A newly heart broken, angry 2004 Toyota 4Runner Limited owner.

Hello all,

I recently discovered that my 2004 4Runner Limited has a frame that is rusted enough to make it unsafe to drive. The rest of the SUV is in pristine condition and it has only 155,200 miles on it.
This SUV has been my baby since I am a disabled grandmother raising grandchildren, I knew this Toyota would have to last me a long time. I thought I would be driving it over 300,000 miles or more.
I called Toyota, even though I knew it wasn't recalled, hoping they may help. The advocate I spoke to at Toyota first was very kind, knowledgeable, and caring. She sent me to my Toyota dealer to confirm the rust. Toyota paid for this visit and it was deemed holes were found at the passenger side right door area and another about 12" in length at the right front core support.
I called Toyota to report the findings to them and of course I got a different associate who transfered my to her Customer Advocate Supervisor. That lady got on the phone, told me she had gotten the results from the dealer and then asked me what I wanted Toyota to do about it.
I explained my SUV was in excellent condition with low miles and other than the frame it would have been worth at least 10,000. I also told her that the quote to replace the frame was over $16,000. Again she said, what do you want us to do about it. I said I was hoping for anything. A little help with another down payment on another Toyota, a good will payment for what the considered a fair amount for both of us. She was snippy and rude and said we are NOT doing anything for you!!
I have reported this to NHSTA.gov and I will contine to contact Toyota trying to deal with someone in a higher capacity than a supervisor. If something is not done, I will not ever own another Toyota, even though in the past 33 years, this was 16th Toyota and my 4th 4Runner. Toyota doesn't care about customer loyalty.

 

You may be able to get the frame repaired. It might be worth calling around to see if you can find a shop that does that.

 

Sorry to hear about that. 2016Pro is right, a frame repair shop would be first on the list. Welcome to the forum!

 

I’m sorry for the rust and I understand your disappointment. However, I would never expect Toyota to do anything about a 19 year old vehicle, despite the relative low miles. It’s technically an older vehicle despite the lower mileage, and lower mileage doesn’t mean no wear otherwise. This is why people put so much emphasis on rust-prevention, especially in the rust belt. Again, I’m not unsympathetic, but I think you were expecting too much from Toyota, and reporting them is kind of ridiculous

 

It’s a 20 year old vehicle, and the photo suggests you live in the Midwest (I could be wrong).

At this point you need to get quotes for the frame repair and decide whether it is worth spending that much money on a 20 year old vehicle with a ton of miles.

Toyota hasn’t done anything wrong here.

 

If you live in an area with snow, ice and salted roads and haven't done anything in 19 years to treat/preserve the undercarriage of your 4Runner, that rust is on you, not Toyota. It's preventable maintenance with Fluid Film or Woolwax. I bet your neighbors and many where you live do it.

 

......aaaannnnnddddd this is why as a Michigan resident with a brand new 23 4R, I will be bringing it RIGHT to the rustproofing (they use fluid film) shop and have it re-treated every single year before the salt drops on the roads. This regimen has helped significantly on my 08 9-7x.

 

Welcome. That sucks to have to deal with

 

Welcome Julie,

Sorry about the rusted frame

 

Welcome from Arizona!
Best wishes on your frame restoration.

 

sorry but I am not sorry

your gut wrenching story does not wash with me, wanting free stuff cause you are a granny raising kids sorry but no

why you ask
16 cars in 33 years, WOW I can’t afford that and I work full time till retirement

and your 4th runner
give your head a shake you knew going in it was a crappy vehicle and just want someone else to pay for YOUR MISTAKE

if you cannot be bothered to inspect before hand it is on you

welcome, ok but if you are here just to complain I must withdraw my welcome

wish the news was good but alas being honest if more important than lending credence to a false narrative

With respect. Jeff

 

You raise a good point here.

Free to her means that it isn't free to everyone else who has to pay for it.

And while I certainly could use some financial help right now, I'm grateful for the fact that what is rough for my family would be considered a tremendous upgrade for so many right now.

 

Welcome from Wisconsin! There are lots of similar stories from the area we live. When purchasing new, we have always had some sort of undercoating done. I'm thinking like the posts above... see if you can find a shop, or welder that would "fix" it... good luck on this.

 

Better to just ignore if you don't like it jimmy

 

Have them do woolwax or cosmoline fluid film washes off if you go over a puddle

 

Amen brotha'. Very well said & you made some excellent points.

 

Yeah, she's the go-to chick. If memory serves, that meme was created from her role on the Orange is the New Black tv show.

 

If this was as well maintained as stated, it's hard to believe no one, not one of the mechanics, detailers, DIYers, would've said somewhere along the way: "you got a rust problem you should nip in the bud, NOW before it gets worse". frame-rust through doesn't happen overnight. It takes, oh, about 19 yrs of doing NOTHING. I live in New England. We salt our roads. Some cars I have had coated or done myself. Some have not. I always go to the car wash and get underneath, in every crevice I can to blow out salt and grime. That alone has basically meant just surface rust after years of owning non-coated cars.

 

I am disappointed she has not come back as we might be able to help,her solve her problems

why can we help you ask

we can offer solutions going forward depending on her financial status

‘also recommend how to sell hers and so on

looks to me she is just bitter a big company does not provide free warranty 15 years after the fact when maintenance was non-existent

too bad she got took and Toyota should do a better job going forward on a well know issue

that is all I got

 

Even assuming that the OP owned more than one vehicle at a time, and she really did own the 2004 for 19 years, it is implausible that the OP had owned any other vehicle for long enough to develop issues. 16 vehicles in 33 years is a lot of short-term ownership.

 

We just moved to a northern state so I am not familiar with needing to rustproof/undercoat a vehicle. Are there places that do this or do I need to buy this and do it myself?

 

SCAMMMMM! This is a copy/paste post looking for someone to start up a GoFundMe page for a lie to collect free money. Don’t let this place become another Craigslist or FB Marketplace She/he doesn’t even have a vehicle.

 

If the Northern state you moved to uses salt to de-ice the roads in the winter, then yes, you will want to have your frame and underbody rustproofed. Make sure the shop uses Fluid Film at a bare minimum, but WoolWax is highly regarded, and probably a better option if it is available. You will need to re-treat the underbody annually, some products allow for a bi-annual treatment to maintain rust protection.

 

We are in the middle of PA but I would assume they use salt here. In Texas were we used to live they used a brine solution.

 

It varies in PA, but in the east they do both: brine before the storm and salt after it's underway.