An Edmonton-area man says his trust in one of the world’s biggest car makers is severely corroded, after a major rust flaw put the brakes on his business and his family for months.
David Smith, 38, took his Tacoma truck to a Sherwood Park Toyota dealer in March 2016 to buy mud flaps. That’s when the mechanics told him they had to keep his 10-year-old pickup at the shop until the entire frame could be replaced.
‘They have no dates, nothing to give me to go by.’ – David Smith
“They called me in and said your frame is beyond repair,” Smith explained. “I had no idea of this beforehand. There was no letter, no phone call, nothing to tell me the truck was of an issue.”
Corrosion spread
His Tacoma truck is one of thousands affected by corrosive rust, unrelated to common surface rust. The defect affects an estimated 800,000 trucks, dated 1995-2004. The company did not issue an official recall.
Around 2008, many dealers had to buy those affected vehicles back and extend warranties to replace the frames.
The problem became so well-known that Google features an auto-snippet answer for searches on related phrases such as “Toyota Tacoma rust recall.”
Auto-snippet from Google. (Google excerpt)
Numbers on how many newer models of the Tacoma, like Smith’s 2006 truck, are also affected by the rust problem are difficult to find.
Because it is not an official recall, Toyota was not required to inform the Canadian government about the problem and therefore the issue is not part of the Transport Canada recall search database.
Six months since he first took it to Sherwood Toyota, Smith’s vehicle is still in the shop and he has no idea when he will get it back.
Losing money
The replacement vehicle Toyota arranged was a minivan: a vehicle woefully ill-equipped to sustain his self-driven business as a kitchen installer.
Toyota arranged this replacement vehicle, a minivan, which Smith said was inadequate for carrying tools to and from his business, when he also must transport his young children. (Supplied by Smith family)
For that work, Smith needs to haul tools. He chose the Tacoma with a locked cab specifically so he could safely transport both his tools and his young children.
“It’s a vehicle for me that’s a family vehicle, it’s a work vehicle. It’s my life in some respects because I’m in it so much,” he said. “Yet, they have no dates, nothing to give me to go by.”
Smith estimates he had to turn down roughly $2,000 in jobs, and has paid out another $1,000 or so in extra fuel costs for a different, larger truck the company arranged as a replacement vehicle. Toyota is also charging him an additional $4,500 for added repairs that they say his truck requires.
After phoning the company and sending them emails, Smith received a letter on Sept. 16, refusing additional help.
Toyota turnaround
“As stated in our telephone conversation, your concern has been thoroughly reviewed and assistance has been denied,” wrote Toyota customer relations consultant Jamie Gill.
“While we understand you remain dissatisfied with our decision, we must respectfully reiterate that our position remains unchanged.”
‘We did not have him in our system.’ – Michael Bouliane, Toyota spokesperson
Four days later, CBC phoned Toyota’s media representatives. Within four hours — the customer relations department called Smith. They assured him the replacement part had been ordered and has now been shipped to Sherwood Park Toyota.
Toyota media spokesperson Michael Bouliane stressed that the frame replacement campaign was voluntary.
“It was not a safety-related campaign,” he wrote in an email to CBC. “And as such, did not require any notification of Transport Canada.”
He went on to explain the reason why Toyota had not contacted Smith about the rust issue earlier, when other owners were notified by letter in 2014. Bouliane said Smith did not register his personal information with Toyota when he bought the truck from a private owner in 2012 and so “we did not have him in our system and he did not receive a notification letter from us.”
However as early December 2012, Smith had taken his car to the Sherwood Park Toyota dealership to get some work done. A copy of that work order includes his mailing address, phone number and email address.
This is a partial screen capture of a work order with Sherwood Park Toyota, stamped with David Smith’s contact information and dated 2012, more than a year before the notices about the corrosion problem were issued. (Screen shot)