Owners of some popular Toyota pickup trucks are riding on frames that are rusting away — and those who have not visited a dealer lately may not know about it.
What's worse, though, is that a special warranty extension to replace those frames is running out, leaving owners with little time to take action before it is too late.
Beautiful truck, but rotting underneath
Jeanne Middleton's 2004 Toyota Tacoma has been a trusted friend for a decade, its paint still shiny and unblemished.
But that all changed in recent weeks.
"I heard something almost like a boom," Middleton said.
The pickup started swerving, so she took it to a local repair shop and got some bad news. It was something far worse than a bad tire.
"They said the frame was cracked, that it was rusted and it was unsafe to drive," she said.
Certified mechanic Mike Fehler lifted the truck on a rack in his shop and showed off the extensive rust underneath.
He believes it needs new frame rails, or the whole truck bed and rear end could fall off.
"Basically, where the leaf spring mounts to the frame — this is load-bearing," he said. "It is essentially what holds the bed onto the truck."
He told Middleton he had heard of an extended warranty for the rusting issue — but that's where things got even worse.
Safety recalls and warranty extensions save lives and save owners money — in this case, thousands of dollars in potential frame repairs. But if the recall is not a government-ordered safety recall, automakers can set a window on those repairs.
Typically, after 10 or 15 years, a manufacturer won't pay for repairs covered under expired warranties. That's happened with Middleton's truck.
"They said there was a limited recall and it expired in 2019," she said.
Warranty extension nearing its end for many owners
A call to Toyota confirmed that Middleton had just missed the warranty cutoff date.
Toyota, in 2016, settled a class-action suit by agreeing to spend $3 billionto repair millions of Tacomas, Tundras, and Sequioa SUV's with rusting frames. That lawsuit affected trucks and SUVs with model years from 2004 to 2008 (or 2010 in a few cases) and followed an earlier extended warranty affecting Toyota trucks from 1995-2003.
But there's one catch: the program expires 15 years after the date of manufacture.
Middleton never saw a notice.
"I had the car in 2019 but did not receive any kind of notification it was expiring," she said.
She believes any letter about the warranty extension may have been sent to the previous owner.
Don't let this happen to you, no matter what brand vehicle you own.
- Make sure the manufacturer has your current address, for any recall or repair bulletins.
- Ask repair shops to inspect the underside of your car or truck when you bring it in for an oil change.
- Check your car for recalls at the federal government's recall notice website to see if you have any outstanding safety issues. All you have to do is enter your car's VIN.
- Some states, like Ohio, now notify you at plate renewal time if your car has an open recall.
"I would love to keep my truck," Middleton said. "I am sure it can go another 100,000 miles."
But it now needs a $7,000 frame repair in order to do that.
A Toyota corporate spokeswoman promised that customer service would contact Middleton about some possible options. But she would not promise a free repair, as the campaign ended a year and half ago for her model.
A more recent class-action lawsuitclaims Toyota 4-Runners can be susceptible to the same premature frame rot, but that case is still pending with no settlement.
As always, don't waste your money.
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