Toyota Tundra Problem?

[breadtrk]

The point there was that they stepped up.

Just sayin.... Not heard one word about ANYONE else fixing any rust. That alone speaks volumes, LOUD volumes.

 

[crazyal]

It's all in how you take care of your vehicle. We have a 2003 ram 2500 bought new that has spent it's whole life in Iowa. Not a spec of rust on the truck body. Frame doesn't have any rust either. Take care of your vehicle and it will last.

Spoken like a man who has never lived in the north. Even not using a vehicle in winter still causes it to rust as at night the metal gets cold and then as the day warms up the cold metal attracts moisture in the air. The exhaust from the vehicle is full of moisture and acid that'll rust out anything close to the tailpipe. Then, of course, there's the salt/ brine/ fine gravel mixture they put on the road that gets into every crack. Anything aluminum quickly anodizes and is covered in a white powder. So unless you store your vehicle in a heated garage and never drive it from November to April it's going to rust.

 

[crazyal]

I stated that the big 3 have body rust issues, but not frames on a 5-10 year old vehicle. Toyota had these problems in 2006 on the 1995-2001 Tacomas. Heck my 01 super duty sits on a gravel driveway and hardly gets moved only have 68K on it. Frame has minor surface rust. Doors have some rust. The bed around the wheel wells had typical ford rust. I think it was either Ford or Dodge that had problems with rear axles on minivans snapping in half from rust. Not good while you are driving. My point is that trucks are supposed to be strong. Especially the frame. What would happen if you hook up a 8-14K trailer or 1-2K in the bed to a truck and have the frame snap in half is unacceptable. They stepped up to fix them or buy them back to avoid huge, huge lawsuits.

Around here 10 year old trucks become plow trucks because the frames are shot. You name the brand, doesn't matter. If the frame is real bad and can't have scabs welded in to connect the parts that haven't turned to dust then it's off to the crusher.

 

[Fordman1981]

Spoken like a man who has never lived in the north. Even not using a vehicle in winter still causes it to rust as at night the metal gets cold and then as the day warms up the cold metal attracts moisture in the air. The exhaust from the vehicle is full of moisture and acid that'll rust out anything close to the tailpipe. Then, of course, there's the salt/ brine/ fine gravel mixture they put on the road that gets into every crack. Anything aluminum quickly anodizes and is covered in a white powder. So unless you store your vehicle in a heated garage and never drive it from November to April it's going to rust.

You don't consider Iowa the north?

 

[JKR]

We all know sooner or later you truck will rust. BUT what manufacture will step up and fix it?

TOYOTA

 

[dodge man]

Most vehicles have a rust through warranty, problem is its for the original owner, and most people don't keep them that long.

There are vehicles that don't seem to rust, but in my area it seems most do eventually. Parked next to the Toyota I shot a picture of was a Ram with a tailgate with severe rust.

 

[Btown]

Around here 10 year old trucks become plow trucks because the frames are shot. You name the brand, doesn't matter. If the frame is real bad and can't have scabs welded in to connect the parts that haven't turned to dust then it's off to the crusher.

Plows are one of the hardest things on a frame. If you have a weak frame it cannot handle a plow. Even with a good frame you can bend it with a plow.

 

[Btown]

We all know sooner or later you truck will rust. BUT what manufacture will step up and fix it? TOYOTA

No other manufacturer had frame rot in a 5-6 year old vehicle. It's called liability. You want to call it stepping up. Trust me it's cheaper to pay to buy them back and sell them a new one, then to be taken to court and sued. Toyota recently lost a lawsuit and is refusing to pay. Is that stepping up. OH what a feeling, Toyota.

 

[debo1683]

Looks like typical Toyota truck quality there. I remember seeing all the crushed 1995-2001 Tacomas from the rusty frame issues. Toyota seems to have major rust issues with their trucks. Not sure why but they still continue. Ford, Chevy and Dodge also have rust issues in the rust belt. But the big 3 have never had to buy back tens of thousands of trucks and crush them from frame rot. We will see in time how the new ones are.

It is my understanding that the issue with those frames was not entirely Toyota's fault. Those frames were made by Dana, and they(Dana) ended up paying $25 million dollars to Toyota for damages. I think Toyota did the best thing they could in the situation. They were given a bad part by an OEM manufacturer. Unfortunately, it was a major component. It's bad no matter how you look at it, those were really good little pickups.

I was at the Toyota dealer the other day picking up some parts and they had 15 truck frames sitting on shipping pallets outside their service garage. They all looked like Tundra/Sequoia frames.

 

[Btown]

It is my understanding that the issue with those frames was not entirely Toyota's fault. Those frames were made by Dana, and they(Dana) ended up paying $25 million dollars to Toyota for damages. I think Toyota did the best thing they could in the situation. They were given a bad part by an OEM manufacturer. Unfortunately, it was a major component. It's bad no matter how you look at it, those were really good little pickups. I was at the Toyota dealer the other day picking up some parts and they had 15 truck frames sitting on shipping pallets outside their service garage. They all looked like Tundra/Sequoia frames.

I know Toyota did not make the frames. Buy Toyota prides themselves about quality. Those frames were not quality. They were basically cheap Chinese trash. Toyota still claims the Tacoma is the most durable mid sized truck. Not where I live. You can't find a 1995-2001 Tacoma. I see tons of Ford Rangers, Chevy/GMC s-10's from that time frame and before. But no tacomas.
The drive train might be durable, but frame. Nope. Yes I know that Toyota baud 15% over KBB to the people they bought the trucks back from and even offered more off if you bought a new one.

 

[IslandTractor]

I know Toyota did not make the frames. Buy Toyota prides themselves about quality. Those frames were not quality. They were basically cheap Chinese trash. Toyota still claims the Tacoma is the most durable mid sized truck. Not where I live. You can't find a 1995-2001 Tacoma. I see tons of Ford Rangers, Chevy/GMC s-10's from that time frame and before. But no tacomas. The drive train might be durable, but frame. Nope. Yes I know that Toyota baud 15% over KBB to the people they bought the trucks back from and even offered more off if you bought a new one.

You sure those frames (and beds) were Chinese? I suppose Toyota may have sourced them there but I thought a lot of the steel in those trucks was American made.

 

[debo1683]

I know Toyota did not make the frames. Buy Toyota prides themselves about quality. Those frames were not quality. They were basically cheap Chinese trash. Toyota still claims the Tacoma is the most durable mid sized truck. Not where I live. You can't find a 1995-2001 Tacoma. I see tons of Ford Rangers, Chevy/GMC s-10's from that time frame and before. But no tacomas.
The drive train might be durable, but frame. Nope. Yes I know that Toyota baud 15% over KBB to the people they bought the trucks back from and even offered more off if you bought a new one.

Cheap Chinese crap that, at the time, was made in American factories. After Dana payed Toyota the 25 million, they sold those factories to a Mexican company.
Dana Corp ordered to pay Toyota $25m for frame rust issues - Torque News

 

[Btown]

It is my understanding that the issue with those frames was not entirely Toyota's fault. Those frames were made by Dana, and they(Dana) ended up paying $25 million dollars to Toyota for damages. I think Toyota did the best thing they could in the situation. They were given a bad part by an OEM manufacturer. Unfortunately, it was a major component. It's bad no matter how you look at it, those were really good little pickups. I was at the Toyota dealer the other day picking up some parts and they had 15 truck frames sitting on shipping pallets outside their service garage. They all looked like Tundra/Sequoia frames.

I know Toyota did not make the frames. Buy Toyota prides themselves about quality. Those frames were not quality. They were basically cheap Chinese trash. Toyota still claims the Tacoma is the most durable mid sized truck. Not where I live. You can't find a 1995-2001 Tacoma. I see tons of Ford Rangers, Chevy/GMC s-10's from that time frame and before. But no tacomas.
The drive train might be durable, but frame. Nope. Yes I know that Toyota baud 15% over KBB to the people they bought the trucks back from and even offered more off if you bought a new one.

 

[Btown]

You sure those frames (and beds) were Chinese? I suppose Toyota may have sourced them there but I thought a lot of the steel in those trucks was American made.

Sorry I didn't mean to say the were Chinese made, but of cheap Chinese quality

 

[Btown]

Cheap Chinese crap that, at the time, was made in American factories. After Dana payed Toyota the 25 million, they sold those factories to a Mexican company. Dana Corp ordered to pay Toyota $25m for frame rust issues - Torque News

Not saying that they were not American made, but that article does not state where they were made.

 

[AaronS]

Not saying that they were not American made, but that article does not state where they were made.

If I remember correctly, there was a Dana plant in Kentucky supplying frames to the Toyota plant in Princeton, IN.

 

[IslandTractor]

If I remember correctly, there was a Dana plant in Kentucky supplying frames to the Toyota plant in Princeton, IN.

And we all know that Kentucky is a major source of cheap Chinese pot metal.

People are quick to blame the Chinese for anything trashy. The reason so much Chinese stuff is trashy quality is because AMERICAN marketers have decided to order cheap quality from Chinese factories. The Chinese can put a rocket into space, they know how to make good steel if you are willing to pay them to do so.

In this instance however, the "cheap Chinese steel" was actually American made.

 

[aczlan]

If I remember correctly, there was a Dana plant in Kentucky supplying frames to the Toyota plant in Princeton, IN.

Ran across this:

This is exactly what happened. I do automation work for the auto industry and I've worked with engineers from Dana that were involved in this mess. The manufacturing process just wasn't properly followed when the frames were built. I don't think all the frames in question came from Mexico, but I may be wrong about that.

It's my understanding that the corrosion protection was a coating the frames were dipped in prior to getting the final black treatment that's visible to the eye. Apparently the solution they were being dipped in just wasn't maintained at the proper chemical levels for it to work properly, but it took years for the defect to show itself.

Aaron Z

 

[Grateful11]

Just bought a new 2015 Tundra. I knew there were rust problems in the past, sure hope they've fixed the problem. Looked at everything before settling on the Tundra. Chevy 1/2ton's assembled in Mexico with some major drivetrain parts from Mexico, Ford $2-4K higher than everyone. Chevy and Dodge were coming in around $48-52K MSRP. The Tundra stickered at $42K with their added paint protection crap and stuff, got them down to $36K. It has their big V8.

Sitting at my sister's home.

 

[seymojo536]

The drive train might be durable, but frame. Nope. Yes I know that Toyota baud 15% over KBB to the people they bought the trucks back from and even offered more off if you bought a new one.

Just to set the record straight. Toyota was paying 150% of the excellent KBB price, no matter what the actual condition of your truck.
I had a 2000 tacoma. I USED that truck. It was worth maybe 5-6,000. In 2005, with over 150k on it, I was going to replace the rear shocks. I noticed a small rust spot in the frame near the attachment point. I was able to poke the tip of a screw driver thru it. Took it to the dealer for them to evaluate the situation. I received a check for $12,000 3 days later. Say what you want about the problem, but I'm driving a 2015 Tacoma and my wife and 4 children all drive Toyotas. They made a customer for life that day.