I think it is bit to little to late. The cat is out of the bag and Toyota has to play catch-up in US market with domestics in truck segment. Good thing that Texas plant can assemble other vehicles as well, it may have to change orientation.

Can you say ‘covering their asses to avoid potential lawsuits? I know, those are big words. But I know you can do it. Sure you can.

Even if they did it in good faith, given their other bogus warranty extensions (in lieu of recalls) it comes off and another gimmick.

Lads, I don’t think it is to cover their asses, since trucks are old. If economy would be OK and there were prospects of selling their inventory I don’t think Toyota would go extra mile (looks to me they did). But in ****ty economy (recession), I view it as a desperation act to repair what is horribly broken. Toyota did suck over billion bucks into a plant, that will be building less profitable vehicles.

One more note: I think adolescent crowd was send to bed. No one offered any sexual torments on this post just yet. Then again the night still young. I am on the east coast, and it was busy week it’s time for me to catch some Zees.

I was just going to say the same thing. LP must be on graveyard shift at the local 7-11.

They’re offering buybacks of vehicles at 150% of the highest KBB value. And it probably won’t come off as a gimmick to the 99% of owners who don’t know anything about Toyota recalls/extended warranties.

As far as the San Antonio plant with Tundra (and Sequoia although it’s built in Indiana), it was just poor timing for a vehicle and plant that were planned during $2.25 gas.

…or as we say in Canada ‘catch some Zeds’

When was the last time we heard of a NA auto company offering this sort of protection? In the 70’s chrysler,Dodge,GM,Ford products rusted after 5 years and no such offer from them. Good on you Toyota…this is a welcome gesture that will go a long way towards a good name.

Probably just trying to find a way to get more buyers for their current truck. I’ll bu back your $3000 truck. Now can I interest you in a new $40000 truck.

AxeHead, 70s Toyotas and Datsuns rusted too, there were just far less of them sold here. We are talking about trucks that are only 8 to 13 years old in this article. You don’t read about this problem from NA auto companies. The excuse provided by Toyota? They “decided the trucks built between the model years [1995 through to 2000, amounting to approximately 813,000 ] may not have received protection necessary to hold off harsh climates, in which salt is used on ice-covered roads.” I know the bashing GM, or more specifically Lutz, would take for a comment like that. Toyota’s engineers didn’t know salt is used on icy roads?? Toyota no longer makes the indestructible vehicles they used to.

psi, Toyotas were always rust prone. It think this is a given. After 12 years, I don’t know of any Toyota vehicle that isn’t starting to rust. They’ve never been know for rust prevention…but they’ve been known for indestructable engines. It’s good to see them starting to address this problem. I think it’s due to their steel production standards but I could be wrong here. Japan imports alot of steel vs NA more common use of virgin steel.

@Jazz – probably close to the truth.

This used to be called good business practice.
Check any JD Power Dependability study, and you will find Lexus and Toyota prominently displayed at the top.
If you can find a better built truck than Tacoma, buy it!
DrFill

Uhm, duh! Everyone around here avoids Toy Ota like the plague. We’ve all had extremely bad experiences with them rusting prematurely, sometimes within a year! Although most show signs of rusting within 3 years, nobody wants to drive these POS pick-ups anymore.

LOL, DrFill hasn’t read all the posts relating JD Powers to GM.

And BTW, I did find a better built truck than the Tacoma – my GMC Sierra. 10 years old, 107,000 miles, no rust, no problems!

Back is the 70s, all vehicles rusted horribly – and I’m remembering the imports were actually worse than the domestics on that front. Hell, I remember one Suburu in my shop that has the oddest rust pattern – it rusted through the fender in a straight line from front to rear on the top. In other words, exactly in line with the stuff thrown from the tire.

My first car was a rust becket 1975 Pontiac Lemans, and that was in 1980. It was GONE, baby! Ah, memories…

In the ’70’s, 4 year old Honda Civics with 50,000 miles on them would send rusted-out front shock towers through the hoods. Owners would still brag about what a great car it was and buy another one.

They should rust and blow away. Who cares, they are all junk anyway.

No intelligent life found….prepare for liftoff……
DrFill

All cars rusted in 70s and 60s and 50s. The rust resistance is fairly new phenomenon and all manufacturers are guaranteeing fairly long lives for their bodies.

Just look at History what brands are in the harshest conditions natural and manmade? Toyota and Landrover. You wanna know how reliable Diesel Hummers are? Ask soldiers coming home they break down all the time.

Imports were horrible concerning rust, I haven’t actually seen any German/Japanese vehicles without panels rusted out, unless kept in mint perk, from the 70’s and 80’s. American cars had the same problem, but not as bad in some concerns (mostly body panels). I know thought that there are few cars that won’t rust after a few years, especially in the area that I live in, so I respect Toyota’s decision. You guys bickering about how they rust to hell is pathetic, as if so than this is making amends, if not then Toyota is going a little extra for their customers.

I do know though older Tacoma’s do rust a whole lot around the wheel wells, but that’s about where most trucks start. Maybe they should have started with the simple stuff like rust, than engines that still run after having trailers dumped on them at 30 feet, being set on fire, being put in the sea and all other forms of devious destruction.

deutschetouring1337- Humvee reliability’s good, and I know first hand from a soldier that they are fairly reliable. Not as reliable as the GP or a few other minimalist vehicles out there, and more complicated to work on, but not unreliable.

Cum on, man Hummer reliable??! You know why americans lost the Vietnam war, because of the unreliable Hummers they used. Americans barely left their base and the Hummers broke down, forever, like yogurts, then they had to continue on foot, and the enemy escaped, and bye bye war!

mg198242- lol, but…
Americans did not loose Vietnam because of unreliable vehicles, I can tell you that flat out, right now as my father was in Vietnam. He tells me they were useless in the terrain of Vietnam in the first place. I can tell you though, the current ones are reliable until something finally gives in- the problems I’ve heard of them is they’re complicated and heavy to fix, and are bomb cribs on wheels. Not to mention, they’ve already been stretched past their capacity with all the different crap variations they have on them. But hey, that also goes to show what a reliable, flexible vehicle they are!

Sam Kinison in Back To School quite eloquently addressed what happened in Vietnam and Korea in the link below:

…… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bfgrj_62-Y

Ricardo, I like the way you think. Rodney Dangerfield is one of my favorite comedian of all times.

Hey, where are the Toy oda defenders? I was looking forward to crap like ‘Toyota rust is better than domestic rust’, or ‘at least our sunroofs aren’t falling out’…

Anyone looking for twisted Rodney Dangerfield go watch ‘Natural Born Killers’. Too bad he didn’t have more opportunities to act outside the comedic box.

Back to topic, I own 3 ‘95 or older vintage original cars and I live in Canada. None have frame rust and trust me, we get the **** salted out of us- even on the west coast. Toyota f*cked up on this big time. Most major rust nowadays is caused by the average appliance driver not noticing that rock chip which turns into a blister which turns into a hole. Frame rust beyond 1990 is just sloppy quality control.

DrFill, I already did and, it’s a 2000 model. Absolutely nothing but a little surface rust on the frame. If there are people complaining about rust on a vehicle as new as a 2000 then it must be pretty bad.

Axhead, my dad’s 1970 Chevy C10 didn’t start to rust until I was 10 and, I was born in ‘86. I remember it clearly. My dad’s like “NOOOOO, it’s starting to rust!” I look on his face was priceless.

I haven’t seen any 90’s tacomas with major rust problems, but those 80’s trucks never seem to have a useable bed. Rust loves those things.

4 things that are and have been short comings in comparison to domestic pick ups in Toyotas small pick up. Thin sheetmetal, horrific rust protection, and seats that are 3 inches off the floor. All years have delicate trannies that cant handle a heavy load. My friend who has a weld shop has 2- ‘86 Toyota pick ups (1-Turbo) and 2 more recent. ‘85-’86 are the best by far Toy trucks, peak of mechanical ruggedness and the sheetmetal isnt too thin.

I drive a 1991 Caprice Wagon and it has virtually no rust at all. I live in Chicago and get my fair share of salt. The only places where there’s rust are the bottom-rear of the rear wheel wells. The fender skirts have an area that pools water,snow,salt, etc that the tire throws up into it. Otherwise the body panels don’t have any rust at all. Then again I wash and wax regularly so I’m probably not a good example.

If you buy something other than a GM truck, you are an unAmerican A-hole. Get the flock out of this country if you don;t support GM.

LOL, are you 1115’s evil twin brother?

It’s funny – someone was posting on a different thread raving about how long old Toyota trucks last, and I was like SINCE WHEN? I said you hardly see any old 1980’s and early 1990’s Toyota pickups on the road anymore, yet you see old Fords and Chevys of the same vintage on the road everyday. The comment in reply was made that much fewer Toyotas were sold then, which is true, but its more to it than that. They rust away for one thing.

Also note that this is FRAME rust, not body rust. Which is worse than body rust as it compromises the structural integrity. It’s also not readily visible, so while the truck may look OK, the frame underneath is rusting away.

I garantee you won’t be seeing any 2007 Toyota trucks on the road next year either. Meanwhile we be driving our GM trucks for decades with little to no problems.

It’s called build a truck that lasts Toyota, something you will never get. Even if your pussy little Tundra makes it to another Generation (If the American Revolution hasn’t destroyed U for good), I garantee my 2008 Silverado will still be a better truck despite being older. My 1997 Chevy truck was already better than your POS new Tundra that just came out last year!

my neighbor isn’t gonna enjoy hearing this.

mg198242, you must be very young and dumb. America never lost the Vietnam war, America pulled it’s troops out stupid. The Hummer was not even around during the Vietnam years idiot, they still were using Jeeps. The Hummer became known to the general public during the first Gulf War. God, how could there be that many stupid people in this world.
Old Toyota trucks can go half a million miles if the frame dosent break in half. Seen a couple of them along with those old Isuzu trucks that did that.

“If you buy something other than a GM truck, you are an unAmerican A-hole. Get the flock out of this country if you don;t support GM.”

Ahaa, so everyone with Ford F-series’ are “unAmerican”. Ahah, oh wow.

WEKS, I think your sarcasm-O-meter is broken…

Hello

For anyone that is getting a hard time from Toyota in terms of the Toyota Tacoma Frames rusting out please try this website The Center for Auto Safety It has alot of valuable information on it and you can file a complaint if you wish. Another website is Home | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) | U.S. Department of Transportation file a complaint and they will start investigating your complaint. Hopefully this can help alot get many of these defective vehicles off the road and correct corporate irresponsibility.
Thanks