Finally Got My Taco!! Now, What to Do to It?

Ok, so I can't post pics yet, as I pick it up Friday evening, or Saturday AM, depending on scheduling, but pics will come as soon as its home

For anyone who was following my "My 'heartbreaking' 1st-Gen Buying Story" thread, it is the one from CraigsList that I recently posted about potentially losing out on by my email being ignored. I wrote the guy from my other email and he said someone was already coming to look Tuesday and I could come today (Weds) if it was still available. I contacted him first thing this AM and the guy never showed, so I was next in line. I made SURE I was gonna get there tonight no matter what, didn't want to lose out.

For anyone who hasn't been in that thread, it's an '03 TRD SR5 Extended Cab, Impulse Red, 135,xxx mostly highway miles. Has a class 3 tow hitch as well. It's not the factory tow package, but is the Toyota hitch/wiring harness that he bought and had installed by our local Toyota dealer. New front brakes rotors, and new timing belt and water pump all done in January of this year, as well as 29 point inspection. Frame was recoated by the same Toyota dealership last year. A month ago he wanted 9,700. I had setup to go see it and then got sent to Florida on an emergency maintenance call for work so I couldn't make it, and it was gone from CL when I returned, so I assumed it was gone. Friday it reappeared, and for $8,500, which is what I was going to start my negotiation at originally. Went today with my friend who was a mechanic for 15yrs, and has owned 2 1st gens, so he'd know everything to check. He crawled all around that thing while I asked the seller questions of my own, and then my friend and I took it for a test drive. He said "this is a steal for $8,500, there's a tiny hole in te muffler, and you'll probabaly want new tires by next winter cause the tread is getting low, but other than that and a few minor paint scrapes/rust spots on chrome, And some non-structural rust underneath, this thing is in GREAT shape." He drove it first to feel/listen for anything, and then I took over for the drive back. I loved it. We went back and I offered the guy $8,000 and said I could be back Friday. He said if you can do $8,200 you've got a deal. I stuck my hand out right there, shook his, and made the deal. I wasn't gonna haggle more when a month ago it was $9,700 (obviously he priced high to start, but I doubt if I DID make that appointment a month ago that I would have been able to walk with it for less than $9k).

So now, where do I start lol? My budget for the truck was $12,000. Im using $8,200 of that for the purchase, and will probabaly get slaughtered on tax during registration ($600-ish if they go by KBB which is $8,900-9,100 depending on how you classify the condition, at 7% sales tax), plus another $52 for the title fee and $40 for actual registration. So call it $9,000 of budget used at the end of all that.

Here's what I know I definitely want to do:

Sound, like right away. I'm a bit of an audiophile, and a musician, so great-sounding tunes are key to me. I don't need crazy touch-screens, DVD players, and "trunk-rattling" bass, but I do need good sound quality and clarity. So a new head unit, speakers, and some added bass for a little extra punch will probabaly happen within a week or 2.

Black wheels. I love black wheels on pretty much any vehicle, and given that this truck is the deep red, with black fenders and bumper accents and grill already, they'll go great.

And obviously replace the muffler, snag some new tires, and buy a new rear bumper (it has a "buckle" to it and major chrome flaking/rusting right where the ball hitch of a "thru bumper" hitch would go, looks like backed into something right there).

Things I'm considering but not 100% on yet:

A mesh grill insert. I've seen some 2nd gens with the mesh grills instead of the "lines" and it loos AWESOME. Such an aggressive look, especially on the '12s and '13s with the more angular bumpers around te fog lights. The "vertical" grills aren't too attractive to me on 1st gens, but I haven't seen any pics of 1st gens with mesh grills instead (though admittedly haven't searched yet lol). I'd love to do a black mesh grill with a TRD badge in the bottom right or left, like where the cobra badge is on Shelby Mustangs. I'm not sure if I want to keep the Toyota logo in the center or not. Im looking at the TRD badges that have the 2 slanted stripes, one white/chrome and the other red, right before "TRD". Like //TRD.

Blackout all badges on doors, tailgate, and the SR5 badges on the pillar.

Maybe smoke out the lights to continue the "blackout" of all accessories/accents.

Maybe the LED instrument panel lights, haven't decided on a color, probabaly match it to the new head-unit's display (whatever that ends up being), or white. Can the gauge cluster be swapped out to black, or just be colored black? I've never liked the white faces on the clusters, it sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I'd rather color em myself than swap a full cluster as that makes the odometer reading incorrect (from what I understand anyway).

Any other cool/fun mods or suggestions? I'm up in the air about a small lift, I kind of like the stance of the truck already, but I wouldn't rule it out down the line. Also, I've read a lot about exhausts, but I'm not sure. I wouldn't mind a bit extra performance but I don't want to make it much louder. My current car is "done up" performance-wise, and includes a custom header-back exhaust. It sounds AWESOME, but I kinda feel like a dick when I drive late at night haha. I'm getting older, I want to move back to inconspicuous driving, not "hear me from a mile away" driving, especially on truck instead of sports car.

Obviously this will all happen periodically as time and budget allows, I know all that isn't gonna happen with the couple grand I have left over in my set aside money now. Just looking for ideas of what's possible so I can plan what I wanna do and in what order.

Thanks for reading my novel, and I'm glad to be an OFFICIAL member here now that I finally own a Tacoma!

 

that was fast, mine is not the impulse red, but the red burgundy....

First thing I did to mine was new bilstein struts/shocks and tires....also replaced steering bushings with Poly's and inner and outer tie rods, these trucks have a tendency to eat those up, then normal maintenance after that....safety first, but the spending didn't stop there, just lettin' you know...

Nice on the most recent timing belt replacement...

Have fun with the new toy....

 

I have a Magnaflow 18" muffler and I love the way it sounds, loud when I want it to be but quiet enough to not be obnoxious. Easily the best $67 I have spent on mods. I always think a Tacoma should be lifted. Just looks soo good.

Congrats on the new truck.

 

Thanks guys!

Bldegle: I've been looking since last September, so while not as long as some people have searched, it definitely felt like a long time for me haha. Main problem was finding the right one in my area, as I wasn't able to fly out/travel long distances to check em out, so I was limited to search results within an hour and a half of me. Living on small island in the smallest state, combined with that fact, didn't make it easy at all. And mine is also the deeper red. Kind of like a candy-apple, but not "candy" lol. That's the Impulse Red right? It's not the bright red color, but I also wouldn't call it a maroon as that makes me think more purple-red.

Khaos: You did just the muffler right, not a full exhaust? I'm assuming so if it was $67, that'd be a GREAT deal on a full exhaust lol. How much louder than stock would you say it is? I wouldn't say I want whisper quiet, I just don't want to sound like a racecar anymore lol. My car sounds like a NASCAR stock car. Not AS loud, decibel-wise, but it has that same deep growl tone characteristic to it. Not that high pitched "fart can" sound from bolt on "cheap ricer" stuff. It's badass but like I said, just don't want my vehicle sounding like it on a daily basis anymore. I can't tell you how many times I've been driving home from a gig, or going to a show, late at night and I pass a cop and get followed forever because of the sound/look of the car haha. Time to blend in again.

Everyone: What are some good sources for upgrade parts? Be it badges all the way up to wheels/tires, struts/shocks, OEM/factory parts (like the rear bumper), etc?

I know of JC Whitney for accessories (has anyone been to their store down in the Daytona, FL area? MASSIVE!), TireRack for wheels/tires, and naturally eBay. Are there other sites, either well known or hidden gems, with big selections of OEM and aftermarket stuff that have good prices?

 

First thing i would do is maint. Change diffs and transfercase to mobile 1 synthetic. Grease drive shafts, and drain and fill tranny. Probaly switch motor to mobile one also.

 

Yeah my friend, the one that came to look it over mechanically for me, said it could benifit from a tune up so once I get it I'm bringing it to his house the first nice weekend we get and we're just gonna spend a day going through it all.

Also, the seller told me about the new maintenance order for the spare tire lift I guess? Something similar to the frame, where in states that salt the roads it could corrode cause the tire to drop. It seems to be fairly recent as in my other thread someone suggested running the VIN of trucks I was looking at to make sure the frame was done and a few of the VINs I ran all listed this as needing to be done. Seller said I can just go right to the dealer (which is 5mins from my house so that's pretty convenient) and they do it, no charge. Has anyone had this done to theirs yet? How long does it take, an hour or 2 or does it need to stay there all day (not counting how busy they are naturally, just wondering the actual job time)? We actually have a DMV branch right on the island, and right across the street from the Toyota Dealer (SUPER convenient lol), so I'm thinkin I can have them do the fix while I waste away in the DMV to register it, 2 birds with one stone lol.

 

Congrats,

First thing I would do is ... delete your account here as you will now be perpetually broke well if you stay around here that is ....LOL Though, after reading your plans the mod bug is embedded in already so check out the 1st gen side mods and such you will be busy for a while doing them lol :}

Cypherian

 

^x2... You just gave us 3 grand to play with. It's not gonna end well for your wallet.

 

I've had my Taco about 6 months. The previous owner kept it mostly stock, so it was time to make it mine.

In no particular order:

• Viper Alarm with keyless entry
• 22% Window Tint
• Smittybilt step bars
• Kenwood Excelon Deck
• Kenwood Excelon speakers
• PowerBass 10" in a box behind the seat (removable if I need the room)
• 3 Channel Profile Amp
• Clear corner lights
• Clear turn signals
• Anzo Smoke tail lights
• HID Projectors (new ones arrived today for a true retrofit!)
• 16" MB Wheels TKO through America's Tire (red accent logo and valve stem covers!)
• 265/75R16 Cooper Discoverer ATP Tires through America's Tire
• Pinch weld mod to aleviate rubbing from the bigger tires
• Added 12v inside canopy light with quick disconnect
• Repainted the faded grill flat black
• Repainted the rear canopy trim black
• Replaced the flaky Toyo tail light conversion box so trailer lights work again
• Pop-a-Lock locking tailgate handle
• Stickers and extra badges on the back end

Upcoming ideas:

• Instrument Cluster LED mod
• Add white overlays to Instrument Cluster
• See about adding an embedded LED strip to the floor door trim piece (like in movie theaters) wired to the dome light
• Lighting under the dash
• Fog Lights possibly
• Converting to power windows would be a little spendy and some real labor on my part...but would be nice.

I bought it so I'd have a way to tow my boat, but it's turned into a fun project vehicle so I have something constructive to do.

 

I wrote mine up for $1500 on the DMV forms. They didn't blink an eye at it. Yeah replace all fluids and replace with fresh. Thats what I'm doing with mine. New plugs and wires, debadging, tires and a OCD extreme cleaning. Getting LEDs for the interior, that's $50 for all the bulbs. All new synthetic fluids gets pricey!

 

Pretty much all these mods sound awesome. I should nickname my trick "Pandora's Box", cause then the destruction to my bank account will make sense lol.

Has anyone had a sunroof done? A power one would be awesome but I'm assuming a lot of money for the part/components, and a good installation that would look stock. Just a dark tinted pop up one would be cool. Where do you even go for something like a sunroof? Do they have leaking issues (assuming all models are on a level playing field being installed by a certified tech).

 

Maintain it, Repair it, Lift it.

 

did u pick truck up yet?

pics....

 

I did not, I couldn't get to bank Thursday cause of work, didn't even eat lunch it was so busy and Friday She couldn't give me an appointment until 4pm and so it can't be finalized until Monday. But she said I'll have no issue getting finalized as I only asked to finance a little over 1/2 of what I was pre-approved for (negating price and saving money just for a downpayment really paid off lol).

Also she said my trucks "value" is a little over $12k?!? How? I looked on KBB and private value is between $8,900/9,100 depending on which condition you classify it (between "good" and "very good", as its better than "fair" or "poor" but not "excellent", so I averaged the 2 options it could fall under) and trade-in value was $6,500-$7,xxx (forgot that one lol). So where does the bank get $12,xxx? Not that I'm complaining at all lol. But she mentioned that as another big plus because it's valued at almost double the amount I want to finance so it's low risk for them.

Already explained it all to the seller, and he's cool with it. My loan agent (or whatever they're called) even emailed him to say that it was her fault for the delay and having to wait til Monday now as she didn't call me in in enough time to get an answer today and telling him we'll know Monday and there shouldn't be any issues. Just so he knows I'm not stringing him along, the ol' CraigsList Run-around haha. That was my only concern, that he'd think I wasn't serious about the sale when I had to tell him it'd be Monday now. I can wait to pick it up til then, I can't register it on the weekend anyway. Just didn't want him to think it wasn't a serious deal and offer it back up for the weekend.

So, Monday now, and pics to be up by Tuesday at latest lol.

 

as long as you laid $500 or a $1000 cash earnest money on him as a down payment you should be good to go, hope you did....

sounds like you will be fixin' her up real soon...I think the value of $12,000 is high, but, hey, don't argue, take what you can get and run....

the trade in value is more in line with what they would loan max for that year...

I guess you will have a few $$$ left over for some getting started fixes, that's good

 

What projectors did you order

 

I have a group buy going still if you are so inclined.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/group-buys/276041-group-buy-rcbs204-4x4-led-light.html

 

I haven't ordered a a single thing yet lol. As most everyone has suggested, first thing will be do all the "boring" maintenance/tune up stuff, then it'll be time to move onto the "fun" stuff.

And I LOVE your truck! That thing look so aggressive. As usual, another badass black-on-black example. Such a good look.

 

Don't know if it was mentioned but if audio is the first upgrade on your mind, you should sound deaden the two doors, rear wall and rear quarter panel walls at a minimum.

All your nice equipment won't sound that good if you don't.

Go to raamaudio.com for all your needs and speak to Rick. The dude is a great guy. Mention TW and get a discount as well.

Also, again don't know if it was mentioned yet, but put some money into the basic routine maintenance items eg, spark plugs/wires, cleaning TB, MAF, IACV, fuel filter, fluid changes, etc

 

What, no pics yet?

Hopefully you are just busy getting acquainted with your new TOY....

We are here to spend your hard earned, LOL....