NHTSA Complaint #10544831 — 2001 TOYOTA TACOMA

I PURCHASED A USED 2001 TOYOTA TACOMA AND WITHIN 6 MONTHS NOTICED THAT THE FRAME WAS RUSTING THROUGH. I LEARNED IN 2013 THAT THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THE FRAME. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE THE FRAME. A FEW DAYS LATER, I WAS INFORMED THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE DOING THIS BECAUSE I HAD NOT TAKEN THE VEHICLE IN FOR RUST PROTECTION. I CALLED TOYOTA DIRECTLY AND WAS INFORMED THAT I SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED FOUR NOTICES PERTAINING TO THIS RECALL, HOWEVER TOYOTA DID NOT HAVE THE CORRECT NAME IN THEIR DATABASE, AND THUS I DID NOT RECEIVE THE NOTICES. IF I HAD RECEIVED THEM AND TAKEN THE VEHICLE FOR THE TREATMENT, THE FRAME WOULD HAVE BEEN WARRANTED FOR FIFTEEN YEARS. THE VEHICLE WAS TRANSFERRED INTO MY NAME IMMEDIATELY AFTER PURCHASE, AND MY NAME SHOULD HAVE APPEARED IN TOYOTA'S DATABASE. THE VEHICLE IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE, AND I FEEL TOYOTA SHOULD EITHER REPLACE THE FRAME OR BUY THE VEHICLE BACK FROM ME, AS IT HAS FROM OTHER OWNERS.