Finally got into a Tacoma...3rd times a charm

For the past 8 years I’ve been thinking about getting a Tacoma but things never lined up. Always ended up buying full size Chevy trucks instead. Never kept longer than a year because 1. They were too big to daily(I only used them for major renovations) 2. They were all 5-10 year old trucks that slowly developed issues

I wasn’t even in the market to buy a Tacoma last week. Just so happened to drive past the local Toyota lot and saw a new black 2021 SR AC 2.7 4x4 in stock. My original intention was to buy a base DC TRD OR LWB if I ever got a Taco but all four local toyota lots didn’t have anything in that vicinity. Only fully spec’d TRD that are above $40k or SR5 that’s spec’d to $40k. I won’t ever spend that much on something that will be used.

4 years ago I tried to buy a black SR AC 2.7 4x4 w/O utility package, w/convenience but they didn’t have any in stock in upstate NY region.

Last week I traded my 2014 Maserati Ghibli SQ4 for my black 2018 SR 2.7 4x4 utility pack. Unfortunately that’s not exactly what I wanted. I called and made an appointment to buy the NEW 2021 SR but they sold it before I got there. They had the same spec as an off lease 2018 unit. I was hesitant but said F it(whoever leased it never washed the truck, some parts in the engine bay looked like it sat in the ocean). I know if I didn’t buy it now I probably wouldn’t for another 4 years. My other option was to have them source a gray 2021 SR but IMO all gray paints look disgusting besides two shades made by Mercedes and Audi.

So I spent 2 days cleaning all of the rust up and undercoating every single part of the underbody. I see this truck more as an appliance then it is a vehicle.

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld

 

Nice truck, welcome to the forum!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW! I think I would have passed on seeing that much rust in the engine bay.

 

i was about to pass on it. Just couldn’t find another SR locally and I had just removed the vinyl wrap on my Ghibli. If I didn’t trade it in I would have major remorse for wasting perfectly good wrap lol.

Spent the whole Sunday last week to clean up the rust on the PS reservoir and few other bigger components. Gonna de rust, sand, and paint the last few brackets tomorrow and it’ll be better than new.