IllustrationIt appears to be the clear coat of the paint job has been coming off for a very long time. Really does not look good at all now. I reside in the state of Oregon. Although it rains a fair amount here, that should not cause this rate of decay of the paint job. It was not painted very well!!
1997 Toyota Tacoma
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 1997 Toyota Tacoma do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 228.5.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Tacoma years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
10–25K
125–50K
550–75K
775–100K
15100–150K
29150K+
58 reports with mileage · 73 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Structure. Review the 46 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Suspension. Review the 24 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Tires. Review the 14 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
13 crash reports0 fire reports8 injury reports
Unknown Or Other complaints
6 reportsRECENTLY PURCHASED 97 TOYOTA TACOMA FROM PRIVATE OWNER WHO CLAIMS HE NEVER RECEIVED THE NOTIFICATIONS REGARDING THE FRAME WARRANTY EXTENSION FROM TOYOTA AND SUBSEQUENTLY HE NEVER HAD THE VEHICLE REPAIRED. NOW THE FRAME ON THE VEHICLE IS UNSAFE AND I NOTIFIED TOYOTA WHO CLAIMS THE EXTENSION EXPIRED AND THEY REFUSE TO DO ANYTHING …
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RECENTLY PURCHASED 97 TOYOTA TACOMA FROM PRIVATE OWNER WHO CLAIMS HE NEVER RECEIVED THE NOTIFICATIONS REGARDING THE FRAME WARRANTY EXTENSION FROM TOYOTA AND SUBSEQUENTLY HE NEVER HAD THE VEHICLE REPAIRED. NOW THE FRAME ON THE VEHICLE IS UNSAFE AND I NOTIFIED TOYOTA WHO CLAIMS THE EXTENSION EXPIRED AND THEY REFUSE TO DO ANYTHING TO HELP ME, HOPEFULLY SOMETHING CAN BE DONE BY SOMEONE BECAUSE THEY ARE ALLOWING UNSAFE VEHICLES TO STAY ON THE ROAD BECAUSE THEY DO NOT WANT TO PAY ANYMORE $ THEN THEY HAVE TO. MEANWHILE THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE FRAME ISSUE WAS CLEARLY THEIR FAULT. PLEASE HELP
FRAME ROT.HAD A RECAL, IN 05 23 2011 AND WAS DONE AT GATEWAY TOYOTA NJ. APPLIED CORROSION PREVENTATIVE COMPOUND AND NOW FRAME IS ROTTED BADLY AND NOT SAFE
MY 1997 TOYOTA TACOMA HAS SEVERE FRAME RUST. THE TECH AT HUDSON TOYOTA IN NEW JERSEY WOULDN'T EVEN TAKE FOR A TEST DRIVE. I NOTICED THE RUST FORMING IN 2010 BUT WAS UNAWARE OF THE EXTENDED WARRANTY PLACED BY TOYOTA UNTIL 2014, AFTER IT HAD EXPIRED. VERY FRUSTRATING. MILEAGE AS OF 9/11/15 IS 190K.
TOOK 1997 TOYOTA TACOMA TO DEALER IN AUGUST OF 2011 FOR FRAME RUST RECALL. WAS TOLD FRAME WAS FINE AND THEY WOULD SPRAY FRAME WITH RUSTPROOFING MATERIAL AT NO COST. RETURNED TO DEALER IN NOVEMBER 2014 FRAME WAS RUSTING THROUGH. TOLD BY DEALER THEY COULD RESPRAY BUT WERE NOW NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR RUST THROUGH AND SAID I COULD CONT…
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TOOK 1997 TOYOTA TACOMA TO DEALER IN AUGUST OF 2011 FOR FRAME RUST RECALL. WAS TOLD FRAME WAS FINE AND THEY WOULD SPRAY FRAME WITH RUSTPROOFING MATERIAL AT NO COST. RETURNED TO DEALER IN NOVEMBER 2014 FRAME WAS RUSTING THROUGH. TOLD BY DEALER THEY COULD RESPRAY BUT WERE NOW NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR RUST THROUGH AND SAID I COULD CONTACT TOYOTA. I DID SO AND THEY SAID THAT RECALL CAMPAIGN HAD EXPIRED AND THEY WOULD DO NOTHING. I BELIEVE I ORIGINALLY RETURNED TO DEALER WHEN RECALL WAS IN EFFECT AND ALL THEY DID WAS HIDE THE PROBLEM UNTIL THE RECALL EXPIRED. THEIR LIFETIME RUSTPROOFING LASTED ONLY 3 YEARS. *JS
NO SUMMARY
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.