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Tacoma Frame Rust

135K views 278 replies 91 participants last post by  eherlihy  
#1 ·
Thinking about purchasing a 2012 Tacoma, Double Cab, 4x4. I am concerned about The Frame Rust Issue on Toyota Trucks. Has Toyota done anything to solve the rust issue or did they just give rebates to those affected? thank You

BillO
 
#2 ·
The serious rust issues affected the 1995-2004 (first generation) Tacoma. That's where it got to the point where Toyota extended the warranty on the frame and bought back the trucks that had gotten so bad that they were unsafe to drive. If they felt it was necessary to take the truck off the road, they gave the owner then-current retail value - not just a rebate or a deal on a trade-in.

The current models still have issues with rust appearing on the frame. It would be nice if Toyota spent a few more dollars on painting the frame so it didn't show rust as soon as it spent one winter in a location that uses road salt. So the frame *looks* bad in a couple of years, but I don't know if there are any actual structural problems with it. There have been no warranty issues, recalls or other actions by Toyota so far.
 
#4 ·
I'll take some snapshots the next time I'm under my '06. I have scaling rust in several spots. And we only average 1 or 2 snows a year. It's sad.

I wouldn't let that stop you from buying one though. I love my truck. Just get it undercoated and be sure to wash the underside during the winter months.
 
#13 ·
That rust looks very VERY minimal to me. Certainly surface only, and it is clear that you didn't apply any additional rust protection to that frame.

A 1st gen in that area, of that age, with same lack of extra rust protection, would be far worse by this stage. Probably rotted right through.

That frame is VERY strong and shows no signs of pending failure.

My truck is an '09 in the snowbelt and it looks like most other trucks up here.

Frame rust

Image


Spring rust

Image


The 1st gens, including my dad's, had it real bad. A mechanic at the dealership I used to go to was a bit apprehensive doing the hammer test on it because he had an early 1st gen crack in half when it went up the hoist two weeks prior. The 2nd gen is definitely not rusting as fast.
Consistent with the above. Very solid frame with a bit of surface rust. An occasional coating would have kept it pristine.


IMO: the Tacoma 2nd gen frame is handling salt/rust as well or better than any other vehicle on the road. Its an inhospitable environment that will attack and destroy EVERYTHING if you don't keep absolutely on top of it. I suggest annual black tar fibrous undercoating, and to hose it down with a nice heavy oil a couple of times during the winter.
 
#7 ·
My truck is an '09 in the snowbelt and it looks like most other trucks up here.

Frame rust

Image


Spring rust

Image


The 1st gens, including my dad's, had it real bad. A mechanic at the dealership I used to go to was a bit apprehensive doing the hammer test on it because he had an early 1st gen crack in half when it went up the hoist two weeks prior. The 2nd gen is definitely not rusting as fast.
 
#183 ·
2005 frame rusted

My truck is an '09 in the snowbelt and it looks like most other trucks up here.

Frame rust

Image


Spring rust

Image


The 1st gens, including my dad's, had it real bad. A mechanic at the dealership I used to go to was a bit apprehensive doing the hammer test on it because he had an early 1st gen crack in half when it went up the hoist two weeks prior. The 2nd gen is definitely not rusting as fast.
Purchased a 2012 Tacoma, SR 5 Package, 5" Bed, Double Cab, 4x4. My first Truck. Had had 2 4-Runners, both purchased new with little or no problems both reaching 145, 000 miles. Had the new TACO undercoated at the dealer and then crawled under to looksee prior to completing the deal and driving away. Shabby job to say the least. Told The Sales Manager I could have done better myself with a Spray Can and was going home. I added that I would be back when the job was done right. Well, they undercoated the crap out of it and when I took another look it was perfect. On another note, while shopping the vehicle I e-mailed Toyota for a colored brochure. In the catalogue/brochure it stated The spec section that The Double Cab, 4x4, 6cyl, Taco came with Power Lumbar Drivers Support. None do I was told so when I showed this to the Sales Manager they took another $400 off our agreed price telling me it was a misprint. My total cost minus tax was $29, 700. The price also includes Roof Rack w cross bar, Running Lights, Running Boards,Two sets of Mats, and the undercoating. Deal felt okay to me. Tomorrow going for a Cap. Have 1000 miles on it so far & no problems. Hope my luck continues. Thank You
BTW- The dealer also gave me a $100 Gift Certificate to a very nice Italian Restaurant as Good Will. Seems like a Reliable Dealership.

Billo
Thinking about purchasing a 2012 Tacoma, Double Cab, 4x4. I am concerned about The Frame Rust Issue on Toyota Trucks. Has Toyota done anything to solve the rust issue or did they just give rebates to those affected? thank You

BillO
 
#8 ·
Frame Rust

Thank you all for your responses. I have been shopping the 2012 Tacoma and am being told by the three Dealerships I have visited that those issues have been corrected???? Not sure they are telling me the whole story. If not, will heavy undercoating prevent the Frame Rust?? Thank You.

BillO
 
#10 ·
Frame Rust

Purchased a 2012 Tacoma, SR 5 Package, 5" Bed, Double Cab, 4x4. My first Truck. Had had 2 4-Runners, both purchased new with little or no problems both reaching 145, 000 miles. Had the new TACO undercoated at the dealer and then crawled under to looksee prior to completing the deal and driving away. Shabby job to say the least. Told The Sales Manager I could have done better myself with a Spray Can and was going home. I added that I would be back when the job was done right. Well, they undercoated the crap out of it and when I took another look it was perfect. On another note, while shopping the vehicle I e-mailed Toyota for a colored brochure. In the catalogue/brochure it stated The spec section that The Double Cab, 4x4, 6cyl, Taco came with Power Lumbar Drivers Support. None do I was told so when I showed this to the Sales Manager they took another $400 off our agreed price telling me it was a misprint. My total cost minus tax was $29, 700. The price also includes Roof Rack w cross bar, Running Lights, Running Boards,Two sets of Mats, and the undercoating. Deal felt okay to me. Tomorrow going for a Cap. Have 1000 miles on it so far & no problems. Hope my luck continues. Thank You
BTW- The dealer also gave me a $100 Gift Certificate to a very nice Italian Restaurant as Good Will. Seems like a Reliable Dealership.

Billo
 
#14 ·
While you may think that the top picture displays minimal and surface rust, I disagree. No I did not get undercoating and the main rail does not look that bad. The support arm, although a little blurry, is much more than surface, it has major pitting anbd scaling. That picture is about a year and a half old, I have since painted it and it rusted thru the paint all over again.

The frame paint from the factory is crap, if I were to do it all over again, I think I would have had it rustproofed. I disagree that this is expected in the rust belt, I never had that kind of rust on any other vehicle. My 1998 Pontiac Bonneville with 142K and my son's 98 GMC ZR2 with 110K look better than my Tacoma and are 8 years older.
 
#15 · (Edited)
While you may think that the top picture displays minimal and surface rust, I disagree. No I did not get undercoating and the main rail does not look that bad. The support arm, although a little blurry, is much more than surface, it has major pitting anbd scaling. That picture is about a year and a half old, I have since painted it and it rusted thru the paint all over again.

The frame paint from the factory is crap, if I were to do it all over again, I think I would have had it rustproofed. I disagree that this is expected in the rust belt, I never had that kind of rust on any other vehicle. My 1998 Pontiac Bonneville with 142K and my son's 98 GMC ZR2 with 110K look better than my Tacoma and are 8 years older.
Well, my '00 rotted right through, and it was undercoated. Your argument is flawed.

And you can't just paint rust and hope it won't come back. It needs to be sealed from oxygen getting to it, either with some kind of grease/tar/oil, or by coating it with a nice thick coat of EPOXY. That "rust paint" crap they sell at home depot won't do F*** ALL.

Oh, and if you think that arm is any more than surface rust, then we are experiencing an issue with the way you understand the term "surface rust".

Scrape it off with an electric wire brush, seal it up with epoxy, and coat it HEAVILY with tar undercoat.
 
#18 ·
Guess there are advantages to Calif and its environmental extremists. No rust issues in the snow here since they limit salt use so much. I can count on one hand the number of times they actually use salt each winter. They mix stuff in with the cinder to reduce the need for salt.
 
#20 ·
I made out when I bought my first Tacoma. Back in 2005 I bought a 1998 Tacoma 4x4, extra cab, and shell for about $9000 with 98,000 miles on it. I had it for 4 years. One day I took it in to the dealship for an oil change. They told me I had rust on the frame. So I said ok. They said Toyota will buy it back from for 150% of the retail blue book value. They gave me about $12,000. That is $3000 more than I paid for it and I had it for 4 years. I had to buy a new one (2010 at the time) and I love it. You really cannot go wrong with a Tacoma. :chug:
 
#22 ·
hey if anyone has a real rust issue toyota is going to replace the frame for free .all you have to do is take your truck to a dealer let them look it over (no cost ) and if they feel that is is bad enough to warrant a new frame they will replace it free of charge , I recieved a letter about 2 weeks ago , 5/15 and I have until the middle of dec to get it cked out , I have a 02 tundra but my frame is in great shape, I cleaned it up real good pressured washed it and then took a wire brusho on a grinder and cleaned the rust up and painted it with bed coating , looks great and no peeling or anything since, good luck with yours
 
#25 ·
As has been mentioned, that only applies to FIRST GEN Tacoma and Tundra, not SECOND. Also, as far as TACOMA goes, it isn't Toyota paying for it, its DANA, who Toyota contracted to make the frames. Dana cut corners and did a crap job, so Toyota went after them and got a $25 million settlement.

The first gen Tundra glitches are more recent, will be interesting to see how this plays out... since the second gen Tacoma is basically a continuation of the first gen Tundra.
 
#24 ·
I know that such a letter was sent to owners of 1995-2004 (first gen) Tacomas. Toyota even extended the warranty on those years to cover frame rust-through.

But that's the key - rust-through, as in actual holes in the frame. Toyota doesn't do a very good job painting frames any more, so their products look terrible underneath after just a couple of years in areas with road salt. But just because it looks bad doesn't mean it's falling apart. I still haven't heard of any issues with rust-through on a 2005+ Tacoma.
 
#32 · (Edited)
I still haven't heard of any issues with rust-through on a 2005+ Tacoma.
There are now many many documented cases of individuals with 05+ Tacoma's with rotten frames. It seems there are one or two new threads posted every day over on tw about the issue whether it be the owner noticing the rotten frame or the frame failing inspection at the dealership or state inspection site. It is blatantly obvious Toyota and their frame supplier learned nothing from the first gen frame fiasco...

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n.../forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/300816-05-official-perforated-rusted-through-frames.html
 
#26 ·
I joined this forum for the sole purpose of telling you not to buy a 2012 Toyota Tacoma. I live in Florida obviously there are no salt on the roads I live 10 miles from the ocean and the entire underside of my truck is rusted. I have 7000 miles on it and it's 15 months old. When I brought it to the dealership and am now dealing with Toyota corporation they are accusing me of submerging the vehicle in salt water. The vehicle has never towed a boat nor has it been anywhere near the salt water.

My driveway is full of rust spots in his ruined.

Attempting to get this addressed through warranty has been a complete nightmare steer clear of Toyota altogether Spare yourself the agony I have been going through for months
 
#28 ·
Frame replacement, 2006 Tacoma

This last summer I posted about finding holes in the frame of my 2006 Tacoma with 39,000 miles. Dealer #1 (where I had bought 4 vehicles) offered no help. Dealer #2 had frame inspected by factory rep who authorized frame replacement. Took about 8 weeks for them to get frame as they are built on demand. Dealer started in, then called saying a number of additional parts not covered by Toyota were badly rusted (front differential support member, spare tire holder, etc) so agreed if I paid for parts they would install, so I paid about $500 for additional new parts. By the fall I had the truck back with new frame. Kudos to dealer who swapped everything including my Firestone rear air suspension bags(with just one misconnected hose). But my first trip under revealed badly rusted trailer hitch and other parts so once spring comes it will be time to go under and protect the new frame and address the old rust.

But if one dealer offers no help, try another one. I wanted to let folks know in the end I did get some relief. I remained stunned by dealer #1 who swore it was surface rust and then once the holes opened up offered no help even though we had bought 4 vehicles from them. There will not be a fifth vehicle bought there.
 
#29 ·
rust frame

My old frame had significant surface rust but not concerned as I oil guarded yearly. Motor mounts were good. Do not undercoat unless right off the showroom floor. Spraying undercoat on even slightly rusted surfaces traps rust and moisture and will cook away without you seeing it. If you are concerned at all use Krown or other products like it. My dad was supervisor of sand and salt trucks in a large city. They tried everything and oil guard was the only product that provided satisfactory results. They used Krown as it was non toxic and dripped very little.
 
#31 ·
"But just because it looks bad doesn't mean it's falling apart. I still haven't heard of any issues with rust-through on a 2005+ Tacoma."

Seriously?

Check out the NHSTA website for 2005 Toyota Tacomas. Over 400 complaints, 90% of which deal with
rusted frames, with over 1000 in the model years 2005-2007 Most of the people filing complaints are being denied safety checks and being told their trucks are not safe to drive. These are just the people who are aware of the issue. how many hundreds of trucks are on the road right this minute that have compromised frames?

I became aware of the issue when I found the bracket for my anti sway bar on my driveway. With the bolts still attached. The part of the frame where it attaches was just gone.

NOT ONE SPECK OF RUST ON THE BRACKET THOUGH!

We paid the same for both our trucks. Mine is dead in the water at 130K miles.

Yah, there is a problem.