I have a 2004 tundra 4x4 limited w rotting frame

I followed your recommendation and filed a complaint with the NHTSA regarding my 2004 Tundra Limited. I have 255K miles and everything is terrific except for the rusty frame. Dealership service dept. called to tell me the frame just cracked when it was lifted. I love this truck, but I’m not sure I can keep waiting for Toyota to right this wrong.

 

It's really easy to point blame when the frame breaks as it leaves the manufacturing plant. Much harder to know what had happened 15 years later when it may have had several owners. Trucks in areas that have road salts applied, or are used in mud and dirt and not cleaned and maintained properly are going to rust. I live in SoCal and it never snows out here and rarely freezes at night. My 2002 undercarriage was perfect 17 years later. I cleaned the undercarriage after every off road excursion and inspected it. If I was somewhere with snow/ice, mud, road salts, there would have been much more maintenance; cleanings to get the salts and dirt off, rust prohibitive applied regularly. Who does this religiously? Very few. We all expect some magic that frees us from having to get under there with a bucket and brush but there isn't one. And it can rust anyway despite everything we do. As much rust as I have seen in the pictures here, I can't see how someone can do the maintenance, inspecting it regularly and all of the sudden, it's a rust bucket. And this issue is compounded by older cars being more likely to have been sold and be on their second or third owner. Do we know what the first owner did? Did we even look under there with a strong flashlight before purchase? Did we look under there ever again? Sad that this happens, but it's hard to think so much rust can happen before it's noticed if the maintenance is done regularly.

Sorry about the truck.

 

Many of us in this situation are original owners who have been fighting this issue since 2009... when the truck was only 5 years old. There are no unreasonable expectations regarding age-related surface rust. The concern here is the aggressive deterioration of improperly manufactured steel, for which Toyota was awarded a sizable settlement. In turn, they applied an undercoating that, in Toyota’s position, eliminated any continuation of the problem. (Much like a spray tan over melanoma cures cancer...) These coatings typically flaked off within six months to a year, and the aggressive deterioration continued despite reasonable maintenance and upkeep. Toyota stopped responding to all further requests for assistance of any kind. We use this thread to communicate with others that are experiencing the same issue, to understand if any recourse is available, to share information that supports our efforts to resolve it, and encourage each other to take specific action as a group or class. Filing with the NHTSA is one such step that could strengthen individual efforts into a larger class that could produce a more favorable response from Toyota. Much like you wished you had kept that ‘72 Corona, wall have our reasons for wanting to keep our trucks and it’s up to no one else to decide if that is reasonable.

Rant complete

 

Bought our 2004 Tundra with 90K miles on in 2014. The frame was sprayed by the previous owner just prior to our purchase. I thought this would be a safe vehicle for our family since our teenage son was mostly driving it. Took it for inspection last week and it failed due to a rusted frame. Current mileage is 122K.

No recall and Toyota is saying the same thing most folks are hearing -- limited service campaign sprayed the vehicle in 2014 and there is no more assistance they can provide. Filed with NHTSA and the BBB. I don't know what else to do except to make sure my household never supports a Toyota vehicle again. I am so disappointed in Toyota.

 

Hello to all, I’m Bill recently bought a 2003 Tundra SR-5 access cab stepside that I really love. I had a 2008 reg. Cab lease truck years ago, turned it in at end of lease. I missed it so much I bought this jewel. I love the motor and drive train. The body and trim looks great. I started putting some chrome step rails on her and noticed the rust holes in the frame. This is my retirement truck. I feel sick. I found you guys talking about the frame rot and I sincerely just feel so sad for you all and now, for myself. Somehow, I didn’t know about this issue. Bill

 

Sorry to hear that bill. Just another good reminder to future buyers out there to climb under the truck you might want to buy, and give it a thorough inspection.

 

google the Toyota head quarters in California and speak to them. that's what I did. about 8 yrs ago. got a new frame on a 2000 tundra. hope that helps.

 

Hey bill most all the trucks from 06 down had that problem!! got 06 holes in frame also. hear some of the newer ones also got the issue also. not as bad.

 

Dang that has a nice body! have a frame under a 2000 would be nice under that if it would fit.

 

I just filed a complaint online with NHTSA and included photos of my rusted out frame, I also filed a complaint with Toyota as well. Like others have stated, with enough complaints to NHTSA they may open an investigation and make Toyota resolve our issues. I only have 90K miles on my 03 Tundra that I bought new and I'm not ready to part with it just yet. Here is the link and you can attach pics as well, only takes a few minutes. https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

 

Toyota and the NHTSA are going to resolve rust on a 17 year old truck? You might want to lower your expectations...

 

My expectations are that a vehicle lasts longer than 17 years, sometimes accidents happen and those goals can't be met. In this case Toyota was trying to skimp on parts to save a dollar, I paid a higher price for this truck for what I thought was quality and something that was built to last. How many other vehicles are out there with rusted out frames so soon? I just replaced some MAINTENANCE parts on my 2007 Mazda and it has absolutely no rust under it. This is not normal, I don't call a vehicle after 90K miles at the end of its service life.

 

No company is going to replace the frame on a 17 year old truck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDTgCnmIhuE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOnI7iK3Dpo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpsGq6bVqbw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfQ7VrSSPd0

 

I'm just curious what everyone did with their trucks once the frames rusted out. I have a 04 tundra double cab with 130,000 miles that just failed the state inspection due to severe rust. Dealership looked at it and said its shot. Told me to call Toyota. Toyota gave me normal reply of we aren't going to do anything. I was curious if anyone traded in their trucks and what dealers may have given them for a useless vehicle. I'm done buying Toyota trucks.

 

I have the exact same truck...Same problem & Toyota said I'm out of warranty. I think they just sprayed over the rust & now my truck is junk. It looks just look yours, clean as hell! Did anyone replace the frame? Costs? I'm sure it a lot!