NHTSA Complaint #10224520 — 1999 TOYOTA TACOMA

MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BIG FANS OF TOYOTA'S. THEY SEEM TO LAST A LONG TIME, AND SINCE WE KNEW WE WOULD BE FOOTING THE BILL TO SEND OUR YOUNGEST TO A PRIVATE COLLEGE IN 2002, WE DECIDED THAT WE WOULD TRADE OUR 1991 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER IN FOR A BRAND NEW TOYOTA 1999 TACOMA, IN JULY 1999. WE THOUGHT THAT THIS WOULD ENSURE THAT WE WOULD HAVE A VEHICLE THAT WE COULD PUT A COUPLE OF HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES ON AND ONE THAT WOULD LAST FOR 15 YEARS EASY. THAT ALL CHANGED LESS THAN 8 YEARS LATER, WHEN WE HADN'T EVEN HIT THE 150,000 MILE MARK. ALL OF THE MILEAGE ON OUR PREVIOUS TOYOTA PICKUPS HAD TURNED OVER TWICE, BUT ONE DAY WHILE MY HUSBAND WAS ON HIS WAY TO WORK, HE HIT A BUMP AND HEARD A HUGE BANG. THE BED HAD SLAMMED UP AGAINST THE CAB. WHEN HE GOT OUT TO LOOK, HE WAS SURPRISED TO SEE A BIG CRACK AND THE FRAME SO RUSTED THAT HE COULD PUT HIS FINGER RIGHT THROUGH IT IN SEVERAL PLACES. I WAS NEVER SO SURPRISED WHEN HE CALLED ME AT WORK TO SAY THAT WE NEEDED TO TRADE HIS TRUCK IN FOR A NEW ONE. HE TOLD ME, "THIS FRAME IS GOING TO JUST DROP ON THE ROAD AND IT'S NOT SAFE FOR ME TO DRIVE, IT LOOKS LIKE SWISS CHEESE. I JUST HOPE I CAN MAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP TO TRADE IT IN BEFORE IT GOES." I WAS FLOORED. THIS SEEMED TO COME OUT OF THE BLUE, SINCE I KNEW WE TOOK CARE OF IT, DID OIL CHANGES EVERY 3,000 MILES AND KEPT UP WITH ALL OF THE MAINTENANCE THAT SHOULD HAVE MADE THIS LAST TWICE AS LONG AS IT DID. JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER TOYOTA PICK UPS WE HAD OWNED OVER YEARS, SOME OF WHICH WE HAD PURCHASED WITH MORE MILES ON THEM THAN THIS ONE HAD NOW. WE TRADED IT IN FOR PEANUTS, BECAUSE OF THE RUST. *TR