Advice on buying my first Tacoma

Ah, good eye.
Question still stands, where are the TRD decals? Possibly accident and repaint or he just took them off?

 

That's possible. But the badges are all off, so maybe he just debadged and destickered it. But accident and repaint is still possible.

 

There were some rare 4 banger TRD models in the late 90's that didn't come with the e-locker, doubt many of them are still around though.

 

I'd honestly try to at least get the V6 if you're going auto.

 

You are correct.

 

Glad to hear it. I've been debating on which engine to get. Seems like the consensus is to get the V6 if going auto.

I've texted the gentleman about seeing the truck today. Making my list of things to check based on this thread and the buying guide. I'll still be reading this thread but I've got to disappear for a bit so I might not respond.

 

good luck! Hope it checks out, it's a good deal for a used Taco.

 

The guy ended up not really wanting to set up a time to show the truck. While trying to figure out if he was actually going to show it or not, a bone stock small tacoma with 107k miles and service records went up and I made an offer. They were getting calls about it while I was there too.

 

Nice! That's quite the contrast from the one you were looking at originally lol (lifted 4x4 versus stock 5 lugger). It's a clean looking truck, congrats! Good to see you got the manual

 

The loss of cool off-road potential hurts.
I wasn't sold on it until I drove it. It's hard to believe that truck is older than five years old, much less 18. The engine purred almost too quietly, and it was stupidly smooth driving. I think A/C freon is the only fluid that hasn't been replaced in the last 10k, and that's besides new brakes and shocks. The guys knees couldn't handle the clutch, so to replace this one he had a gorgeous 2003 Gen 1 with an auto in his garage with only 64k miles. That truck in the garage looked brand new... He said it took him awhile to find one like that.

Anyways, I figure if I maintain it, I can probably get about what I paid for it in a few years. Here's a question though... How much would I hurt resale with an aftermarket stereo, and can factory stereos be re-installed later?

 

Sounds like a great little truck! I don't think it will hurt resale value at all, as long as you get a quality setup if anything it will maintain value or possibly raise it a tad. Going back to stock setup shouldn't be any trouble provided it was put in properly.

You're going to hate me but I found a 2004 4x4 TRD Tacoma w/5 speed this past March with only 24,500 miles on it I looked for a long time though.

 

Congrats on the new truck!

I'm jealous.

 

It hasn't been without it's issues, it had low mileage but is supercharged so the previous owner did drive it pretty hard when he was driving it. Other times it would sit for extended periods. Not exactly the best way to care for a vehicle so I've had to do deal with a few issues to bring it back to life completely but overall I'm happy I found it.

 

I bought my used 99 S/C, what issues have arose for you?

 

As far as the supercharger goes, just one really....I was getting a check engine light that wouldn't go away, code P0171 'System Too Lean'. I had my truck at 2 Toyota dealerships for 2 weeks (one of which told me I was SOL and to take my truck somewhere else). The second dealership finally diagnosed it as an uncapped port on the back on the supercharger that was likely never put on. So it was running lean for who knows how long, which can be really bad for the motor over time. Fortunately I got it fixed and it's been good since.

Other than that, I still have issues with it pinging from time to time under heavy boost...but from what I've read that's somewhat normal for a stock 3.4l TRD s/c setup, the URD 7th injector is supposed to cure it. I'm saving up for one. How's your truck/supercharger treated you?

 

Oh and I also notice that I don't get any boost in 1st gear, is that normal? The gauge starts to go up but by the time it starts to hit boost I'm already pushing high RPM's and have to upshift into 2nd. Wasn't sure if that was normal on the 3.4l or not...in 3rd gear or higher I can hit 7psi no problem.

edit: sorry for jacking your thread OP, @99SuperTaco4x4 if you could PM me your response we can discuss it there, I don't wanna derail the OP's thread