Toyota frame replacement

[FINOCJ]

So I took my 2010 Toyota Tacoma in for a couple recalls that have been around for a while. They finished up the recall work on those two items (seat belt anchor mount and leaf spring inspection/replacement) and called me to tell me about a 3rd recall related to rusting frames. I've heard of this recall, but I didn't think my 2010 was in the years of the recall, but from what little I've read, its not so much a recall, as it falls under the extended warranty that came out of some class action lawsuit I think. Anyway, I have kept an eye on it over the years in terms of basic visual inspection whenever I changed the oil, and have noticed in the last two years, there is a lot more patches of rust - most of it looks aesthetically ugly as you can see the frame rails below the body pretty easily, but it didn't seem structurally sketchy (although it can probably get under the exterior coating and be much worse than it looks). Anyway, the local dealer put in a frame replacement request to the manufacturer (or whatever), and I'll know tomorrow whether its approved or not. If approved, the replacement would be free of course - something around a $15k cost to the manufacturer- and seems like a pretty sweet deal. But there is of course an issue.....it takes 60-70 days to get my truck back. Wow! They would provide me with a rental truck of course, but that is some inconvenience.....

The details of my truck:
2010 Tacoma TRD offroad
161k miles
4.0 v6 6-speed manual
I personally have had it since Aug of 2010 when it had 9K miles or so on.

Whaddaya think - worth a 70 days in the shop for a new frame? In some ways, this is about as good a time as any as we have no major travel plans except this weekend that require my truck, and I will definitely need it starting in Dec when I head to Montana for winter work. My wife and I have been thinking of replacing the truck (probably with something similar next summer-fall). I actually took it in for the 2 other recalls as I want all the little details taken care-of before trying to sell it. I think these rig have great resale, even at the prospective 170-175k miles that it will have next year, and its in really nice shape overall except maybe the high mileage. So basically, if they go through with this, it will have new rear leaf springs, and a new frame....its probably time for some new shocks, it has brand new tires on it....it will pretty much ride like new. I think it will help with selling, not sure what that is really worth, and of course, one could argue that if I am getting rid of it next year, don't put too much hassle into it?....we'll see - it might not be approved anyway.

[Jim]

If I was looking to sell it in a year or so - I highly think it'd be a positive selling point. In that respect, replace the frame.

They're giving you a rental truck - I see no downside. Would you NOT having YOUR truck in that timeframe, but having a rental to use, have you lacking in some way? If not, I'd say replace the frame.

The sales issue has me more readily saying "yes". If it were me, I'd lean heavily yes (with the intent of keeping forever) but would have this one significant thought on my mind: How reliable will the truck be - will there be "small issues" that will crop up (electrical connectors that needed to be disconnected / reconnected and now aren't reliable). The same would apply to engine coolant, A/C, PS, brake line connections though they are more readily identifiable & repairable.

That's where my mind sits.

[The StRanger]

No down side.... your gettin a free frame.
seein some of the frame iv seen...
what shops doin it ?

[FINOCJ]

There is a lot of downside to not having my truck for 60-70 days....We have no other vehicle that can pull a trailer or carry any rack system. So, gotta see if they will provide a rental with 4wd, roof rack and trailer hitch....if they can do that, then we should be okay. And while I am planning to go ahead with it - assuming it is warrantied - I do worry a lot about what little 'glitches' and things associated with connectors and sensors, line connections etc will crop up when they are done. The shop close to me is Stevinson Toyota East

[derf]

Honestly, I'd get the frame replaced. Being able to say that the dealer did the warranty repair is important.

But after getting it back, I'd trade it in on another truck. Like you say, who knows what the mechanic will get wrong. And who knows how long it will take for problems to surface.

[FINOCJ]

The warranty claim was approved - I gave them the go ahead. According the sheet that I have seen, its billed as just under $5000 for parts, and I think close to 100 hrs of labor - total value of just under $15,000.....No option for trade-in as the local dealership is owned separately, and they get fully reimbursed by the manufacturer on this stuff. No incentive for them to sell me a new one at any discount instead of doing the work. I do worry the end project won't be like 'new', or even like it was in terms of increased glitchy things that just aren't quite right. If so, it will just expediate the interest to sell it next fall - and i do think it will help with resale. They also have a conversation and agreement that indicates there are pieces they will have to remove that aren't covered by the warranty, and in some cases they may be damaged and difficult to remove without additional damage, mostly due to rusty, seized fasteners....According to the warranty, I would be financially responsible for replacement of those parts - I think that is total BS, but the legal paperwork says those parts were not 'defective' but rather worn out due to standard wear and tear and exposure to the elements, and its not the manufacturer or technician's fault that they were damaged during removal. Typically colo isn't subject to horrible rust issues like some rust belt areas (of course, this whole issue is a basically a RUST issue) - and the shop manager said its rare to have more than a couple hundred dollars of additional charge for local vehicles - but of course, he also mentioned a nightmare case on a truck that came from the northeast (NJ) ($2000 in additional charges).

There is some sort of 'equivalent' on the rental - they initially offered me a Nissan Frontier 4x4, but we said we'd prefer SUV with roof racks over a truck in this case (I have a bed cover and racks mounted over the bed - just a normal pick-up isn't that useful). There is an option to upgrade for additional cost....The enterprise agent is supposed to call me to set up the final details...Not to worried about getting a decent rental - at this point if its got racks with cross-bars, all is good. Going wheeling with the cj tomorrow on a tough trail (Holy Cross) - if it breaks, its going to suck getting it home. Will pick-up the rental on Sat and then get it loaded up for the weekend trip (my wife is off Sun-Mon so that is our 'weekend'). 2 months without my truck - I'd rather have no house for 2 months than no truck.

[The StRanger]

FINOCJ previously posted:

[FINOCJ]

So end of last week we gave the go ahead to do the frame recall replacement....we had some issues getting functional rental replacement that would carry our camping gear and mountain bikes for our long weekend trip to Fruita, and they were all out of pick-up trucks. So we ended up with a cargo Van for the weekend - which turned out to work really well, and now we have a newer Tacoma - its 4 door with short bed, which obviously wouldn't be our first choice, but it does have a trailer hitch and the new v6 with 6 speed auto which will be interesting to 'test drive' for a bit. The only downside - its 2wd! At some point in about a year or so, the we may be looking to sell the 2010 Tacoma and replace it with something newer, and this rental replacement will be a big factor in if we go with another Tacoma. The biggest concern I've heard with the newer Tacoma is the newer 3.5 v6 is an equal replacement for the old 4.0v6, but the 6speed auto kind of kills it....so we'll see how much of an issue the automatic is. Jen would really prefer that I get an automatic in the next tuck to make it a bit friendly for her to drive when needed. Also, driving the chevy cargo van really opened me up to the possibility of considering a Chevy Colorado with the v6 and 8speed auto. The cargo van had the new 4.3v6 with 8speed auto, and it was awesomely powerful and fuel efficient (26.7mpg over 600 miles of driving out to Grand Junction and back!). But the Colorado comes with the 3.6v6 and 8speed - and the 8 speed shifts clean and smooth and always finds the right gear etc. If the Colorado drove the same, it would be very tempting, but also read of reliability issues cropping up with the 8speed auto at about 80k miles.....

[FINOCJ]

Well my tacoma has been in the shop for almost 8 weeks - hopefully I'll get it back in 2 more weeks....
We just picked up our 3rd different vehicle from the rental company (all paid for by the dealer)...its been a bit like long term test drives....
We started with this Chevy cargo van as we were headed out on a camping and MTB trip the next day, and they had no trucks or anything that could carry the bikes....turns out we loved the van, at least how it drove and it got ridiculously good fuel mileage (28mpg over 600 miles) with plenty of power....


But it was not considered an 'equivalent' rental to my tacoma, so we had to return it after that week. They replaced it with a 2wd tacoma (I would say that 2wd is not equivalent), but at least it carried the MTBs easily in the bed, and it had the large tow hitch we needed as well.


Then this week we got a call from the rental company...apparently the rental tacoma had been sold and I need to exchange it...so on to the 3rd vehicle, a Nissan Armada with v8 and 4wd.


Although the tacoma worked for what we needed to carry MTBs easily and had a tow hitch, I'll be glad to be back in a 4wd....we had a sketchy return from Moab a few weeks ago when it snowed heavily for a couple days. Now the MTB season is pretty much over and we are skiing, this is a good switch, although the fuel mileage looks to be terrible in the Nissan (13 mpg?).

Anyway, FWIW, I pretty disappointed in the newer Tacoma - the v6 seems like it should have plenty of power (the specs compare similar to the 4.0 v6 in mine), but the automatic transmission just can never seem to find the right gear. I hear its pretty good with a manual transmission, but the auto seems to be tuned for maximizing fuel mileage at the sake of driveability - it did have a 'power/tow' mode that made it a bit better (as well as clutchless manual mode with 'flick' shifter), but you have to engage that mode every time you start it up...it did get some decent fuel mileage at 25 mpg. But compared to the older v6 with manual trans in my tacoma, the auto drove so poorly that I don't think I would consider buying one unless it was a manual, and the wife is requesting an auto for the next truck. I am a big Toyota fan, but this one kind of missed the mark IMO.

Additionally, I was so impressed with the way the chevy engine and transmission worked in the van, that I would consider Chevy Colorado as a replacement for my Tacoma. Of course - its a 3.6 v6 instead of the 4.3v6 in the van, but I will definitely check it out. It is spec'd at 308hp and 275ft-lbs, and with tow package is rated up to 7000lbs, and 3.42 gears with 8 speed auto. What caught our attention was how nicely the chevy transmission shifted and always found the right gear when heading over the mountains or whatnot.

In either case, It made me realize that I like my current tacoma version so much that I'd rather keep it for a while longer and put the budget into the Willys....

[FINOCJ]

Got my truck back a few days ahead of schedule....
new frame and new rear leafs (but re-used shackles):



no charge for anything....just 10 weeks of some hassle with the rental cars....we'll see if its good to go or if I find all sorts of little 'glitches' and what not.

[open_circuit]

Where's the box of spare parts? Any time you take that much stuff apart, there are always extra pieces when you're done putting it back together, right?

[Jim]

Congrats!

While I'm curious as to small issues - I hope there are NONE!

[Java]

Nice! Are those new lower control arms up front?

[FINOCJ]

New LCAs with old front coils and UCAs.

[Java]

That's great, the LCAs are such a PITA to replace. OEM quality too.

[FINOCJ]

With new leafs in the rear...all I need for an entire new suspension would be front coils (and shocks)....could replace those and add a bit more ride height on the front (a spacer/bilstein lift shock) and could run a bit bigger tire....maybe in the summer, but I have trouble justifying lift kits etc on my DD when it does everything I need it to do as is and i have other jeeps for wheeling.

[Java]

The only thought on that I have is that the LCA and leaf spring bolts are the major problem replacing either, and right now they will come out easily. I like the new cam bolts upfront too, if they did a good job this is going to be a sweet deal for you.

[dieseldoc]

Congrats James.
New frame and suspension parts.
This is a new life for the most part.
Glad you got to test some other stuff on there dime.

The new GM trans...its acctualy a ford/gm part.
The 8 and 10 speed is developed as a team...seems to be a good unit.
The new ranger and colorado/canyon are so much the same

Hope you dont find stupid issues