NHTSA Complaint #11244282 — 2001 TOYOTA SEQUOIA

TOYOTA RUST ISSUE ON MY 2001 TOYOTA SEQUOIA R5. MY VEHICLE WAS ORIGINALLY USED TO TRANSPORT CHILDREN TO AND FROM PRACTICES AND GAMES TWICE A WEEK. THIS PAST SUMMER, I STARTED DRIVING IT DAILY. I TOOK MY VEHICLE IN FOR SERVICE BECAUSE I KEPT HEARING A KNOCKING AND MY ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON. AFTER TAKING IT TO THE MECHANIC, WE DISCOVERED IT WAS AN O2 SENSOR CAUSING THE ENGINE LIGHT ON, BUT ALSO NOTICED EXTREME RUST ON THE ENTIRE FRAME. THE MECHANIC DETERMINED THE VEHICLE WAS UNSAFE AND RECOMMENDED THE ENTIRE FRAME BE REPLACED AS THAT KNOCKING WOULD CAUSE THE FRONT HALF OF THE VEHICLE TO SEPARATE FROM THE BACK HALF AND CAUSE A SERIOUS ISSUE. AFTER TALKING TO TOYOTA BODY SHOP, SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND A MECHANIC, I LEARNED OF A CAMPAIGN THAT TOYOTA HAD ISSUED. TOYOTA ISSUED THE CAMPAIGN DUE TO SEVERE RUST OF ITS TOYOTA TUNDRA BUT FAILED TO OFFER THE SAME COVERAGE FOR TOYOTA SEQUOIA ISSUED FOR 2001. THE CAMPAIGN THAT WAS ISSUED WAS FOR 2005-2008 SEQUOIA, HOWEVER MY TOYOTA WAS MADE IN 2001. CURRENTLY, MY VEHICLE WHICH TRANSPORTS MY FAMILY, INCLUDING YOUNG CHILDREN HAS TO SIT UNTIL I CAN FIND $15,000-$17,500 TO HAVE IT FIXED BY A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. AT THIS POINT, I CAN NOT AFFORD THIS, ESPECIALLY FOR A VEHICLE I PURCHASED USED LAST YEAR. MY MECHANIC AND TOYOTA HAS DEEMED THIS VEHICLE UNSAFE. I'M REQUESTING TO HAVE TOYOTA REPLACE AND FIX THE ENTIRE FRAME OR BUY THE VEHICLE BACK FROM ME SO THAT I CAN PURCHASE ANOTHER VEHICLE THAT'S SAFE, RELIABLE AND SPECIOUS FOR MY FAMILY. I WOULD HOPE TO HAVE THIS ISSUE EXPEDITED SO I CAN CONTINUE TRANSPORTING MY FAMILY SAFELY.