Toyota Rust Settlement

[Wandering Sagebrush]

It looks like Toyota had reached a legal settlement over the rust issues on certain year Tundras, Tacomas and Sequoias.

http://autoweek.com/article/recalls/toyota-will-settle-truck-frame-rust-suit-suit-34-billion

 

[idahoron]

The frame replacement has been going on for a while now. Mine was inspected and was fine. I think some states use a lot of salt. Idaho doesn't use much and I don't drive on the highways and freeways much in the winter.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

This looks like a newer "recall".
The original one covered 1st gen Tundras.
Had mine inspected about 5 years ago,no issues.
Frank

 

[potterjon]

The first one was a buyback on the first generation tacomas and is long gone. Toyota was actually buying back these trucks at %150 of blue book value and more often than not they would finance the owner into a newer truck with a couple incentives. This second one is a frame replacement and includes many Toyota models. It is not a buy back and there are some horror stories out there as to how long it is taking because they cant produce the new frames fast enough. It does beg the question, how many toyota owners took the buy back and financed a newer truck only to have the same thing happen all over again? I love my 98 Toyota 4 banger but I am at odds with selling it to upgrade to a newer one.

 

[JHanson]

I have a theory, half-baked or otherwise, that the rust issue in those boxed frames is why Toyota switched to an inferior open-channel frame in its latest U.S. truck models. If that's the case, it was a facile solution and the wrong approach. Plenty of companies build boxed frames and have no rust issues. If you have a boxed chassis that traps water and rusts, you should redesign it properly, not abandon the superior torsional stiffness of the design.

 

[potterjon]

I agree. Most of the frame on my truck is not boxed in, but, the part where it is DID rust. I had it patched and am not concerned about it anymore. The rest of the frame is solid. But the problem lies in the production of the steel and/or undercoating. Some say it is the design but you have to look at the specific tsb put out by Toyota. If I understand it all correctly, Toyota made good on the tsb for the second round of vehicles so that they could avoid a federally forced buyback program. In other words, because they are being proactive in trying to resolve the consumer complaints, the federal government won't force them to perform and buy back the vehicles that have bad frames. If you look at all the tsb announcements and buy backs there are very few years of toyota production that are clear of being suspect for poor quality steel. I think there are 3 or 4 years of production that are in the clear. Like I said before, I really like my old Tacoma but when I found rust on the frame and started poking around and doing research I realized how many horror stories there really are out there. I know of three people in my circle of friends who had fairly new toyota tacomas with low mileage whose trucks were deemed unsafe and totaled due to frame rust with no compensation at all from Toyota. I mean less than 100k miles.