I was driving on a back road, hit a pothole and the rear drivers side control arm ripped away from the frame. Found out frame was rusted from the inside out, and should not have been inspected. I had just recently bought the vehicle, and it had gone through pa inspection two months before I bought it. Its a shame, the rest of the truck, motor, interior, body panels, was in perfect condition.

- Oakmont, PA, USA

Toyota advises that frame is rusted through. Car is unsafe to drive. Car will not pass inspection. Should not happen to a 14 year old car with 87,000 miles.

- Katonah, NY, USA

Vehicle started shaking and clunking. I was near home and able to get it back to my driveway. Upon towing to the mechanic, it was discovered that the rear control arm had rusted out and detached from the frame. Frame rot was discovered on the side rails. Car is considered undriveable and should be totaled.

- Glenview, IL, USA

I own a 1998 Toyota 4 runner with a safety issue. The frame is rusted out where the front portion of the rear leaf spring bracket is welded to the frame. This was pointed out to me by an auto body repair person who's father had a Tacoma that rusted out in the same spot. His vehicle was granted 1.5 times over kelly blue book value and the vehicle was seized from him at the time due to safety. My 4 runner is only 13 years old with a kelly blue book value of $6500. It looks and runs great. But obviously this vehicle is not worth that now and cannot be sold due to the seriousness of the frame. It also cannot be repaired. Eventually this will result in a failure and depending on what speed the vehicle is traveling at the time will tell how serious the accident will be. It appears that Toyota has very little to do with my concerns. I sent three certified letters to Toyota expressing my concerns with safety. The letter sent to the president yoshimi inaba that was not forwarded to him, was returned due to an erroneous address so it appears he is being sheltered. I was offered $500 reimbursement on service, parts or accessories or a $1500 'gift' based on Toyota's 'goodwill offer' towards a new Toyota. This "gift" was offered by an executive analyst with Toyota customer experience whom apparently doesn't want the top executives to receive customer complaints. Based on comparisons that the Tacoma and Tundra owners received, I don't feel the so-called "goodwill" of being a Toyota customer. It seems there must be litigation to get Toyota's well-bragged-about customer care. Safety is #1 at Toyota if they are going to make a new sale! safety for old customers is out the window if the sale is from the past. Looks like Toyota does not really back their products unless there is a death.

- Rockford, IL, USA

The contact owns a 1998 Toyota 4runner. The contact stated that the frame was rusted near the driver side rear tire. The rust caused the frame to fracture completely. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the vehicle was unable to be repaired. The contact believed the failure was a manufacturing defect because both the Toyota Tacoma and Tundra were recalled for the same issue. The failure mileage was 98,000.

- Mount Prospect, IL, USA

My mechanic (jay shiel of fine tunes, middletown, ct) informed me that I had an unusual amount of rust under my vehicle. He said he knew that Toyota had problems with insufficient rust protection on the Tacoma's, but he hadn't heard anything about the 4runners. He said we should contact Toyota and ask to have a rep look at it. We did and Toyota declined.

- Middletown, CT, USA