It will cost Toyota almost $100 million. But “taking care of customers is how Toyota gets to No. 1.”

Bon
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In a program that covers 813,000 trucks and could cost almost $100 million, Toyota is offering to buy back 1995-2000 Tacoma pickups with frames so badly rusted that they cannot be repaired.

The automaker is also extending the warranty on those frames from the normal three years or 36,000 miles to 15 years (from the time they were new) and unlimited mileage.

On the buybacks, Toyota will pay 1.5 times the suggested retail price for a vehicle in excellent condition as calculated by Kelley Blue Book.

thats great news! a tip of the hat to toyota for doing the right thing and then some.

yeah thats awesome im gonna find some one selling a rusty tacoma for a steal and then go sell it to toyota

While it covers all 813,000 trucks, dividing (KBB price * 1.5) by the $100m estimate says that they're only expecting to buy back about 9,500.

I like this approach to dealing with problems way more than the domestic approach; mark down the car and have inticing and outrageous sales events, then act with complete indifference when you have poor reliability ratings.

as far as the buy back, it is up to the discretion of the toyota rep as to whether the truck will be repaired or bought back. there r several areas that they look for and the extent of the damage. we had a guy come in w/ one the day the word hit. said he just bought it in VA and heard word of it. its a miracle the rear leaf springs were still attached. just hard for me to understand why someone would buy a truck with that much damage. oh yea! 1.5x KBB. Toyota is doing the right thing and there is slime out there capitalizing on it.

wow impressive! I never knew they had an issue with them.

the frame on the tacomas are NOT the same as a HI LUX?
Because I thought Toyota fixed the Metallurgy faults with the 1980's HI LUX?
and I never heard of newer ones rusting ?

I def. wouldn't try buying a tacoma nd try to sell it back to toyota for 1.5 times the price. They probobly look into how long it was owned to see if it was bought a few days ago or what ever. I'm just saying I'd rather play it safe. Keep a few K than risk it for a pile of scrap thatl get me 150 at the junk yard.

the problem is coming primarily up north where the roads r heavily salted.

^^yah tell me about it

I brought my 97 Tacoma in to the dealer last week. They bang the frame with a hammer and it was good until right at the end when the hammer went thru near the spring hanger! They said it's no good and we'll buy it back! They said I could get a rental for 1 month, then I should have the check. They didnt have a rental because it closes early!!! So I'll go back next week and fill out the paperwork. They did say it was KBB 1.5x. That's a great deal! Also I think you have to own the truck at least 9 months! Maybe they can set me up with a 2nd gen xB for a month! :D

It's time to bang mine with a hammer.

And some folks wonder why many of us are leaving Saturn after all those years of being loyal customers. I had two sets of Saturns over 14 years and was very loyal, until a month ago when I found out that they didint stand behind their cars anymore. The Scion salesman worked hard to get our business and overcame obstacles that many others would not have to get us an honest trade on our two 2004 saturns to get two XB2's. Now I find out that Toyota stands behind their vehicles even after the warranty without being forced into it. Exactly my point, this is what Saturn "USED" to do and forgot about the customer. I helped many of my friends get into those cars because of my love for them and the customer service, now I find myself talking about Scion, like I used to talk about Saturn to my friends who are now looking at Scions also.
Toyota, thinks customer and family....I think they got it right!

God bless
John

hell that would apply down here in NC but up in NY and places north where im from originally, that would work perfect.

go Toyota!

well the guy the bought my tacoma 2 years ago will be happy. Great way for Toyota to step-up.

I just sold my '98 Tacoma for high bluebook. It doesn't have any rust though... The new owner is extremely happy with it, as was I. It was a great little truck! I already miss it!

Thanks Toyota, for looking out for us!

I wonder if GM, Ford or Dodge would do the same for their customers?

I should take a pic behind the one dealer here. There are a ton of tacomas jammed on the lot. I didn't know why until the other day my friend told me the were buying them back.

it was mainly in the north and along salt water coastal areas... the problem seemed to come during the coating process where the frames didn't get fully coated and bam in the end buy back thank you for shopping.. oh and for the ones that passed inspection you can go back every year until 15 years from your production date how about that.

Toyota is a great company, I wonder if they will be using the recycling part s for those trucks into future cars

Toyota is doing the right thing and there is slime out there capitalizing on it.

GooooooOOOOOO SLIME!!!! Seriously, Toyota has screwed over their fair share of folks over the years. And before someone harps about how they're better than the domestics, that's not the point. The whole point is to be the best all the time, and not just be the best by doing the best things, but by doing the right things. Buying back these trucks is a great step, but the money they've allocated to it is quite a small amount. It will only help a very, very, very, very small amount of the total number of trucks sold. The best thing Toyota did here was admit to the problem.

does this apply to tacomas too? my father in law has an 04 (i think) its rusted out too.