Rusty GX Frame? Class Action Started for 4th Gen 4runner Owners, GX470 Owners may be added (5 Viewers)

[RustyGX]

Although rust is inevitable with our vehicles to a point, someone from the South who had an extreme case of rust on their 4th gen 4runner has started a class action against Toyota. They had a low mileage vehicle that was mint, except the frame is disintegrating. I wrote the law firm running the class action and asked whether the GX470 is included. They were unaware GX470 was built in a parallel line in the same assembly plant with the same frame, and they want to hear from GX470 owners with rusty frames. Obviously, if you have a rusted frame vehicle registered in the southern half of the country and low mileage, they especially want to talk to you. I would think you'd make an ideal lead plaintiff, because the 4runner guys case is rock solid. They have already received docs from Toyota about the frames which they claim to be helpful to their case. The Tacoma/Sequoia/Tundra owners ended up with new frames as a result of previous action/recalls, so it is possible that could happen for the rusty frames on GX470s. I know this can be a touchy subject as some people feel with proper care the frames are fine, or that deterioration is inevitable, but the point is we have a lot of relatively mint vehicles with rotten frames. They are going to have a Zoom meeting on Sept 21, and want GX owners there to get a sense of how widespread the issue is, details below. If you are unavailable for Zoom, you can email them with your story at toyotalitigation@edbelllaw.com. I have no affiliation with this law firm (or any law firm lol). I own a 2003 GX470. If it is allowed on GXOR Facebook, please someone share on there because I'm not on FB right now, but wanted to post about it somewhere. Slide into my DMs if the links are blocked by the forum rules.

Topic: Lexus GX470 rusting issues

Time: Sep 21, 2021 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89557337038?pwd=czRqVzNrYUpQd2NlaHEzVWNtVlNxZz09



Meeting ID: 895 5733 7038

Passcode: 785781

One tap mobile

+19292056099,,89557337038#,,,,*785781# US (New York)

+13017158592,,89557337038#,,,,*785781# US (Washington DC)



Dial by your location

+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

Meeting ID: 895 5733 7038

Passcode: 785781

Find your local number: Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing - https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcSJ8tKbE6

 

[VSPro9]

Oh hell yeah bout to get a new frame on my 470000 mile beat to hell gx

 

[MoJ]

Hey my ‘88 Hilux is looking a little rough. Any chance I can get in on this?

 

[VSPro9]

Hey my ‘88 Hilux is looking a little rough. Any chance I can get in on this?

Hey That feels a little bit like abusing the system

 

[sedonut]

My 1981 BJ44 had some rust, having been in Japan and New Zealand. Now it is a California, Arizona, NOS truck with about 25 % of the body parts it drove around Japan with. Regarding body parts only the fiberglass top, windshield frame and part of the tub are original.

The frame suprisingly was not bad.

To say the GX 470 body lasted better than the frame is a compliment to the body coating.

I'd say after 10 years, it would not be Toyota's problem.

 

[VSPro9]

My 1981 BJ44 had some rust, having been in Japan and New Zealand. Now it is a California, Arizona, NOS truck with about 25 % of the body parts it drove around Japan with. Regarding body parts only the fiberglass top, windshield frame and part of the tub are original.

The frame suprisingly was not bad.

To say the GX 470 body lasted better than the frame is a compliment to the body coating.

I'd say after 10 years, it would not be Toyota's problem.

i generally agree. mines an 06 that has been driven a ton in the rust belt, and while i do have a frame rust forming in the normal spot behind the passenger front wheel well, its hard to think toyota is responsible for this given its age and mileage.

 

[Mitchelllamme]

I feel like this has been tried a lot and the Tacoma problem was actually worse believe it or not, and look how hard those dudes had to fight to get theirs replaced and a lot didn’t get replaced because of some technicality. Good for him for trying though.

I’ve patched my frame 3 times and I’m super hard on it. I may replace the frame this winter because the body is in perfect shape even underneath.

 

[Rednexus]

IMO the problem is the OEM paint. My OEM frame paint was toast - the rear axle was solid rust. My 21-year old Subaru I had before the GX had nearly all of the factory paint/undercoating remaining on the subframe and zero rust.

Luckily my GX was not too bad (no rust-thru anywhere) and I applied a coat of Woolwax on the outside of the frame it to stop any further rust. My fear is the inside of the frame; It's since been through some mudholes and creek crossings and it seems that crap is accumulating inside. I've already given it a Fluid Film coating inside but may give it another this fall to make sure any crud is encapsulated in fluid film and keep wet mud from rusting it out from the inside.

 

[RustyGX]

i generally agree. mines an 06 that has been driven a ton in the rust belt, and while i do have a frame rust forming in the normal spot behind the passenger front wheel well, its hard to think toyota is responsible for this given its age and mileage.

Okay, well yours has held up 470K miles in Michigan (which is awesome), and sounds like it is going through a normal life cycle. This isn't a universal issue, there was in irregular issue with quality on the frames. Some are good in the rust belt. Some are at 85k miles down in Arkansas and swiss cheese, and for those people, it is a safety issue because they don't necessarily identify it until something breaks. It is creeping into the next generation - I have found a low mileage 2013 GX460 for sale on which the frame was absolutely toast. The failure rate with abnormal corrosion is likely low, but it exists. I'd think any sort of agreement with Toyota will probably squeeze me right out of qualification due to mileage, year, region.

 

[VSPro9]

Okay, well yours has held up 470K miles in Michigan (which is awesome), and sounds like it is going through a normal life cycle. This isn't a universal issue, there was in irregular issue with quality on the frames. Some are good in the rust belt. Some are at 85k miles down in Arkansas and swiss cheese, and for those people, it is a safety issue because they don't necessarily identify it until something breaks. It is creeping into the next generation - I have found a low mileage 2013 GX460 for sale on which the frame was absolutely toast. The failure rate with abnormal corrosion is likely low, but it exists. I'd think any sort of agreement with Toyota will probably squeeze me right out of qualification due to mileage, year, region.

ahh i didnt realize you were an actual person, i just assumed you were a representative of the law firm trying to find GX owners, given the new account and only post.

 

[RustyGX]

IMO the problem is the OEM paint. My OEM frame paint was toast - the rear axle was solid rust. My 21-year old Subaru I had before the GX had nearly all of the factory paint/undercoating remaining on the subframe and zero rust.

Luckily my GX was not too bad (no rust-thru anywhere) and I applied a coat of Woolwax on the outside of the frame it to stop any further rust. My fear is the inside of the frame; It's since been through some mudholes and creek crossings and it seems that crap is accumulating inside. I've already given it a Fluid Film coating inside but may give it another this fall to make sure any crud is encapsulated in fluid film and wet mud from rusting it out from the inside.

Yeah, you are one of the people I posted it for, but I realize you may just want to treat it yourself.

ahh i didnt realize you were an actual person, i just assumed you were a representative of the law firm trying to find GX owners, given the new account and only post.

No, to be quite honest I didn't want to use my normal handle, I could sense there may be some tension over the suggestion of class action on the vehicles at this point. If you look at the GX people from Michigan, you'll find my truck and my original profile on here, there aren't that many of us. IMHO, any class action should have happened like 7 years ago, you can find people complaining about it going that far back. It is probably that there weren't high enough to make it worth any lawyer's time, and I read online that some of the early people settled with partial repair coverage from Lexus.

I don't know if it's true, but it sounded like they have a silver bullet for their case with the 4runners... this was not in writing, they did a conference call with just me. I did think there would be more enthusiasm from people based on some rust threads I have seen (from people who obviously have super clean, well cared for trucks dissolving from the inside out). But maybe they don't want to jump in with opinions... for the same reason I was hesitant. And I get it, but there is a safety element involved with some frames. People posted example videos online where you can look at them from the outside, and they look fine, coating intact, appears to be fine. You tap them with a hammer lightly, and it falls apart. and you can work your way down the entire rail and crumble it away.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

Part of maintaining a vehicle is preventing corrosion. If you live in a salt state or on the coast the onus is on you to maintain your truck's frame just like the body.

Look at almost every fullsize pickup that comes from a salt state in the US, or practically anywhere in Canada. Their frames are usually nasty. But that's not the manufacturer's fault, it's the owner's fault for not coating the frame and preventing the rust.

Just keep in mind that every time a manufacturer has to pay for litigation against past vehicles, it serves to raise the price of future vehicles to offset this cost...

 

[gxblade1]

Part of maintaining a vehicle is preventing corrosion. If you live in a salt state or on the coast the onus is on you to maintain your truck's frame just like the body.

Look at almost every fullsize pickup that comes from a salt state in the US, or practically anywhere in Canada. Their frames are usually nasty. But that's not the manufacturer's fault, it's the owner's fault for not coating the frame and preventing the rust.

Just keep in mind that every time a manufacturer has to pay for litigation against past vehicles, it serves to raise the price of future vehicles to offset this cost...

Completely agree. As someone who deals with this sort of thing in a corporate/retail environment, all these lawsuits do is raise operating costs which get passed on to customers.

 

[Rednexus]

The cost of litigation is always passed on to consumers . I certainly know this is a someone who sometimes works on environmental litigation projects! The lawyers are the ones that win in class-action, everyone else loses.

However, I would hope that Toyota has at least solved this problem by now. The frames between a 460/5th gen T4R and a 470/4th gen T4R are very similar to our 470s. It is seemingly not that hard for Toyota to pay a bit more for a better frame coating, or strongly suggest/require regular undercoating to keep things from rotting. It's quite dismaying too that the cost to keep things rotting is so low ($100/year for undercoating, maybe a few hundred for a better factory coating).

 

[jdevtac]

I gave up following this lawsuit (had been since it surfaced in 2018 and the filings with NHTSA) because the initial premise and research behind their assertions was so stupid and showed immediate lack of any basic research into the issue. Initially they suggested that this affected 2005-2011 4Runners which is a year range that makes zero sense and seems to be lazily tied to like-gen Tacoma class action. Yet they cite the initial Tacoma recall which was 1st gens up to 04 MY. Has any of this changed?

They also suggested this was a Dana issue similar to Tacos/Sequioas/Tundras when the 4Runner is made in Japan. Unless I missed something I was unaware Dana made any of the 4Runner or GX frames.

The case also sounded like Weinreich just rolled his 4Runner through salt water down in Charleston to end up in his situation. It’s the only explanation since Toyota’s don’t rust like that down south without salt exposure of some sort and it sure as hell isn’t from winter roads.

Again, I haven’t been following recently. Maybe this has been amended or updated. I hadn’t bothered to pull any of the public court documents since it looked like such a waste of time. If it is still as I observed above then godspeed. I had a 4th gen 4Runner, was pretty up to date on the rust issues and recently sold. I had faith this might have panned out, reached out to Bell a long long time ago and heard nothing back, so….meh.

 

[TLar25]

Toyota won a case against the company that coated/treated the frames for the Sequoia/tundra/Tacoma recalls if I'm not mistaken. They ended up in the red on it I'm sure after replacing many many frames, but the 4Runner and GX would be a separate issue due to being manufactured in Japan. Now has Toyota had their own paint/coating problems on Japanese made vehicles? Blizzard pearl comes to mind. And super white on the Tacoma's, but I believe that is a Mexico plant problem. Not saying that the 4runner and GX couldn't have a similar problem with their frames, but I don't see it happening. Especially on, at a minimum, 12 year old vehicles, as that is the cutoff date for the other frame recalls.

 

[jdevtac]

Toyota won a case against the company that coated/treated the frames for the Sequoia/tundra/Tacoma recalls if I'm not mistaken. They ended up in the red on it I'm sure after replacing many many frames, but the 4Runner and GX would be a separate issue due to being manufactured in Japan. Now has Toyota had their own paint/coating problems on Japanese made vehicles? Blizzard pearl comes to mind. And super white on the Tacoma's, but I believe that is a Mexico plant problem. Not saying that the 4runner and GX couldn't have a similar problem with their frames, but I don't see it happening. Especially on, at a minimum, 12 year old vehicles, as that is the cutoff date for the other frame recalls.

Yeah Dana no longer makes the frames. Metalsa took over ~2009-2011 timeframe and yet we still have rolling frame anti-corrosion spray campaigns to combat rust. Go figure. Part of this is a smokescreen in my opinion. My conspiracy theory is Toyota frame coat does indeed suck. Can it be maintained with adequate anti-corrosion coats and rinsing? Yes I wholeheartedly believe so. Do frames fall apart when not tended to? Yes I also believe so, but what modern vehicle doesn’t? Maybe Toyotas degrade at a faster rate.

But what I believe has happened with 4th gen 4Runners/GX470s is a boxed frame prone to trapping garbage, in part due to all the holes exposed around wheel wells. People tend to claim they’ve done adequate rinsing or protecting of the frame but I tend to doubt it. I evidence that by the multitude of people popping on to Tacoma forums and acting like they’ve never heard of frame rust and the Tacoma rust history and act all shocked that their 2nd hand purchase is Swiss cheese, like they’ve never been under the vehicle.

I think these frames don’t drain well to begin with so unless you flush them out once a season, you accumulate salt and garbage. Which lends credence to the frames rotting from inside out. Couple that with your cats producing heat and adding to accelerated rust. The frames rust out predominantly near the cat converters.

In this lawsuit the guys LCA mount separated. I can’t imagine what his frame must have actually looked like and how it was so poorly taken care of to get that way.

 

[Flight2k5]

The cost of litigation is always passed on to consumers . I certainly know this is a someone who sometimes works on environmental litigation projects! The lawyers are the ones that win in class-action, everyone else loses.

However, I would hope that Toyota has at least solved this problem by now. The frames between a 460/5th gen T4R and a 470/4th gen T4R are very similar to our 470s. It is seemingly not that hard for Toyota to pay a bit more for a better frame coating, or strongly suggest/require regular undercoating to keep things from rotting. It's quite dismaying too that the cost to keep things rotting is so low ($100/year for undercoating, maybe a few hundred for a better factory coating).

its no just Toyota, all manufacturers have issues with corrosion, just as they always have. Metal rusts.

 

[TLar25]

Yeah Dana no longer makes the frames. Metalsa took over ~2009-2011 timeframe and yet we still have rolling frame anti-corrosion spray campaigns to combat rust. Go figure. Part of this is a smokescreen in my opinion. My conspiracy theory is Toyota frame coat does indeed suck. Can it be maintained with adequate anti-corrosion coats and rinsing? Yes I wholeheartedly believe so. Do frames fall apart when not tended to? Yes I also believe so, but what modern vehicle doesn’t? Maybe Toyotas degrade at a faster rate.

But what I believe has happened with 4th gen 4Runners/GX470s is a boxed frame prone to trapping garbage, in part due to all the holes exposed around wheel wells. People tend to claim they’ve done adequate rinsing or protecting of the frame but I tend to doubt it. I evidence that by the multitude of people popping on to Tacoma forums and acting like they’ve never heard of frame rust and the Tacoma rust history and act all shocked that their 2nd hand purchase is Swiss cheese, like they’ve never been under the vehicle.

I think these frames don’t drain well to begin with so unless you flush them out once a season, you accumulate salt and garbage. Which lends credence to the frames rotting from inside out. Couple that with your cats producing heat and adding to accelerated rust. The frames rust out predominantly near the cat converters.

In this lawsuit the guys LCA mount separated. I can’t imagine what his frame must have actually looked like and how it was so poorly taken care of to get that way.

Yeah I'm always shocked seeing comments from people who just bought a used vehicle and clearly didn't get underneath it.

 

[Rednexus]

its no just Toyota, all manufacturers have issues with corrosion, just as they always have. Metal rusts.

That's true, but my Toyota is by far the worst out of any of the vehicles I have owned (Japanese and otherwise) in terms of rust. Domestic trucks and SUVs rust out around here too, but it's the body, not the frame. Toyota is somewhat unique with frame rust. Toyota must be doing something different (i.e., worse) to have frames that get so crusty relative to their competitors.