Which truck...

branchburner said:

I'm all done with Toyota after all their frame rot issues. Missed the recall window on mine, as did so many others who were in the dark. Not sure which model years are worse (mine was '01), but owners of Tacoma, Tundra and Sequoia frames should be aware there have been ongoing rot problems since the 90s. Hopefully an '09 is solid.

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Actually just got a recall notice to have mine checked.

2006, must be serious. I drove past the dealer and they have a STACK of old frames sitting outside.

just checked the papers, actually it is a customer satisfaction limited service campaign for 2005 - 2008, not a recall.

To be fair I was a bit soured with Toyota when my 10-year old 4Runner's rear differential housing started weeping oil due to the rust . . . wouldn't have been so bad if the rear differential had a bolted on cover like most vehicles, but instead the replacement part is the whole rear axle which at the time cost over $1,200 (not including labor).

I know the "salt" they use these days is rough on vehicles, but I did kinda expect to get more miles and years on the vehicle than I did . . . and was a bit disappointed with the engineering.

That said . . . I am still partial to Japanese vehicles . . . quality may have slipped some in the past few years, but I am still biased towards their vehicles.

Seasoned Oak said:

Lousy gas mileage

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Will agree with you on that point. My 2WD Tacoma got about the same mileage as my gas 3/4 ton Chevy 4WD.

It is however the nature of the beast. You don't buy a truck for their fuel efficiency.

20k for either of those is way too much.

You're right, mpg on any pickup isn't great when compared against cars, but the Tacoma and Frontier are especially bad. It's not because of the weight or just the fact that it's a pickup- the full sizes get significantly better mpg than both of them. I recently had a 2010 Frontier, averaged 15 mpg. Recently traded it in for a Ram, averaging 18ish so far, and that's with long warm-up times right now.

I'd need to see both trucks in person, but on a blind vote, and you have a strict budget of 20k and NEED a truck today, and it HAS to be one of those, I'd go with the Chevy. Otherwise, I'd keep looking for a better deal.

$20K for a vehicle with 100K miles- it better come with a disco ball and a cabin boy.

just sayin

Adios Pantalones said:

$20K for a vehicle with 100K miles- it better come with a disco ball and a cabin boy.

just sayin

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With these beasts going for 50K nowasdays im not surprised. Been driveing GM trucks since the 80s and they have never let me down. My next truck will be a GM,but im not forking over 50K .100000-150000 miles is nothing if they have been maintained. I bought my 95 Silverado extended cab 4x4 7 years old for $9000 in 2002 with 150000 on it and now 13 yrs later it still works like a champ and is still worth at least 5k

One of my clients discovered the frame was bad on his Toyota recently, he wad to wait several weeks as the new frames were out of stock as the demand is quite high. The local Toyota dealer has a bay permanently set aside for replacing frames. Its usually full. Rust seems to have been a Toyota issue for years, for years it was the beds and then the frames started going bad.

My Sonoma is a 97 with 68 K on it. With the exception of rust issues on things like brake and fuel lines, it just runs. I started using it for firewood in earnest a few years ago and the bodywork is starting to show it. I plan to run it into the ground. Of course I have my recently acquired Unimog if things get real serious but for now its under tarp waiting for spring so I can go through it.

peakbagger said:

Rust seems to have been a Toyota issue for years, for years it was the beds and then the frames started going bad.
t.

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I just dont have any faith in a company that has had its truck bodies falling off the frames for 20 years now. How long should it take them to learn how to make a truck body. my truck was a 1999. Really? I saw 2000 model years that were even much worse.

ironpony said:

just checked the papers, actually it is a customer satisfaction limited service campaign for 2005 - 2008, not a recall.

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My wife just had a new frame installed on her 05 Tacoma. The frame was completely rusting through and covered in scaly rust.

Adios Pantalones said:

$20K for a vehicle with 100K miles- it better come with a disco ball and a cabin boy.

just sayin

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You want to have some real sticker shock search for an 04-06 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon.

I'll agree with other comments though for a few extra $$ you may as well buy new.

Chimney Smoke said:

My wife just had a new frame installed on her 05 Tacoma. The frame was completely rusting through and covered in scaly rust.

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not really what I want to hear, but I know it is true because I see the old frames sitting outside the dealership. guess I should get it in asap

ironpony said:

not really what I want to hear, but I know it is true because I see the old frames sitting outside the dealership. guess I should get it in asap

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The longest part was waiting for the new frame. They have to order them by VIN from Toyota. Hers took around 5 weeks to come in but the truck was done in 2 days after that. I do have to hand it to Toyota for doing this. The dealer said it was around $12K worth of parts and labor for each frame replacement. She likes her truck and now it should have no trouble lasting another 15 years - it on has around 70K on it now.

Used vehicles aren't cheap and I've often wondered why people pay so much. Then recently, a family friend bought a brand new truck for $54k. Explains why used trucks cost so much.
I surfed Craigslist a long time for my current truck. I knew what I wanted but there isn't a lot of them out there. When I saw my truck listed I jumped all over it. My dad is retired and knows trucks, so I employed his services to look at it the day it was listed. It was an estate sale and being handled by the owner's ex wife. Low miles, original owner, all maintenance records from the dealership for its entire life. It pays to be patient on the used market.

Rotten brake and fuel lines are pretty much generic these days. Apparently the deicing chemical used on the roads are more aggressive than previously. A lot of the replacement tubing has a rubberized coating on it but even that stuff is failing. I plan to order up some copper nickel tubing http://www.copper.org/applications/automotive/brake-tube/brake.html when I go through the systems on my Unimog. I figure do t once and be done with it.

sloeffle said:

Will agree with you on that point. My 2WD Tacoma got about the same mileage as my gas 3/4 ton Chevy 4WD.

It is however the nature of the beast. You don't buy a truck for their fuel efficiency.

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Really? A 2wd mini gets the same mileage as a 4wd HD and you are ok with that?

peakbagger said:

Rotten brake and fuel lines are pretty much generic these days. Apparently the deicing chemical used on the roads are more aggressive than previously. A lot of the replacement tubing has a rubberized coating on it but even that stuff is failing. I plan to order up some copper nickel tubing http://www.copper.org/applications/automotive/brake-tube/brake.html when I go through the systems on my Unimog. I figure do t once and be done with it.

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Why cupro-nickel instead of stainless steel?

bholler said:

Well personally i wouldn't by either of them at that mileage for that price but i would absolutely not buy the Colorado that straight 5 was not a very good motor

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What is wrong with the 5s?