2007 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER Complaints

Frame rust has become a major safety issue even though we do rust prevention twice a year.

The frame has rusted to the point the car is not driveable. This is caused by the rust protectant that Toyota used on their FJs frames.

Massive amounts of rust underneath the car on the frame and pretty much everything is affected around it. Concerned for my families safety…Toyota needs to address this immediately!!!

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. The contact stated while having the vehicle routinely serviced, the mechanic observed that the subframe showed severe corrosion. The contact had taken the vehicle to another independent mechanic and had the subframe inspected. The contact was informed that the subframe was dangerously corroded and perforated and that the vehicle should not be driven. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

I purchased this vehicle used in April 2022. It was not driven much until June 2022 because the car was purchased for our son, who attends school at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The goal was to get him a car before his 3 week summer break and he and his sister and his best friend would drive it out to Colorado for him to use throughout his last two years. Their trip began on June 16, 2022, leaving central Ohio. We started getting texts from our daughter about loud noises the car was making while she was sitting in the back seat. Then we started getting texts from our son about noises by the rear tire. We had him check the tires for proper inflation or for any damage. None was reported. My daughter complained about the handling of the vehicle when she was driving. Saying it was not easy to control when going 70 through the plains of the US. They were very pleased to arrive in one piece out in Colorado. My son started to think it was a suspension issue because of the way it handled going over bumpy roads. He took it to a dealer and the dealer took video of the frame, and the black goo used to try and cover the holes and cracks in the frame. $21,000 was their estimate to put a brand new frame on the vehicle. This is a known defect with this vehicle. We should not have to pay for such poor manufacturing.

The vehicles frame and other underbody components have rusted extremely badly. The fuel tank straps broke due to rust, the radiator splash guard fell off while driving due to being very rusty, exhaust clamps have also broken due to rust.

Heavy rust continues to occur and rot frame from seemingly within the frame. Terrible build quality. I have spent thousands keeping this car alive. Plenty of 07-era cars on the road with not this much rust and I clean my CAR!

The SUV frame rails are prematurely rusted completely through from within the frame rails at a minimum of four know locations while other areas of the frame still appears solid (a further deeper inspection will be performed and repairs will be made after documenting the rust failures). We were at risk of the frame rail failing completely under load due to the size/length of rusted our areas which measure up to 12-inches or so, which would lead to loss of control of the vehicle while driving. The vehicle is home in my driveway for repairs of the clutch system (after failure on the roadway at 65mph) when rusted areas were observed April 2022. The dealer performed a recall for an unrelated part on the vehicle in April 2020 along with performing an oil change, however the dealer did not report an issue to me at that time.

Structural frame rust. I have already had to have plates welded in to support stab links. Also a gas tank strap had to be replaced because it had rusted through.

Possible structural frame rust. Just like every other FJ cruiser Toyota has built. I’m making this complaint in hopes that the NHTSA will force Toyota to recall FJ cruiser frames due to the amount of FJ cruisers that have the same frame rust issue.