Hi all,

I recently called NHTSA and filed a complaint about the frame rot on my 99 T4R. I am posting this hoping that we can all take the time and call them. I talked to a nice lady named Jackie who stated that if there is a trend in their investigation, they could force Toyota to do something about it.

So let's call them and make them aware that we as Toyota owners, believe there is an issue here.

NHTSA number is 1-888-327-4236

Scott

Sounds like the first thing that should have been done is a undercoating!

I is confused? You have a 12 year old vehicle, that lives in a northern (snowy) state.. and you are upset about rust???


Am I missing something?

Oh darn...

I called, just because i would love 150% back haha. I would stay Toyota loyal and buy a newer 4runner! I promise!

It's all about the whole toyota quality thing. I believe that the frame should be a lifetime part more so than a fuel filter.

This is like the 5th time someone has come in here and told us to file complaints with NHTSA.

DC has it right. It's not called the rust belt because of the beautiful brownish-red leaves we get every fall...

And seriously, it's 12 years old. Now don't get me wrong, I had to replace my whole rear axle assembly because of rust, I think it is BS that it rusts as much as it does, but recall worthy? Sorry no. I can't get there. The taco frames yes, these, no. I blame the salt on the road more than Toyota.

This must be why I always washed my cars on a regular basis when i lived in the midwest.

My current 4Runner is the only vehicle that I had trouble finding locally, so I expanded my search nationally. I stayed clear away from areas known for rust just from seeing examples of them in person. I'm curious as to how other 9-15 year old vehicles stand up out there. Are they better? Worse? The same?

I don't think that you can complain about a 1996-2002 vehicle, living in the rust belt, getting rusty. I really dont believe this is a "quality issue." Us owners have to take some responsibility upon ourselves. If the owner of the vehicle living in the "rust belt" was aware that corrosion enhancing materials/chemicals were used on the roads, then measures should have been taken to prevent rust from day 1. You could Fluid Film once a year and never have had an issue.

We can't just complain in order to get Toyota to buck up for all of us to get new frames, as nice as that would be. Every frame on the planet WILL rust eventually when exposed to certain variables in the environment. If its made of metal, it has the potential to corrode. I am sure there are people on the Camry, Corolla, Tercel, and Rav forums who also have rusted frames. If every 10+ year old Toyota on the road was given a new frame due to rust issues, Toyota would not exist today. They simply cannot afford to do so, and should not be expected to.

I live in Canada, we salt our roads in the winter excessively, and I take the proper precautions to try and keep my 4Runner as rust-free as possible.

Rant/

So... Instead of trying to get them to force Toyota into doing something about your frame rot why not try getting your states to use red gravel or some other non corrosive alternative? To me that seems more like a battle that could be won.

This thread angers me........

Fix it and do preventive maintenance for a known problem in your area ......

Ditto. I can't understand why they use salt here. And on top of that, why they use so stinking much salt. I have been driving along thinking I was driving on a snowy road only to realize that there was no snow, just a crapload of salt.

Is there a Kennedy that owns a salt company or something?

...and what about the guy (me) who has rust on a vehicle that has never been in the rust belt? Everywhere this vehicle has been are all places that do NOT use salt on the road.

I owned a 1995 Ford F250 that spent the VAST majority of its life in the rust belt. To this day it has much less rust than my 4Runner.

Is this a big deal? Naah. I can do preventive maintenance. I guess my point is that it's not just those living in the rust belt who have problems with rust.

If it really has never been in the rust belt, then I bet there is something you are missing contributing to rust, because for sure the predominant experience is that even places that use salt substitutes like MagCl (CO) don't have rust problems. You've got something else going on...