general problems of the 2008 Toyota Tacoma - part 2

I noticed excessive rust forming in inner wheel housing near bolts holding wheel springs. Looking further showed excessive rust forming on other sheet metal which was protected from the weather. I did nothing until I received the recall about rust problems on the truck frame. When I spoke to Toyota about the sheet metal rust, they refused to consider it saying the recall only covered the frame. A call to national Toyota customer service got the same response. I believe that Toyota's problem with applying rust prevention is more extensive than just the frame and affects nearly all of the sheet metal on the truck. Failure to address this sheet metal rust could lead to potential handling and steering problems should the rusted areas breakaway.

Window actuators stopped working correctly, first on passenger door, now on both doors. Keyless entry does not work . And the window on the passenger side does not work, can not put it up or down.

First the auto door locks stopped working, then the passenger window and finally the drivers window. We were told the actuators needed to be replaced and would cost appx $500 each plus labor!.

Since September of 2007, I drove a 2008 Toyota Tacoma. July 13, 2010 at approximately 8:55 a. M. , I was stepping on my brake to come to a stop behind a vehicle at a stop sign in a residential area. I started braking slowly as usual. It appeared the brakes were working but not catching as fast as usual so I put extra pressure on the brake. Getting too close than I should be for a stop, I pushed the brake to the floor & my truck dipped a bit appearing to come to a stop but then kept rolling & hit the car in front of me. The car seemed to move froward just before the tap as if it were going to make the turn at the stop sign so the impact was low. The car then stopped but since my truck hadn't, although my foot was still had the brake to the floor, I pumped my brake and stomped it to the floor again and my truck launched out slamming into the car again. This was a low impact collision in a residential area coming to a stop sign in the morning on my way to work. The brakes had failed prior to the acceleration issue that followed. My insurance company & Toyota claim Toyota is the only company able to run any tests on the vehicle to inspect my truck. Toyota writes that it is their understanding my accident was caused when my vehicle accelerated & rear ended another vehicle. That's only a portion of my claim. They overlooked the initial cause of the brake not catching. I understand that in some cases people panic & step on the accelerator. Even if that had happened causing the second hit, the first hit that may have caused any panic was because the brake did not work. The letter regarding my inspection claims my brakes were in good condition. The Toyota recall on my vehicle says safety recalls or service campaigns, "have not yet been completed for your vehicle" and I'll be notified as soon as there's a remedy. I do not feel safe in that vehicle. The police on the scene said I could be held negligent if I continued driving after my brakes failed. I can't afford a new truck.

I was driving westbound on I-90 (kennedy expressway) at approximately 9:40 am on Saturday, August 8, 2009, in my 2008 Toyota Tacoma. I was traveling at approximately 40 mph when I applied the brakes as a car in front of me slowed to exit the expressway. When the vehicle in front of me exited, I stepped on the gas pedal and my truck immediately began to accelerate at a high rate of speed. I slammed on the brakes but the truck continued to accelerate, eventually reaching 80 mph. I steered the truck into the far right lane and was now pressing as hard as I could with both feet on the brake pedal. I was able to get the truck down to approximately 25 mph, at which point I drove onto the shoulder and put the truck in neutral and then park, where the truck finally came to a stop. The entire incident lasted less than 30 seconds. Within 15 minutes an idiot truck pulled up behind me and towed me a short distance up the expressway to a safety area, where I waited for the aaa tow truck to arrive. I had the vehicle towed to the Toyota dealer where I had purchased it less than 2 years before. The dealer kept my truck until August 13, and I was told that the reason the truck accelerated was because the gas pedal got stuck under the heavy duty floor mats which I had purchased from the dealer at the time I bought my truck. I told the service manager there was absolutely no way the pedal had gotten stuck underneath the floor mat, because the floor mat was not positioned so far forward that the pedal could have gotten stuck on it. The service manager told me the only way they got the truck to replicate what had happened to me was when the gas pedal got stuck on the floor mat, but I let him know that I strongly disagreed with what he was telling me. I know the gas pedal did not get stuck under the floor mat in this incident. I told the service manager to remove my floor mats, because if this ever happened again I did not want Toyota to be able to use the floor mats as an excuse.