2002 Toyota Tacoma

We heard they issued a recall for faulty frames. When someone told us this we contacted Toyota. They said it had expired. I never received a recall of any kind.i take excellent care of my vehicles and this Tacoma only roughly 98,000 miles. The body is great shape, it runs great. My question is if the frame should break and we're going 65mph, who is responsible if someone is killed. We did not know about the recall and we certainly would have had them fix it. Is there any way you can help us resolve this issue with Toyota? Thank you in advance.

I went to get my 02 tacoma tires balanced and was called and told that where the frame was cracked. Upon inspecting it myself the crack is where the manufacturer welded the frame together. I'm the 3rd owner of this vehicle and there original owner didn't get frame warranty recall done. Which led to it running out. Now Toyota corporate has a frame case number ([XXX]) and was told that there's nothing that could be done until enough complaints about this case number reaches a certain number then they'll look into it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

FRAME FAILURE DUE TO CORROSION: TOYOTA HAD PLACED A "WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT" TO REPLACE THE FRAMES BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T TREATED FOR CORROSION BUT WITH AN ENHANCEMENT, IT EXPIRES AND DID SO IN 2017. I JUST BOUGHT THE TRUCK AND LEARNED THEY HAVE A SAFETY RECALL FOR CORROSION OF THE SPARE WHEEL COMPARTMENT. THIS IS THE SAME ISSUE. WHY IS THE FRAME NOT A SAFETY RECALL?? I HAVE HUGE HOLES AND LARGE CRACKS ALONG MUCH OF THE FRAME AND MY MECHANIC TELLS ME IT'S UNSAFE TO DRIVE. MY FINGERS GO THROUGH THE SIDE OF THE FRAME! MY MECHANIC TELLS ME BASED ON THE LOCATION OF THE CORROSION IN THE FRONT OF THE TRUCK, THE ENTIRE ENGINE IS IN DANGER OF FALLING OUT!! LOOKING ON THE INTERNET, THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE FOR TOYOTA TRUCKS FOR 2002 AND BEYOND. FOR MANY YEARS THIS HASN'T BEEN ADDRESSED. THE GOV NEEDS TO DEMAND A SAFETY RECALL FOR THIS TRUCK AND ALL THE OTHERS AFFECTED.

7/31/2019, I DROVE MY TRUCK TO A TOYOTA DEALER SHOP AFTER I NOTICED THE REAR OF MY TRUCK TILTING DOWN WHEN LOADING. PER TOYOTA DEALER INSPECTION, ITS FRAME 3/4 WAY RUSTED THROUGH ON BOTH SIDES AND VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE. AND TOYOTA'S EXTENDED WARRANTY ON THE FRAME EXPIRED ON JANUARY 2, 2017. REPLACING THE FRAME WOULD COST $24,000, OR THE TRUCK IS JUST A PIECE OF JUNK. ON THE SAME DAY 1:20PM, I CALLED TOYOTA CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, 800-331-4331, AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO, AS I DIDN'T BRING IT IN BEFORE THE WARRANTY ON TRUCK FRAME EXPIRED. 7/22/2011, THE TRUCK HAD A FRAME RECALL IN RESPONSE TO EXCESSIVE RUST AND PERFORMED CORROSION TREATMENT PER TOYOTA GUIDELINE (NOT REPLACEMENT OF FRAME). 2/11/2013, THE TRUCK WAS IN TOYOTA SHOP FOR INSPECTION AND DIDN'T HAVE ANY WORDS REGARDING THE FRAME. MY TRUCK IS IN GREAT SHAPE, INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR, OTHER THAN THE RUST FRAME, WITH ONLY 102,000 MILES. I LIKE THE TRUCK, TAKE GOOD CARE OF IT, AND INTENT TO DRIVE FOR A FEW MORE YEARS. BUT I NEVER THOUGHT THE FRAME WOULD BE AN ISSUE EVEN AFTER HAVING A FRAME RECALL WORK DONE. I FEEL TOYOTA SHOULD STILL TAKE CARE OF MY TRUCK FRAME, AS IT HAS GONE BAD DUE TO THE FACT THAT (1) TOYOTA DIDN'T BUILD IT WITH GOOD QUALITY PARTS TO START WITH, (2) TOYOTA DEALER DIDN'T PERFORM A GOOD QUALITY RECALL - JUST PATCH/PAINTED WHICH DIDN'T PREVENT FROM FURTHER RUSTING, AND (3) THIS BAD RUST MUST HAVE HAPPENED BEFORE THE 15-YEAR WARRANTY EXPIRED; I JUST OVER-TRUSTED TOYOTA AND OVER-LOOKED THE FRAME... I HAVE TALKED TO SEVERAL FRAME BODY SHOPS. THEY ARE ALL AWARE OF THE TOYOTA TACOMA FRAME PROBLEMS AND THINK THE FRAME HAD BEEN RUSTING A LONG TIME AGO, WHILE THE TRUCK LOOKS/RUNS GREAT. REPLACEMENT OF THE FRAME IS THE ONLY YET COSTLY OPTION TO SAVE THE TRUCK. I BELIEVE THERE MUST BE MANY TACOMA OWNERS EXPERIENCING THE SAME RESULTED FROM BAD-QUALITY-BUILT TRUCK FRAMES.

I PURCHASED A USED TOYOTA TACOMA 2002 ON 12/16/11 (NOW WITH 124K MILES). TOYOTA ISSUED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY COVERAGE TO OWNERS REGARDING A SAFETY ISSUE & THE POSSIBILITY OF FRAME SPLITTING WITH STEPS TO TAKE FOR TOYOTA TO COVER THIS ISSUE IN A 1X LETTER THEY SENT OUT IN FEB 2012. TOYOTA SENT THE LETTER TO THE PREVIOUS OWNER & NOT TO ME (THE RIGHTFUL OWNER AT THAT TIME.) I RECENTLY FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS PROBLEM FROM A LOCAL TIRE COMPANY THAT NOTICED A SPLIT IN MY TRUCK'S FRAME (THIS ISSUE WAS NEVER BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION BY THE LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER WHEN I HAD ANOTHER RECALL ISSUE TAKEN CARE OF ON 5/11/15). I WENT RIGHT TO THE LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER AND THEY SAID THE FRAME MUST BE REPLACED (WHICH WAS PART OF THE PROGRAM THAT TOYOTA OFFERED IN THE LETTER SENT TO THE PREVIOUS OWNER, NOT ME' THE CORRECT OWNER AT THAT TIME). TOYOTA WILL NOT ASSIST ME WITH THE REPAIR/FIX BECAUSE THEY CLAIM THEY DID THEIR JOB AND SENT THE NOTICE TO THE OWNER THAT THEY HAD ON FILE FROM THEIR RESOURCES. I HAVE A COPY OF MY DMV REGISTRATION SHOWING THE REGISTRATION DATE, PROVING THAT THEY MAILED THE LETTER & REPAIR DETAILS TO THE INCORRECT OWNER. I SENT A CERTIFIED LETTER TO THE TOYOTA LEGAL DEPARTMENT WITH THE DETAILS & PROOF OF OWNERSHIP, WHICH CLEARLY SHOWS I WAS THE RIGHTFUL OWNER AT THE TIME THEY MAILED THE LETTER. THEY SIGNED FOR MY LETTER ON 12/21/18. NOW IT IS 3 1/2 MONTHS LATER AND I HAVE NOT YET HEARD BACK FROM THEM. WHEN I CALL THEY OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE, TELLING ME THAT THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT CAN ONLY COMMUNICATE BY MAIL. TOYOTA HAS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE WITH THE FRAME THAT THEY NEVER INFORMED ME ABOUT. NOW MY CHERISHED TRUCK & DAILY TRANSPORTATION IS WORTH NOTHING BECAUSE OF TOYOTA'S DEFECTIVE FRAME. THIS COMPLAINT IS BEING ISSUED BECAUSE TOYOTA SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR DEFECTIVE FRAME AND LACK OF PROPERLY NOTIFYING ME, THE CORRECT OWNER, WITH THE SAFETY ISSUE & REPAIR OPTIONS.