealer (of any make, etc) that I've dealt with.

 

[glockman]

I'm glad your dad has seen the light. Most cars in Utah have frame rust, but you need to check it doesn't have frame rot.

This is the most rust I have ever seen on a frame. You can literally pull pieces of the frame off with your fingers. The PO or dealer (Nissan) tried to cover it with undercoating but they only sprayed the parts that are most visible. He is taking it in tomorrow to have it checked out.

 

[JL Rockies]

When I came out at the end of 2006 to look for a place to live ahead of being transferred out here, I stopped in Karl Malone. I wasn't coming to UT with a vehicle so I needed one. I knew exactly what I wanted, I knew exactly when I would arrive and u knew exactly where I was going to live. Met a sales guy, met the manager, asked if we could do paperwork remotely, take a deposit via mail and could they pick me up from the airport when I arrived: "yes". I never heard from them again. I ended up buying the ultimate Jeep instead... all paperwork done via remote and they picked me up from the airport.


Kooler than Mudd.

 

[spencevans]

This issue is not just a Tacoma issue. The first gen Tundra's also have rust issues with their frames.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

So, do the sequoia's

 

[Spork]

I think it's kind of hit and miss also, my Tacoma and Sequoia seem to have clean frames, maybe I just got lucky.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

mine has surface rust. i just sprayed it down with some rustoleum. i'll do that once a year until i get rid of it.

 

[johngottfredson]

Thread resurrected!

I'm looking at buying my grandpa's 02 tundra, limited, 50k miles. I haven't crawled under to check the condition of the frame, etc., as he took the truck down to AZ for the winter. My research says that tundras have the same problems as the Tacomas with frame rust, yet Utah doesn't seem to be listed in the recalls and TSB's that Toyota did on these frames. Do Utah vehicles fare better than some of the northern states with regard to these rusting toyota trucks? Even if it is in good condition now (he's the original owner, obviously never drove much, always garaged, etc), it seems that due to poor quality steel its inevitable that it will have rust issues down the road. Should I be worried about it around these parts?

Any thoughts appreciated

 

[Cascadia]

I think you should not worry about it and let me buy it instead.