I think they have been doing this for awhile now. (Ive heard of people already getting money back anyway) A++ for their customer service.

really smart. Suddenly they have 300% marketshare in Africa.

@lowest iq

lol that's not possible. funny though.

Wow, that's going to be incredibly expensive.

Good customer service, but man, that's a lot of money.

ITs a lot of money, but money they will see again.

If you are in the truck market, especially the work truck market, you can't help but put Toyota on your considerations list for your next purchase after seeing this.

I wonder if this only extends to original owners?

Not as generous or expensive as it might seem at first glance. The article states they're only buying back those it deems as "rusted beyond repair", which is likely a small percentage of those 800K they made during that 4-5 year stretch.

Also, how many of those super rusted ones are still on the road or in use (vs. junked) would play a role too.

An excellent condition 2000 Tacoma is listed at between $6K and $10K retail (depending on truck configuration) in the Blue Book. Older ones are likely appreciably less, plus the chances of being rusted by "excellent" condition otherwise are pretty low too.

Nice move on Toyota's part; though it was likely because the cash outlay was estimated to cost less than the bigger black eye.

Am I missing something? I do regular maintenance on the family cars and I think I'd do something about that level of rust. If I noticed a 5 year old car with a decent amount of rust on it I think I look into it. I guess this is what happens when people have no idea what goes on in there cars. (Not like it's the customers fault per se, but you can certainly stop the problem before it gets worse).

As a side note, ever notice how "new" metals don't seem to hold up compared to "old" steel? My parents had a lawn mower for 22 years (from about 73 to 95). It had no rust at all (ended up with a bent crankshaft after running over a rock). Bought a new mower, rusted out in 5 years, WTF? I shouldn't have to lay out $700+ on a stainless mower. As I gaze thru those rose colored glasses, everything old is better.

this is another reason why the big 3 american companys cant compete. i dont see how you would not respect there decission it was the right move for there brand and they actually managed to do right by there customers even ones that where out of warranty.

@Anonymous

It sounds like they are recalling 800,000 Tacomas, not a smaller percentage of them:

"Toyota is going to buy back over 800,000 Tacomas that are beyond repair"

Maybe its just worded incorrectly, but that's what it says.

Let me get this straight; 800,000 Toyotas are rusting off their foundations and not one entry about how that makes these vehicles JUNK??? If this was a big 3 automaker offer there would be nothing but words like "American Crap" etc. How about this Toyota...JAP CRAP.
You guys should be hanging your heads and bowing in disgrace. Now bend over and hand me that paddle.

@gm0n3y

In the article itself:
"Toyota is offering to buy back over 800,000 Tacoma pickups built between 1996 and 2000 with rusted frames that are beyond repair. Toyota said that it will buy back the units that cannot be repaired at one and a half times the most generous resale value by Kelly Blue Book."

I don't know for sure how many Tacomas were sold in that 5 year period, but I think currently Camrys and Accords sell in the ~300K/year range. I took it as a safe assumption that the 800K was the total of sales for those early years (~160K/year). I doubt that ALL of them are rusted beyond repair, so I think it's safe to assume that the article and the summary above are just badly worded.

I stand corrected; looks like the Camry sold well over 400K units in 2007.

But, looking at the Tacoma YTD August 2007 sales of 120K, it would have been on pace to be under 200K units for the year. In the early Tacoma years, sales weren't as good as currently, so I still think the 800K is a sum of the production they had.

Why don't you all do some research before asking questions and making assumptions.

"Toyota said it expected that a small number of the 813,000 trucks covered by the action would have frames so rusted it would require a buyback. Those were more likely to be in areas with heavy snow that are exposed to road salt, it said."

http://in.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idINN0729075220080508

Took me 15 seconds on google to find this

Tacomas have always been rust buckets. My 94 Ranger has more 200,000 miles and virtually no rust except where a metal pole fell on the hood a chipped the paint years ago, and that hasn't even spread. But my bosses 94 Tocoma with 140,000 miles had to have both doors replaced and totally repainted because of rust. Both vehicles same age same roads same climate.

OMG lol, I dont know how much harder I can laugh at people like Tim who would now consider them for a work truck knowing that its an utter piece of garbage with a rust problem. If you were semi-smart you would have bought a F-150 which would be having zero problems now as it crossed into the 250k mileage zone instead of rusting to death in a scrap heap like this POS.

And then theres dennisil. This is hardly a reason to bash the big 3 who actually make decent long lasting trucks, but I would expect nothing less from you. Does this really make you want to run out and buy one of these Toyota rust buckets in the hopes that you might just qualify to replace your defective piece of crap12 years later. Yeah man, good one!!!

@Anonymous

Good point, it must just be worded badly.

Also, this article does not make me want to buy a Toyota truck, but it does make me respect Toyota as a company, so I'm more likely to buy their cars.

ANY truck that rusts out like this is a piece of shite. Toyota is not infallible, just like any other company. Being part-asian, I do respect and understand their move to regain some honor, however. Crappy truck, good company.

@TomT

Good to know that you don't know a thing about the truck you are bashing. In '94, the Tacoma did not exist. It was still just the Toyota pickup that year, and yes, those trucks are not that great. But starting in '95, the Tacoma was released and is a vastly superior truck to the previous generation.

@shoppy

I could have sworn the article said 96-00 models. Well looky there it did say 96-00.

So much for that vastly superior redesign in 95. You were saying something about knowing the truck you were bashing?

Scott has made the best point on this whole page!
Why is it when the Big 3 post any type of Recall it is because they are making inferior cars/trucks, but when Toyota has a recall everyone says how nice they are for keeping us safe. Yes Toyota is the apple of America's eye right now, but quality on the US is gaining ground and is back on par.
Give credit where credit is due.

I remember Saturn (when it was young) had delivered about 1300 vehicles with some bad antifreeze. If I remember correctly; They delivered identically optioned new cars to their owners. Then they flushed & filled the bad ones & sold them at a discount to GM employees (plant employees, I think).

I respected that, I respect this.

I do agree with Scott that there's a little too much "Toyota is even doing right wrong" in this room, but I find that most of the time around here.

Good job Toyota, typical can't-think-for-yourself responses from most of you.

There is definitely a double-standard in the media and the public. You get rusted frames from Toyota...the response to the recall is "Grrreat customer response Toyota!! Good job!! Hug hug!!"

If the same thing happened to 800,000 Rangers, Ford would be crucified.

Ford should be crucified for the Ranger anyways. 1993-2008, no major changes except a bit of sheet metal.

And as for toyota, good on them for exchanging these trucks. I'm a big 3 guy myself, but I've been looking closer and closer at a Tacoma all the time.
Notice how it was 96-2000. So after 2000, clearly, they must have fixed the problem, so bash the old tacoma, and the poor quality steel used before. Not toyota as a whole.