NHTSA Complaint #10906889 — 2005 TOYOTA TACOMA

MY TRUCK FRAME IS SEVERELY RUSTED. TOYOTA HAD A VOLUNTARY FRAME EXCHANGE PROGRAM, FOR WHICH I QUALIFIED. I FIRST TOOK MY TRUCK TO THE LOCAL DEALER (PENN TOYOTA IN GREENVALE, NY) FOR INSPECTION AS PER TOYOTA'S PROGRAM IN OCTOBER 2015. DEALER CONFIRMED THAT A NEW FRAME IS NEEDED AND ADVISED ME THAT IT IS ON ORDER. SINCE OCT 2015, I FOLLOWED UP WITH DEALER SEVERAL TIMES, AND IN JANUARY 2016, DEALER ADVISED THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE THE DOCUMENTATION IN THEIR SYSTEM. SO I BROUGHT MY TRUCK BACK IN AGAIN, AND SERVICE MANAGER JIMMY CONFIRMED THAT I AM ENTITLED TO A NEW FRAME UNDER TOYOTA PROGRAM AND THEY WILL PLACE THE ORDER FOR ME. AGAIN, I CONTINUED TO FOLLOW UP SEVERAL TIMES EACH MONTH AND WAS TOLD THAT FRAME IS ON ORDER. IN MARCH 2016, I FOLLOWED UP AGAIN WITH DEALER BECAUSE THE TOYOTA PROGRAM WAS ABOUT TO EXPIRE. DEALER AGAIN REASSURED ME THAT MY CASE IS IN THE SYSTEM BUT IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO RECEIVE NEW FRAME. IN APRIL 2016, I FOLLOWED UP AGAIN BUT THIS TIME I WAS TOLD THAT THERE IS NO DATA IN THEIR SYSTEM ABOUT HAVING ORDERED A NEW FRAME FOR MY TRUCK. I IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED TOYOTA CORPORATE OFFICE AND THEY OPENED A CASE NUMBER (160-422-2525). I WAS TOLD BY TOYOTA REPRESENTATIVE HANDLING MY CASE THAT THEY ARE GETTING A NEW FRAME FOR ME. IT IS NOW SEPTEMBER 2016 AND I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY NEW UPDATES. DUE TO THE LARGE RUST HOLES IN MY FRAME AND HAVING READ REPORTS OF OTHER OWNERS HAVING SIMILAR ISSUES (AND TOYOTA'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AS EVIDENCED BY THE FRAME REPLACEMENT PROGRAM), I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FULLY MAKE USE OF MY TRUCK SINCE I FIRST LEARNED ABOUT THE RUST BECAUSE I DO NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING IT.