NHTSA Complaint #11420490 — 2003 TOYOTA TACOMA

While driving, on the highway, the rear shock absorber support mount came loose, allowing the truck bed to come loose from the frame/chassis. Fortunately only the passenger side came loose, keeping the truck's bed attached to the rear of the truck I later found that this particular model has a problem with Frame rot which generated a Toyota bulletin. I bought the truck from Toyota, as a used truck in 2011, but received no notifications of this potentially hazardous vehicle. If the bed had come loose at highway speed, any vehicle following the 2003 Toyota Tacoma truck would have been severely damaged or potentially resulted in the death of the people in the cars following behind me and the truck. There was a Toyota bulletin issued previously which was not disclosed to me at the time of purchase. The vehicle has been in Toyota shops regularly for inspections, maintenance and other repairs but the shop never mentioned anything about a "rusty" frame. Upon further research, I have found multiple Toyota Tacoma owners with similar issues with the frame. I believe Toyota knowingly manufactured and sold a defective product with serious potential safety issues. This vehicle either should be banned from the road for the safety of all drivers.