The DARCARS Toyota dealership in Rckville, MD has refused to repair an outstanding safety recall issue for my 2003 Toyota PreRunner truck. I had received a recall notice from Toyota for my 2003 Toyota PreRunner. On July 21, 2023, I arrived for my 7:30 a.m. appt at DARCARS to get the spare tire lift carrier repaired. Although it was still within the eligible recall period, a very annoyed service manager told me that DARCARS would not repair it. Although I had made the appt 1+ weeks earlier, he told me no repair parts had been ordered in preparation for repairing the hazard. After I insisted the safety recall issue created a dangerous hazard for me and other drivers since the spare tire located underneath the truck might fall down onto the roadway while driving, he became angry and said the spare tire lift carriage must first be inspected (a 5-10 min inspection) to determine if corrosion on the lift was present. Since I had expected the dangerous part was going to be replaced, I agreed to the inspection. A Toyota service rep drove the truck to the service bays for an inspection. Although my appt was scheduled as the first day of the day, I waited over an hour with no response from the manager or the service rep. During this hour wait, I asked on at two occasions if the inspection was completed and was told "No" with no details provided. I finally walked outside to the back of the DARCARS dealership and discovered my truck had been sitting in a parking lot. No no one had bothered to inspect it. Due to the attitude of the DARCARS service manager, service rep, lack of communication, and the failure to have ordered any parts to repair the safety hazard, it became obvious that DARCARS had no intention of correcting the safety hazard. They intended to stall and make receiving the recall repairs as difficult as possible -- and requiring a second service visit. (Afterward, a non-Toyota mechanic performed a inspection and confirmed the lift carrier are severely corroded.)

- Rockville, MD, USA

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.

- Silver Spring, MD, USA

The frame is rotted and was never addressed to be fixed

- Norwood, NY, USA

Once you fasten the seat belt, it tightens with any movent and restrains the body to the point that disables movement or even breathing. This is very unsafe.

- Dinuba, CA, USA

I took my Tacoma for state inspection and they could not lift it because the frame has a hole through it at the front mounting point of the rear spring on the drivers side. The mechanic told me hitting a sever bump or a pothole could snap the frame in half. I have owned the truck for almost 10 years and never received a recall notice about the frame, only on the spare tire carrier. I'm not a computer expert and don't know how to add a picture of the frame to this document. I do know that I need the truck but I am unable to get it inspected to do so. Please help.

- Mayfield, PA, USA

We bought a Toyota Tacoma off a used car lot unaware of the previous recall on the truck. We are now stuck with a undriveable vehical that is rusted through to the frame. It is in are yard. We still owe 10.000 for it and being forced to pay insurance for a vehical im not even able to use.

- Craigsville, WV, USA

Brought truck into body shop in June 2019 to have work done. They told me the frame on the truck was severely rusted in several places. They said it may be unsafe to drive. In 2016 (about 2.5 yrs ago) I brought the truck into the local Toyota dealer to have frame inspected under a recall notice. At that time they told me that the frame was ok. In addition the truck was at the dealer in 2018 for another recall for leaf springs. At this time they replaced leaf springs but did not report any problems with frame rust. The original body shop and my local car repair shop told me that the severity of the rust damage on the truck indicated that this has been going on a long time and were surprised that it had passed Toyota dealer frame inspection. I called Toyota national line and they told me that for frame replacements for my truck the program ended in January 31 2019. Subsequently I tried to work with the local dealer and they have also told me that national Toyota will not help. Clearly the severity of the problem (see attached photos) indicates that the rust damage was happening over a long period of time and Toyota was negligent in reporting this to me. Toyota should take responsibility for repairing/replacing the frame since clearly the problem has existed long before the January 31 2019 date and I have followed up on all the recall notices for this truck.

- Douglas, AK, USA

Engine warning light came on while driving early morning 9/7/18. Returned home and called local mechanic, supreme automotive. Made an appointment and took the truck in to have the problem diagnosed. Called later to tell me frame rust was too bad to remove certain bolts to test exhaust sensors. Unable to calculate a repair estimate. Since I had some experience with a 1999 Tacoma that had extensive frame rust, which Toyota recalled and eventually bought back, I decided to call Toyota before anything else. I was told by Toyota that the original owner of my Tacoma had responded to a 2009 corrosion recall notice. The undercarriage had been treated. I bought the truck from fox Toyota in spring 2011 after my 1999 was deemed unsafe. None of the service records for the 2003 indicated either the recall or the treatment. I was also told that the so-called subsequent recall, of which I was never informed, expired 6/13/18. Notification supposedly should have reached me through the California dmv, even though the truck originated in Michigan. Had I received notice I would have responded immediately, as I had with the 1999 Tacoma.

- Arroyo Grande, CA, USA

My truck had a recall that expired Oct 2017 but I didn't find out about it till recent while doing some repairs the frame from the cab back is completely rotted away to the point that it is unsafe to drive so now I have a vehicle that is in exceptional shape but cant fix or sell I think that a deadline on safety is wrong and I should be compensated what the truck is worth

- St Charles, MI, USA

Issue with etcs throttle body. Got code "P2112 throttle actuator 'a' stuck closed" after replacing the air/fuel ratio oxygen sensor (sensor 1 bank 1) and cleaning throttle body bore. Replaced new oxygen sensor with old sensor and low idle/stalling issue was not corrected.

- Riverside, CA, USA

During routine maintenance, my mechanic discovered the frame was completely shot, stating he was not even comfortable working under it! the rest of the truck is in reasonable condition, and it only has 111,000 miles on it. I called Toyota customer svc ctr, but they were unwilling to do anything to address the problem. I feel they were obviously aware of the issue, because the agent explained they had a "limited svc campaign" to add corrosion protection, but informed me that it had expired back on 7/31/2014. I was never notified of this campaign. The agent also stated that the vehicle frame was inspected back in 2012 (which happens to be the year I purchased it in, so I assume this was done just prior to my buying it), and passed stating there was "no" rust -- which is false! misled by many and sold faulty equipment that could have endangered or killed me and others, I am very upset and disappointed about this! researching the issue, I see that I am not alone in this, by far. So, basically, we've all thrown away many $1000's and can recover none of it, nor can we drive the vehicle without fearing it will, quite literally, fall apart!

- Lafayette, NY, USA

Frame is rusted and gas tank strap broke off. Was told by Toyota there was recall for this but expired 2011. How can I get this fixed? this is my only vehicle. It was my late husband's until his death in April 2017.

- Appalachia, VA, USA

Frame rails, left and right side, exhibiting rust thru. Safety issue; frame failure in future.(very near).

- Downers Grove, IL, USA

Frame recall for rust Toyota did undercoat the frame and it did not dry for several years now all the undercoat is falling off and the frame is rusting worse than when it originally was worked on I took it back and was told as long as there are no holes they will not fix the rustproofing.

- Byron, IL, USA

4 cylinder engine never dit frame recall it's so dangerous use Toyota Tacoma 2003 I do have 3 kids and dealers not help

- Millbrook, NY, USA

Rusting of the frame to the point of making the vehicle unsafe. This was discovered during the 150,000 mile service.

- Wonder Lake, IL, USA

Frame has rusted thru by the leaf spring and other places. Toyota has a recall/campaing that covers the frame thru 2018. But they will not replaced frame because they said it was not undercoated during a specific time....they want $10,000 for new frame.. this is a known problem that should be fully recall.

- Huntington Station, NY, USA

Frame of truck is rotting away. Contacted Toyota about issue and they stated that they had a program that ended in 2011 that addressed that issue. Has end date because it was not a recall but a suggestion by Toyota. I would think that since the frame rotting away that would be a total recall due to safety hazards. Toyota has admitted to faulty frames by having the program but now will not address the problem

- Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

Own a 2003 Toyota Tacoma. Received Toyota recall letter regarding frame corrosion rust issue in 2009. Brought Tacoma to jafferian Toyota dealership in haverhill, MA on 6/20/09 where they inspected Tacoma and said it passed frame inspection. Brought truck to local mechanic for routine check who said that the back end of the frame was totally corroded by rust and unsafe to drive. Called jafferian Toyota who we purchased truck from and asked if they could repair the frame and they said that they could not because we didn't get the truck sprayed for rust. Apparently Toyota sent out a second recall letter to dealers and owners that they should get trucks sprayed for rust which we never received. We also contacted Toyota usa's customer service department and spoke to the "recall team" and asked if there was anything they could do since we didn't receive the second letter regarding spraying for rust and they said no.

- Haverhill, MA, USA

While replacing some parts of the truck (2003 Toyota Tacoma), the exhaust and shocks, I noticed rust holes on the left and right sides of the frame near the rear tires. Also the right side of the rear cross member was rusted and broken. The following day, I brought the truck to a Toyota dealership and explained the situation. They agreed to inspect the frame. When they looked up the vehicles VIN, they noticed that the warrantee had expired in September of 2011. I had purchased the truck in February of 2011 and had by no means received a letter or any means to communicate to me that this warrantee was going to expire. The notice that I had not received would have encouraged the previous owners to bring the vehicle to a dealer to have the frame inspected/ serviced. Despite this, the dealership was kind enough to take pictures of the frame holes and send a claim to Toyota. A week later, the dealer called me and informed me that my claim was denied. Upon further research, I came to understand that Toyota had extended the warrantee for up to 15 years. However, because I had not received any notifications from Toyota in the 7 months that I owned the vehicle before this "warrantee" had expired, Toyota said, "sorry, there is nothing that we can do". really" so because of their design flaws, and the fact that I did not receive any notices, and now my trucks frame is rotting, it is my fault? what address did they actually have on file in 2011? why did I not receive any notice"

- Kennebunk, ME, USA