More Rusty Toyotas - New Tundra Bumper and Lug Nut Rust Issues

tundrahq submitted on 04/07/2008 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 4:55 PM
from: www.tundraheadquarters.com

[37] user comments | category: Misc News

Tags: toyota tundra,toyota problem

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More Rusty Toyotas - New Tundra Bumper and Lug Nut Rust Issues

We've found more and more evidence that indicates Toyota Tundra bumpers and lug nuts were improperly chrome plated and are showing signs of rust in just a few months. Toyota seems to be replacing bumpers and lug nuts as needed, but they have yet to officially acknowledge the problem. The most typical rust spots are fairly small, and they're forming mostly near the bottom edge of the front and rear bumpers, as well as in and around the front bumper's fog light cutouts. This problem appears to be limited to a relatively small number of trucks, but all Tundra owners are encouraged to inspect their trucks for signs of rust (especially anyone living in rust prone areas). Read Article

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EL34 - 4/7/2008 5:18:02 PM

+1 Boost

Damn :-(

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lexusrox123 - 4/7/2008 7:09:12 PM

-1 Boost

what a constructive, valuable, and practical comment, EL. as usual.

EnnNorak - 4/7/2008 8:07:08 PM

+3 Boost

Obviously some Japanese car makers are not above screwing you with shortcuts when they can They love rust as it allows them to sell more cars in the long run. About 10 or 20 years ago they asked automotive steel suppliers whether they could get away with cutting electro-galvanization down to 45 grams per square metre. This was after the industry generally went down to 75 grams from a more desirable 100 grams per square metre. Body shops have complained about having to be extra careful when doing body work on Japanese cars as it is too easy to grind right through the thin metal they use on car bodies.

NItePhire - 4/7/2008 5:23:24 PM

+3 Boost

Nobody will make a big deal about it because its Toyota. Then if it is a big fuss it will be yota haters in this forum. Dont really like Toyota that much just calling way I see it.

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EnnNorak - 4/7/2008 8:09:13 PM

-1 Boost

NItePhire, what do you mean it's not a big deal because its a Toyota -- if Toyota wants to maintain the promise of its brand it is a real big deal.

NISSANINFINITI - 4/8/2008 12:03:06 PM

+1 Boost

AAAAAAAMEN! SAY IT AGAIN!!!!!THEY KILL ME WITH THE "TOYOTA/LEXUS CAN DO NO WRONG" ATTITUDE!...ALL CAR MAKERS MAKE THEM.... THANKS FOR PUTTING IT OUT THERE.....

LACMAN - 4/9/2008 11:00:56 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

Ennorak, he didnt mean it literally, thats just how it is...
EXAMPLE: Lord knows the BIGGER deal everyone would have made out of GM had their fullsize pickups had the same recall that the Tundra did when it first came out...

huu76 - 4/7/2008 6:18:43 PM

-2 Boost

"This problem appears to be limited to a relatively small number of trucks"

Yeah, probably the ones up north that have to deal with the obscene amounts of salt used now. Since when did salt become cheaper than dirt?

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tundrahq - 4/7/2008 7:34:39 PMView My AgentSpace

-3 Boost

That seems to be the most common area - the northeast. However, we've heard from people in a few different parts of the country. The rumor is Toyota's supplier screwed up the plating on some of the early models, but we're not sure if that's true. We've had a couple of people claim it happened on their 08's.

EnnNorak - 4/7/2008 8:12:02 PM

-1 Boost

I live in Edmonton, Alberat where we use dirty sand on the streets in the winter instead of salt and our cars here don't seem to rust -- of course I can't be sure as I drive an Audi and Audi cars hardly ever rust anyway, even on salty roads in the East.

richard112360 - 4/7/2008 7:23:02 PM

-10 Boost

Are you surprised????? The First Toyota vehicle designed and built by AMERICANS. What do you expect.

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tundrahq - 4/7/2008 7:41:51 PMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

Xenophobia is alive and well...

EnnNorak - 4/7/2008 8:17:32 PM

+2 Boost

richard112360, American cars are the greatest value on the planet for overall comfort and utility -- safety too if you consider that a collision between a large American car and a puny import generally results in far greater damage and passenger injury to the smaller import. The deliberate rust design is a consequence of the greedy executives and their beancounters in the industry.

Bored - 4/7/2008 10:53:30 PM

+4 Boost

I thought that richard112360's comment hits just the right amount of sarcasm -- but that's just me. I love good sarcasm.

Besides if he's serious, maybe he can teach GoObama08 [or Go0bama] a thing or two.

And I can't be the only that noticed that GoObama08 hasn't made a comment on a Toyota -- maybe it's a sign of the Apocalypse?

kpaxx - 4/8/2008 9:18:20 AM

+2 Boost

How come we don't see this on American Trucks..the answer american trucks are Higher quality than the tundra

steve27t - 4/7/2008 10:13:37 PM

-3 Boost

American cars are the greatest value on the planet for overall comfort and utility......

guess thats why they sell practically none to the rest of the world?

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DadsBoys - 4/7/2008 11:27:00 PM

+4 Boost

I love the comment that this appears to be restricted to the northeast. As if this makes it OK. Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, Southwest, etc. shouldn't make a difference. "Buy a Tundra, unless you live in a snowy area where they may use salt on the roads." Now that's a real truck. Can tow a shipping container, can't handle common household condiments.

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tundrahq - 4/8/2008 6:48:48 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

I think you mis-interpreted my comment. Most of the complaints we've seen and heard come from the north east. If you read the article, you'll see that we find this problem to be totally un-acceptable. It's worth mentioning the north east specifically because hopefully people that live their will read this article and check their trucks.

Porschinator - 4/7/2008 11:36:05 PM

+8 Boost

This is what happens when you want to be #1 so bad.

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Porschinator - 4/8/2008 3:19:19 PM

+4 Boost

I know that jack ass. I am stating their desire to be #1 will cause issues.

Porschinator - 4/8/2008 3:24:43 PM

+1 Boost

Chew on this by the way:

http://autospider.blogspot.com/2008/01/gm-global-sales-still-no1-in-2007.html

http://jalopnik.com/347930/gm-global-sales-up-30-to-937-million-vehicles-possibly-tied-with-toyota

http://www.reuters.com/article/ADVERT/idUSWNAS735220080123

So Toyota is not dominating GM. yes Toyota is trying to be #1 or stay #1. Anything else start guy?

gsh23 - 4/8/2008 12:07:14 AM

+4 Boost

OMG TOYOTA SUX

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tundrahq - 4/8/2008 6:53:51 PMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

Hate to disagree with such a staunch Toyota supporter, but Toyota has NOT admitted to anything. We've found out about this by doing our own investigating. We've talked to a few dealership service managers around the country and it's a problem Toyota doesn't want to talk about (officially at least). Dealership service people have no problem talking about this stuff because it's warranty work for them. Doesn't cost them any money and they get paid to replace rusty parts.

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NItePhire - 4/9/2008 10:10:32 AM

+1 Boost

Yota didn't want to talk about the slug problem either. A friend of mine had slug issues and they practically made it impossible for her to get assistance for her vechicle unless she could prove without a shadow of a doubt that her car had had oil changes for the prior three years.

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NItePhire - 4/9/2008 10:13:55 AM

+1 Boost

"Sludge"

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JWalkerLegrande - 4/8/2008 6:21:14 AM

+4 Boost

FYI

******

Toyota and Lexus slump in Germany

Jens Dralle
Automotive News Europe
April 7, 2008 11:42 CET

New registrations for the lower-premium IS model dropped 53 percent in the first two months of 2008. The RX premium SUV was off 25.3 percent while sales of the range-topping LS tumbled 76.1 percent despite the addition of a hybrid version.

******

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w209w114 - 4/8/2008 12:29:03 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

Exactly, nobody seems to ask what does toyota consider "relatively"? Its a very open statement.

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Anthony - 4/8/2008 3:09:01 PM

+1 Boost

Pretty much every automaker says that to keep recall pandemonium to a minimum.

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tundrahq - 4/8/2008 7:00:07 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

Two things - 1) Tundraheadquarters isn't affiliated with Toyota. Toyota hasn't officially admitted there is an issue. 2) Our unofficial, unscientific survey suggests the problem is less than 1% of all trucks serviced. That would be about 3000 trucks MAX nationwide, and it's probably fewer than that. We don't have the resources to survey every Tundra owner, or even a small percentage. When we do, we'll stand behind a solid figure. In any case, even if we're wrong about the 1% (say 2%, say 10%, say 0.1%), we're still certain 90%+ of Tundra owners aren't effected. Incidentally, we've learned not to belittle issues people are having. Saying a problem is small may be true, but if you're the one with the problem, well, it's not very small to you...

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tundrahq - 4/8/2008 7:05:57 PMView My AgentSpace

0 Boost

I just read my comment and I can see that someone is going to ask "If you don't know how big it is, how can you be certain that 90% of Tundra owners aren't effected?" We talk to a lot of Tundra owners daily, and we hard to work to find people that had this problem. We spoke to five different service managers (3 in NY state, 1 in MI, 1 in WI) in the northeast where most of the complaints are coming from, and the consensus figure was 1 in 100...

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ChicaneShooter - 4/9/2008 3:16:02 AM

-1 Boost

LOL! toyota overall quality is so high, and scares the competition and their fanbois so much, peeple always love JUMPING ON any flaw, no matter how small, or low volume.

like when there was all that hullabaloo about camshafts improperly hardened by a supplier. people were making like ALL tundra engines were throwing camshafts and blowing up.

and it turned out LESS THAN 30 engines were affected!

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Htay7500 - 4/9/2008 9:08:32 AM

+1 Boost

but 13000 trucks were recalled for rear propeller shaft joint breaking and tailgate issues and 15600 were also recalled for transmission issues.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071214/ANA03/71214007/1197

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Htay7500 - 4/9/2008 9:10:37 AM

+1 Boost

was there any for gm? so far I haven't heard of a recall from the GMT-900s as far as Im concerned.

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ChicaneShooter - 4/10/2008 12:50:58 AM

+1 Boost

recalls are such a MINOR POINT that CR notes but DOES NOT factor them in in their reliability ratings.

because the mfgr always TAKE CARE of all recall issues. at their expense. to fix KNOWN potential problems.

now, with regard to ALL OTHER random problems, if out of warranty, the fixes come at the OWNERS' expense. these CR makes note of, AND factors in on their reliability and cost of ownership calculations.

and toyota remains at the TOP of their listings.

so NO, recalls DO NOT affect overall reliability.

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