Rust or structural corrosion on the 2002 Toyota Tundra
1 crash 1 of the 68 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When rust or structural corrosion gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Toyota Tundra report rust or structural corrosion at a median of 130,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 87,500 miles and a quarter after 160,000 miles, from 51 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 120,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 67,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 197,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 131,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67,000 miles | 87,500 miles | 129,000 miles | 160,000 miles | 198,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $500–$6,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 12 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2007, at a median of 45,000 miles, and latest on the 2010 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 166; the 2002 has 68. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Report of severe rust to the frame structure of toyota tundra pickup. Upon discovery of corrosion owner called toyota and was advised to take vehicle to dealer for frame inspection. Frame was inspected and one large hole was made by dealer in frame on front drivers side. Upon questioning of dealer owner was told that the hole was minor compared to holes found on other tundra pickups. Dealer said truck was ok to drive, but upon doing research it seems that truck would not have passed inspection if hole had been visible 1 week before. There is a clear issue with frame construction and upon contacting toyota after inspection toyota claims that there is no program to address issue and will not comment on vehicle safety with this intense frame corrosion. At this time there is no document provided by either dealer or toyota that states in writing that truck is road worthy and safe to drive. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota tundra. The contact was performing maintenance on the vehicle to replace the shock absorbers when he detected that the main frame exhibited severe rust corrosion. The corrosion progressed over a period of time and resulted in thinning and warping of the frame. The vehicle is in the process of being taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. The manufacturer has been notified. The contact had concerns of the safety risk involved. The failure mileage was 92,000. The current mileage was unavailable.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota tundra. While driving approximately 40 MPH the spare tire disengaged from the rear spare tire carrier without warning. He pulled over to the side of the road. The tire was retrieved from the roadway. The carrier bracket had fractured because of severe corrosion. The manufacturer was notified of the malfunction. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 140,000. The current mileage was 141,841.
Also reported on the 2002 Toyota Tundra
Other brake problem
Other body or interior problem
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Differential or transfer case failure
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 68 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does rust or structural corrosion happen on the 2002 Toyota Tundra?
Across 51 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 130,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 87,500 miles and a quarter after 160,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is rust or structural corrosion on the 2002 Toyota Tundra?
68 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed