02 Tacoma Rusted Frame ~ Letter To Toyota

[Torrid Taco]

This is the letter I just sent to Toyota, your thoughts?


I, like most Tacoma owners bought my truck because I believed Toyota
was a company that stood behind their products & you could count on them
to do the right thing. I am greatly disappointed in how Toyota is handling
my Toyota Tacoma rusted out frame replacement warranty operation.

I am unemployed at this time & really don’t appreciate the added burden of
the cost Toyota is putting on me & I believe it is quite unfair.

This is my complaint: I added a class 3, two inch trailer hitch to my 2002 Tacoma.
It uses 4 bolts, two 10mm factory & two supplied with the new hitch. Well BECAUSE
the frame is so rusted, one of the 10mm factory bolts broke off when I tried to remove
it to mount my trailer hitch (I was using a hand ratchet, NOT an air tool). So now I only
had 3 bolt points for a 4 bolt hitch, and I had to have the hitch welded onto the frame.

Well now BECAUSE the rusted out frame has to be replaced, my trailer hitch I
normally wouldn’t have done anything with, cannot be removed & reinstalled
on the replacement Toyota frame. The trailer hitch needs to be replaced BECAUSE the
frame needs to be replaced – and the hitch was welded BECAUSE of the rusted frame!

I don’t believe my Tacoma should be better than it was before the frame replacement,
But it shouldn’t be LESS than what I had before the frame replacement either! I have
petitioned Toyota, (both dealership & corporate) They told me “Sorry, we won’t cover
your trailer hitch” I believe Toyota caused me this loss and they should be the ones
to cover the cost of it. Toyota is going to pay $10,000 to $12,000 to do this rusted out
frame replacement operation. In comparison, why not cover the cost of the trailer hitch
(approx. $200) on my $8,000 to $9,000 Tacoma. (And/ or why doesn’t Toyota buy this
truck back like they did with others?)

I don’t believe Toyota is doing all they could or should in my case - the lack of
covering a $200 part is costing them a LOT of ill will. Toyota shouldn’t simply say
“Sorry”. Toyota needs to do the right thing… and strive for customer satisfaction
in accommodating my loss as a result of their frame replacement repair.

[hilux5084]

I hear your delema, but has no one thought of trying to grind the welds off and then repainting the tow bar brackets.

Joe

[Torrid Taco]

Originally Posted by hilux5084

I hear your delema, but has no one thought of trying to grind the
welds off and then repainting the tow bar brackets.

Joe

We looked at doing just that, but it would damage &
weaken the trailer hitch & leave a question of safety.