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4 CYLINDER AUTOMATIC
150,000 MILE
ENGINE WORKING WELL / BODY AND SUSPENSION IN GOOD SHAPE.
I NEED TO REBUILD THE TRANSMISSION
IS IT WORTH IT?
Detail : Recently, it had been making a whirling / buzz sound that has been varying . I had a mechanic open it up and the filter was plugged with metal dust. The pan was some what muddy.
The mechanic said I need to ? repair the transmission or get a new one. :confuse:
A lot of folks decide it is time to upgrade to a newer vehicle about this time, and just take their lumps on the trade in.
Tuesday 11/22. I took my Taco down the street to the neighborhood mechanic for a WV State Inspection; the guy used to be kinda laxed on his inspections but now he goes all out and check over everything. He put the truck up on the lift and we both looked it over. He found two worn out spots on the passenger side and was able to break thru them both with his finger. I have two holes about the size of a nickel each.
I went to my local Toyota dealer and the Service Manager will be talking to the Regional Rep on Wed. I called back and invited myself to that meeting so that I can speak directly to the Regional Rep.
I registered with Toyota Owners and found my service report. Here's the odd part.
I called Buchannon WV dealership an they have no record of my truck being inspected or coated. The National Records for Toyota as well as my online owners records show the following words for the past 5 maintainence reports "OPCODE NOT ON REPORT"
Buckhannon dealership told me they could not do replacements on Tacos so it was "likely" done by Dana Cava in Fairmont, wV. I called Cava and spoke to a very friendly and extremely helpful Service MGR who said his shop did not do the frame inspection or the coating.
This guy gave me a bunch of questions to ask the Regional Rep and asked me to call him back after I found out what was going on with my Taco.
So, I called the National HQ for Toyota and spoke to 2 different people. The second guy was really helpful and he assigned me a Case Number and they are doing an investigation on my truck and I should be contacted withing the next 24 hours.
There is a lot of really great information on the NET about Tacos and the frame issue, replacements, warranties, letters to owners, notices published by Toyota.
I do not have an answer right now concerning my Taco but I feel confident that this issue is going to be resolved and I will either 1) get a brand new frame or 2) Toyota will by back my Taco at 150% of Kelly Blue Book which I actually prefer. The frame has already been inspected and coated and now it is rusting out again.
I would very much like to talk directly to the First and Second Owners of this truck and wonder if it is possible to track them down. Can I call Ohio Dept of Motor Vehicles and get a name and do the same in West Virginia?
I don't care to take it back to the Dealership right now as I would rather see what Toyota is going to do. I feel pretty confident at the moment. I am prepared. I have done lots of research and will not accept no as an answer.
The frame will be replaced or Toyota will buy back the truck.
I will not accept anything less.
Thanks to everyone out there who replies and has posted information on their Taco frames.">
With a cost to Toyota of over $10,000 times hundreds of thousands of trucks involved, the combination of a bad economy, rising Yen, The Japanese Tsunami, lower stock price and lower profit margins will eventually result in affected owners having to jump over increasingly higher hurdles to get their vehicles fixed.
I was always amazed at how well these trucks kept their value, but I would cerntainly not buy one approaching anywhere near 10 years old.
go to this edmunds forum:
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef25c2b/7598#MSG7598
95-2000 frames were on the recall list with a deadline for inspection being March 2011. Toyota later expanded the recall to 2001-2004 frames built at specific factories. My father has a 2001 Taco with a new frame but my 02 Taco did not qualify.
Anyway, the dealer gave me a full refund and stopped the loan payment with the bank. I was ready to shut down main street in his small town by parking the truck in the middle of the road and calling the police while holding up a sign that read "Dealer name sold me a truck with a broken frame. Honk if you think that is wrong!"
Toyota Corp HQ told me that since my truck has not been inspected by March 2011 that it did not qualify. I have to say, Toyota seems a bit shady when it comes to sending out their letters to owners and how they go about inspecting frames.
Best of luck man.
Actually all 2000 to 2004 Tacomas used the same frames but depending on the location of purchase of the Tacoma in question, you might not have been notified. Notification was based on the particular climate of the initial purchase location and would have been to the initial buyer anyway unless this info. was changed in Toyotas system. The problem was with the coating, or lack of, on the frames.
Actually in my location my Toyota dealer is very anal about "how they go about inspecting the frames". Any small rust through, even the size of a dime, you fail and they replace the frame no questions asked. I guess this is because it's a big windfall for the dealer just to get this big job.
Also-- anyone need some michelins with <2000 miles on them or a battery? I cant stand giving $600 to toyota so I need to find someone who wants a bargain-- The truck is sitting in the dealers lot with no tags now so everything needs to be done there-- Im in CT..
Thanks for any help..
The dealership said Toyota will be calling me to set up an arbitratino hearing at which time we will discuss a fair buyout cost.
My first question pertains to how Toyota handles recent repairs that the owner has had done ($3k for me in that I put in substantial differential work, a new carrier, a new starter and a tuneup). I have all receipts and am planning to bring them with to my arbitration. Has anyone had experience with how Toyota handles recent repairs?
My second question is pertaining to how Toyota uses the KBB to value the vehicle. The servcie tech at the dealer said they go 1.5 over KBB, but he said 1.5%, not 1.5x. Of course I am hoping it is 1.5x.
Thanks for helping me better prepare for my arbitratino.
I am bummed about my truck. I loved the look of the 1999 and all teh goodies on it.
I went back and read several posts where 1.5x KBB is mentioned. Is this KBB Retail or Tradein? Thank you again.
I will kick myself for waiting so long to bring in my truck. Ughh. Could have saved $3k.
I am now driving a very sweet silver/black 06 Taco 4WD v6 4.0 TRD package with only one owner. The dealer installed black/chrome MKW Offroad rims with Kenda tires and tinted the windows.
The only down side is the truck has 122,000 miles but I was able to get a
3 year/36,000 ACS insurance plan which covers nearly everything on the truck.
So...I am happy now. This truck is a beast.
I saw some people posting here that it was December 31st but the letter says in the body that it is extended to 15 years from the in service, so a 2000 Tacoma should be eligible until 2015?
Any suggestions??
On the more aggressive end of the spectrum...I was fully prepared to deal with a break mechanical breakdown should one occur right in the middle of the street in front of the dealership.
Be creative. Make phone calls. Walk into offices. Ask tough questions. Do not take no for answer. Keep records of everyone you talk to, names, phone numbers, dates and times.
Good luck. I really hope things work out for you and that nothing bad happens to you and your loved ones; that thought alone gave me the incentive to take a more aggressive approach in returning my truck.
Keep me posted. Stay strong.
Take it back to the dealer and tell them you want your money back now.
That truck is not safe. It should be in a junk yard or parted out. It is not safe to drive. If they did not clearly state in writing that the frame was broken then you have a case. Call an attorney. Call the state police and your state attorney general or the dept of motor vehicles.
This truck should have never been sold.
Stand up. Take action. I can give you some other advice if you can private message me.
Keep posting.
I was looking to upgrade to a newer (nicer) Tacoma when I arrived at the dealership earlier this week. If my Tacoma is considered "poor" condition, would this frame replacement effect my trade-in-value at all? It just seems like a lot of work to put a new frame under a rusted cab with rusted panels. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Thanks
I'm in Ohio. I knew my deadline was coming up from reading the notice letters that Toyota sent me. I ignored them for about a year before finally making the trip the dealer. They reiterated that my deadline was Dec 31st.
Does anyone know what the frame replacement includes? A buddy of mine told me today that he heard some new parts are included, specifically a new suspension.
Toyota Corp told me the deadline was March of 2011 and yet I am reading on here it is December 31, 2011. Toyota sure is misleading.
I returned a 2002 Tacoma that I bought in November; the mechanic who did the inspection found two soft spots on the frame and we were able to punch holes through it rather easily.
I am now driving a 2006 Tacoma which a bigger truck and it looks a lot sweeter that the 02 that I owned for 36 hours.
I was informed from Toyota that the only buy backs that they did for any Tacoma's 2001 and newer was done only because they didn't have the program running yet. So my question is ...has anyone received a Buy Back on a 2001 or newer in the last year? 2011???
Toyota will be calling me back tomorrow.
Thanks,
I sincerely hope this works out for you.
Please post and update.
I assume now that it has the hole that the truck has no resale value any more? Is that true? Has anyone just kept the truck anyway and had any problems? Shoot... I just don't need more debt right now... and I assume they're not just going to swap the '99 for a new truck. :-(
Thanks!
Bryan
trade in: excellent: 3538
private party: excellent: 4898
suggested retail: excellent: 6248
toyota used the 6248 number times 150% to get the amount they paid me--
I thought they would use the private party or trade in...
so its possible in your case - your truck is "worth" much more than what you have calculated..or maybe they just screwed up on mine--
i dont even see the suggested retail on the website anymore-- im using the kbb iphone app to get my numbers...but when i pull up a 99 tacoma and add various options to get trade in close to your 8408-- (and private party close to your number) the resulting RETAIL EXCELLENT is $11753-- use THAT number times 1.5 = $17629.. thats how much they will give you if they use the same formula they used for mine-- (by the way you must have a loaded xcab ltd to get to those numbers for a '99)
I would really be surprised if they offered the "retail" value x1.5 rather than the dealer trade-in. But we'll see -- they said Toyota would call me in 2 weeks with the value and see if I want to go through with the trade. It's a no-brainer to take it I guess, because it won't pass NY state inspection with the hole in the frame, so the resale value is essentially 0 now.
Back to my original question ... what would be a good replacement for a pickup truck besides another pickup truck? It would certainly be nice to get better mileage and a little more comfort but still be able to use the vehicle to tow and haul things.
Thanks!