Severe Frame Rust is Not Acceptable

[deadrunner.org]

Chronicled my severe frame rust at Home Page since it became really dangerous, Toyota never warned me (even though they inspected the vehicle during service). Totally unacceptable that it killed my car at 101,872 miles. Just lucky it didn't kill someone. Toyota needs to accept this as a problem, it's not 1960 anymore --- frames do not need to rot like this.

Getting the word out. Let me know if you have stories or resources.

www.deadrunner.org

 

[BlackCat914]

Chronicled my severe frame rust at Home Page since it became really dangerous, Toyota never warned me (even though they inspected the vehicle during service). Totally unacceptable that it killed my car at 101,872 miles. Just lucky it didn't kill someone. Toyota needs to accept this as a problem, it's not 1960 anymore --- frames do not need to rot like this.

Getting the word out. Let me know if you have stories or resources.

www.deadrunner.org

not to add insult to injury, but it's your own fault. The problem with society today is that nobody accepts responsibility for their own actions. My 16 year old 4runner, which has been in IL. it's whole life, including salted roads every winter, has a near perfect undercarriage. Why? Because it was taken care of. Regular car washes, undercarriage blasts, and preventative maintenance. I, ME, personally get under my truck and inspect it. I take care of issues that need to be addressed, when they need to be addressed. Blaming a car manufacturer because you failed to properly take care of your vehicle makes about as much sense as wiping before you poop.

Did you or did you not purchase the vehicle knowing what the warranty was? At what point do you think it's fair to release liability from Toyota, and accept responsibility as a consumer? The new American Dream, otherwise known as "An overwhelming sense of undeserved entitlement".

 

[A.Wilson013]

not to add insult to injury, but it's your own fault. The problem with society today is that nobody accepts responsibility for their own actions. My 16 year old 4runner, which has been in IL. it's whole life, including salted roads every winter, has a near perfect undercarriage. Why? Because it was taken care of. Regular car washes, undercarriage blasts, and preventative maintenance. I, ME, personally get under my truck and inspect it. I take care of issues that need to be addressed, when they need to be addressed. Blaming a car manufacturer because you failed to properly take care of your vehicle makes about as much sense as wiping before you poop.

Did you or did you not purchase the vehicle knowing what the warranty was? At what point do you think it's fair to release liability from Toyota, and accept responsibility as a consumer? The new American Dream, otherwise known as "An overwhelming sense of undeserved entitlement".

:amen:

 

[traffic61]

not to add insult to injury, but it's your own fault. The problem with society today is that nobody accepts responsibility for their own actions. My 16 year old 4runner, which has been in IL. it's whole life, including salted roads every winter, has a near perfect undercarriage. Why? Because it was taken care of. Regular car washes, undercarriage blasts, and preventative maintenance. I, ME, personally get under my truck and inspect it. I take care of issues that need to be addressed, when they need to be addressed. Blaming a car manufacturer because you failed to properly take care of your vehicle makes about as much sense as wiping before you poop.

Did you or did you not purchase the vehicle knowing what the warranty was? At what point do you think it's fair to release liability from Toyota, and accept responsibility as a consumer? The new American Dream, otherwise known as "An overwhelming sense of undeserved entitlement".

Amen X2.

 

[KidVermicious]

not to add insult to injury, but it's your own fault. The problem with society today is that nobody accepts responsibility for their own actions. My 16 year old 4runner, which has been in IL. it's whole life, including salted roads every winter, has a near perfect undercarriage. Why? Because it was taken care of. Regular car washes, undercarriage blasts, and preventative maintenance. I, ME, personally get under my truck and inspect it. I take care of issues that need to be addressed, when they need to be addressed. Blaming a car manufacturer because you failed to properly take care of your vehicle makes about as much sense as wiping before you poop.

Did you or did you not purchase the vehicle knowing what the warranty was? At what point do you think it's fair to release liability from Toyota, and accept responsibility as a consumer? The new American Dream, otherwise known as "An overwhelming sense of undeserved entitlement".

Exactly what I was going to post, except I wasn't nearly as polite about it. I'm glad I hit the back button and held my tongue, because you said it much better.

 

[Singtoe]

The OP sold his runner for $1200. That was not even savage value.

If he had spent as much time taking care of his 4runner as he put into creating the blog...

 

[audiness]

There are users on here who have had frame rot that bad and have had it fixed. There was no reason to just "throw away" an otherwise great truck.

 

[white_n_slow]

I've owned my fair share of aged toyotas and they were all trail/winter beaters and were treated as such. They were all rusted. That's just the way it works. If you put the time and effort into inspecting the truck on a regular basis, you can prevent it. If you just fire it up and drive in snow and mud and put it away wet, it will just. It's just the nature of the beast.

BTW, IMO no frame rust is "untreatable" if the truck can still stand under it's own weight.

 

[BrianSD_42]

OP,

When you replace the word 4Runner with automobile does that change anything?

Are you saying that be very auto with steel frames should be rust proof despite the conditions it was operated in?

My 4Runner has zero rust through, mainly because I live in San Diego. But even in Canada there are plenty of guys who take care of their trucks and don't have this problem.

You are basically implying that no matter what conditions they are stored in, auto frames should have a rust guarantee of 20, 25 years?

 

[Stick Figure]

To put a positive note up .. from a web stand point the blog looks pretty good.

From a personal stand point your absolutely nuts, out of the 60+ vehicles I've owned the 4Runner is tied w/ my old IS300 for taking the most abuse and asking the least from me by means of repair. Of course this winter when I was back in Nebraska driving on the salt covered roads I cared enough to stop by the car wash every couple of days and wash the crap off of the truck top and bottom.

oh and guys don't forget to sign his guest book and leave a comment .. mine is waiting approval.

 

[A.Wilson013]

To put a positive note up .. from a web stand point the blog looks pretty good.

From a personal stand point your absolutely nuts, out of the 60+ vehicles I've owned the 4Runner is tied w/ my old IS300 for taking the most abuse and asking the least from me by means of repair. Of course this winter when I was back in Nebraska driving on the salt covered roads I cared enough to stop by the car wash every couple of days and wash the crap off of the truck top and bottom.

oh and guys don't forget to sign his guest book and leave a comment .. mine is waiting approval.

I always look forward to your posts, Stick Figure. Love reading what you've got to say.

Guest book comment pending as well.

 

[donkeyhoatie]

I had the same issue with my 4Runner a couple months ago. The only differences were that mine was 98 and I only had 83K on the odometer. Oh, and my rust was much, much worse than that. I was able to sell mine for $1250.

Here were my thoughts then, and they're pretty much the same as now:

"The guy on the phone said this probably could have been avoided if I had brought it in to a Toyota dealership for regular maintenance. In hindsight, I guess I should have. I just brought it to local guys for the oil changes and everything else, because it was about half the cost the dealership was charging.

The whole thing sucks, but in the end the responsibility fell on me to take better care of the undercarriage. I've never been a car guy, and only started coming here after shelling out a couple hundred for a brake job 2 years ago and thinking, "I should probably learn how to do this for myself."

Do I think Toyota put a garbage frame on this rig? Yeah, I do. There's fault with the company, but there's equal fault with myself, and if you want to point fingers, I'd probably point them at the Illinois Department of Transportation for salting the heck out of the streets in the winter as well. When I looked at the undercarriage 2 years ago, it was rusted, but not rotted. I hosed it down every chance I got. Last winter, there was only 1 snowfall and the salt was at a minimum, so I wasn't as vigilant. Again, my fault for not keeping up with everything."

Yes, Toyota should stand by its products. But, for how long? My rig was 14 years old. That's 14 years of snowy, salty roads in Illinois beating the hell out of my frame. I wish I'd known back in 2005 (when I bought my rig) what I know now. I would have taken more preventative measures earlier on. But, I didn't know, and so I didn't do what needed to be done. That falls on me. In the end, there's enough equal blame to go around.

If starting a web site brings you peace of mind, good for you. I wish you the best of luck. But, in all honesty, trying to put the entire blame on Toyota doesn't seem like the kind of response people will rally behind. Yeah, it's easy to point fingers at a big corporation, because the little guy is always right. Right?

I hope after you get a little time to find some perspective, you'll be able to move on. Believe me, I don't like losing thousands of dollars on a car either. I wasn't prepared for the situation one bit, and I'm still not where I want to be 4 months later. Soon enough, I'll have moved on completely, and I hope you will as well.

 

[mikebontoft]

model year 2000... well that's unfortunate. It's also 13 years old. You've owned it since new.

Reading your blog, apparently your 4runner isn't a lemon. it made it past 100k miles.

the average life is 10.8 years... made it at least 12.

If it's been garaged, how often is it driven... how often is it washed and how often do you experience inclement weather?

My 94... almost 20 years old (double the average life) has 173k miles on it without a hint of rust. In fact, the only thing that is rusting is the aftermarket hitch assembly.

As for why they didn't pick up on the frame issue at your dealer? You'll have to take that up with the guy doing the work. Probably an incompetent lube tech just marking off boxes...

edit: would like to mention I believe we have the same frames... This thing has lived in UT its whole life, with snowy, salty roads every winter.

 

[Hepar]

I have the feeling this was not the reaction he was hoping for.

 

[agloukhoff]

So let me get this straight, you've been taking it to Midas for thier shitty oil changes and not much else - then are surprised that you have frame rot?

This kind of rust didn't happen overnight. Even if you had your frame checked every few years by a competent mechanic, the rust could have been handled long before it became a hazzard.

Why are you blaming Toyota for your lack of maintenance? They can't fix the problem because the problem is YOU.

 

[JohnsD90]

BTW, IMO no frame rust is "untreatable" if the truck can still stand under it's own weight.

Wrong, you must have not much work with rotted frames, I've looked at many land rovers I could stick my hand through the frame in most of it and it was far beyond a state of repair despite the fact that it was still holding the vehicle up.

 

[BrianSD_42]

When I looked at the undercarriage 2 years ago, it was rusted, but not rotted. I hosed it down every chance I got.

The problem here is that as an owner you should know how rust works. Whether it is on your shed or car undercarriage, you have to grind/sand away down to the bare metal and paint it. You can't just ignore it.

 

[02SE]

Chronicled my severe frame rust at Home Page since it became really dangerous, Toyota never warned me (even though they inspected the vehicle during service). Totally unacceptable that it killed my car at 101,872 miles. Just lucky it didn't kill someone. Toyota needs to accept this as a problem, it's not 1960 anymore --- frames do not need to rot like this.

Getting the word out. Let me know if you have stories or resources.

www.deadrunner.org

I have a story about personal responsibility.

When I bought my 4Runner new off the lot in '97, I knew from experience that Toyota's can offer long and trouble free service. But like anything mechanical, it needs to be properly maintained.

In my owners manual, it clearly states that it is my responsibility as the owner to keep the vehicle clean and maintained. If I neglected to do that, I am the one that suffers the consequences of a prematurely deteriorating vehicle.

My 4Runner is coming up on 16 years since Toyota built it. Well past any warranty period offered by Toyota. It has spent it's entire life in a State that has heavy snowfall, and the roads are salted heavily, all winter long.

My frame is in great shape inside and out, because I have taken the personal responsibility to wash the body and undercarriage frequently during the winter months.

I would suggest using your experience as a lesson in the consequences of shirking your personal responsibility, when it comes to keeping a vehicle clean and maintained.

 

[4ever4running]

Blaming Toyota for frame rust is (as the great Larry the Cable Guy would say) like blaming Playboy magazine for giving my wrist carpal tunnel syndrome.

 

[02_SE_Runner]

not to add insult to injury, but it's your own fault. The problem with society today is that nobody accepts responsibility for their own actions. My 16 year old 4runner, which has been in IL. it's whole life, including salted roads every winter, has a near perfect undercarriage. Why? Because it was taken care of. Regular car washes, undercarriage blasts, and preventative maintenance. I, ME, personally get under my truck and inspect it. I take care of issues that need to be addressed, when they need to be addressed. Blaming a car manufacturer because you failed to properly take care of your vehicle makes about as much sense as wiping before you poop.

Did you or did you not purchase the vehicle knowing what the warranty was? At what point do you think it's fair to release liability from Toyota, and accept responsibility as a consumer? The new American Dream, otherwise known as "An overwhelming sense of undeserved entitlement".

Agreed 100%
Also OP I would have not sold it, I would have either made a custom new chassis or get a new chassis put on by toyota or a shop.