Changing The Color of my Taco?

My apologies if this is in the wrong section, wanted to ask this question and this was as relevant as I could get from looking at the forums on the side of the page.

So to give a quick history for my experience with Tacoma's. I had a 2001 my Dad gave me. I had it for three years, he gave it to me with a replaced transmission (piece of shit) a rotted frame and no warranty. It was in bad shape but I was able to drive it for three years before the frame cracked and repairing it was more money and effort than we wanted to put into it.

So, we traded it in for parts at a local dealer and I got a new 2001 Toyota Tacoma. This is my dream car. Stock transmission is perfect, brand new frame replaced under the recall with new shocks, struts, fuel lines, brake lines etc. and ABS brakes which my old 01' didn't have.

The biggest issue? For all of these things I had to sacrifice something. The color. The old Taco I had was Lunar Mist Metallic and I loved the color, especially with the gray interior.

The new one is black with a tannish sorta color. I don't mind the interior because aside the trim and plastic you can't really notice, it isn't an awful color and at night especially it doesn't even matter. I however do not like the black color, I can live with it, especially in daylight but at night the truck is practically invisible.

I wanted my new Taco to be as close to the original as possible, so I want to know any advice on changing the color? Having it painted is hard because it's black, not to mention the truck has 179,000 odd miles on it. I thought about vinyl covers but I live in the North and I hear that in the cold they contract and crack. How much do you think changing the color would cost and is it even worth it?

 

Depends on what you get done. Just a top cover cheap spray would be not good quality and probably 3-500 bucks.

A real job with the truck stripped down to the bare metal..4-8k

All depends.

 

I'm really looking at a vinyl cover at this point. I don't know if anyone here has one or has any stories or input on that. They're relatively cheap and even if I get a professional to install it than it'd be leaps and bounds cheaper than paint and even if it gets fucked up I can peel it off. I just have no idea how they hold up in the winter between the cold, snow and road salt.

 

Yea always an option too. About a grand or more I think for a truck..up to 3k I think.

It holds up pretty well I think

 

I ended up changing the color of my first 2nd gen. Look in my profile for pics.

Long story short: Hit and run while my truck was parked at work. The insurance paid for the body work and painting half the entire damned truck. I talked to the manager of the body shop and asked him some questions.

Turns out, it cost me about $700 to cover the rest of the paint and the extra couple hours labor to strip the rest of the truck and paint it properly, and coat it.

Worth every penny, went from Vanilla White to a rare metallic dark blue found only on a limited release of the FJ. Truck was GORGEOUS after that. The one regret I have about trading her in at 100K for a new one was that paint job.

Of course, your mileage will vary.

 

Not that bad for a vinyl wrap, the more I look at it though I may just have to keep it black because I think I'd like the interior painted as well which means even more money and effort that I rather not spend on it. If I ever hit a dear or get into an accident I'll look into having insurance pay for a respray and what it may cost me personally to do that, it's likely that such an event could happen. Lots of deer around here and shitty drivers.

I think I'll try to accessorize it tastefully instead, so rather than spending that money on a paint job I'll try to get things that make it stand out more or give it character. Like a Brush Guard or a shell for the bed or something of that nature.

I'll make sure my next Taco is silver for sure, but hopefully by the time I have the finances or this Taco dies they have a diesel version of the Tacoma. That would be a dream truck, although nothing beats Gen 1's to me.

By the way guys here is a picture of my new truck:


Most of my love for the silver, aside from looking great and being very visible at night (compared to this black one) is the nostalgia I think. I got a Tacoma from my Father, even if he did fuck it up beyond recognition before I got it, I really appreciate having that truck. I used it for everything. High School, Prom, Graduation, Dates, Hanging out with friends every Summer, camping, my job, hauling firewood and moving shit for the family. I really just want to relive those memories with my truck I guess

Glad this one is in such good mechanical condition. The check engine came on today (I picked it up from the Dealer on Friday) but the code was for a fucking O2 sensor (I drove for two years in my old Taco with that code) so I'm going to bring it back and get it fixed under the 30 day warranty since he mentioned he has a stockpile and he'd do it for free. The rear driver side door doesn't lock either, so I'll get that looked at too. Aside that, perfect truck minus the color. I sure didn't miss the gas millage though.

 

I understand what you're feeling. Maybe you could consider getting a custom design sockmonkey bedside decal that's rendered in silver.

That'd have a very reasonable cost, and still reinforce your nostalgia every time you looked at it.

 

Sockmonkey decal? I found the thread but all the pictures are dead links. It also says he doesn't do custom ones anymore.

I was going to rebuild my bumper sticker collection and slap a new TRD sticker on the bed. I already got my old bed liner installed. Brush guard would look excellent if I could find a cheap one on Craigslist or something.

Picture of my old sock just for the trip down memory lane:

(I play Airsoft)

 

I'd leave it. It'll grow on you. My trucks OEM body and color IMO was also much nicer then what it is now(originally cool metallic sliver). But the green is frowning on me.

Still loved the silver though.

 

I wasn't too happy with the black of my Tacoma either, so I did a full color change myself. I have some experience so it was not that difficult of a job. Including building a temporary spray booth, plus the paint, and other supplies, I have about $1200 invested in my new paint job, and I love it. Not sure what you mean by it being hard to paint because it is black. Any color can be changed pretty easily. Good luck on your choice.

 

Sorry, didn't realize sockmonkey doesn't do custom art any more.

But the point remains - if there's a strong visual image associated with some memory of that truck - you could get a custom one-color decal made of that in silver, and apply it to your bedsides as a sort of memento/memorial.

 

I love the look of the blacked out double cab 1st gens, but i'm a lil biased. Keep her black!

 

Hello gents. I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. I've had my fair share of Tacoma fun and hopefully meet some rad people through TW.

Listen, this is going to sound corny but I Plastidipped my entire truck and it came out pretty stellar. I went from black to white (the most contrast you can get) because a) I dislike black vehicles and b) the roof of the cab was peeling (like I see on alot if darker models of the same year).

Vinyl wraps were looking for $1500.
Entire paint jobs 3-5k.
P-dipped myself in an afternoon....$350 and its been on a year now with no complaints.

Not bad for a hungover afternoon when football isnt on.

 

That looks surprisingly decent, mon!

(Oh, and welcome, 'n all that jazz)

 

Thanks man. No intention on hijacking this thread, just saying it's a pretty rad and CHEAP solution since I had the same problem - not liking the color.

 

Silver FTMFW!!

This is my 5th silver vehicle. I know, boring, right? I tend to keep my vehicles a long time and I discovered years ago with an old Volkswagen Golf that even when it gets scratched up, or starts to weather real bad it still looks great!

Half my friends have no idea I'm driving a new 2013 until they get in it. I went from a silver 2004 extra cab 4x4 to a 2013 access cab 4x4. My friends aren't that observant...

 

If youre going to spend the money to paint it, I personally would have it professionaly painted with bedliner.

It cost about the same as a paint job. You can get it in almost any color you want and often a lifetime warranty is included!!
I've seen a few trucks in person professionally bedliner painted and they look amazing!!

 

Dip it. 3-500 including the gun, done in a weekend. when you want a different color peel it and do it for 100 sonce you have the equipment already.

Im making up numbers obviously as what you do will affect what you spend. but its cheap regardless.

You can get pretty complex if you want.