Tacoma Stalking, er...uh, Spotting, with Charlie™ (1st Gen Edition)!

This truck isn't a conversion, it was built as a 4x4.

With 1st gens the only way to get a 6 lug manual trans was with the 4x4s. Prerunners were all auto and not around until 1998.

 

@BartMaster1234

What's the deal with the VIN then?

 

This truck was recently sold on BaT back in April for $16,500... Someone is looking to make a few grand probably because of the crazy resale value Tacos are getting right now.

https://www.classic.com/veh/1997-toyota-tacoma-v6-44-5-speed-4tapn62n8vz288067-4ybYxKn/

Poor ol' girl just wants a good home

 

anyone else scroll down and see the KBB $4k-$6 range?

 

Lol yeah but KBB value is meaningless with Tacomas, especially one as rare as this one is these days.

Not saying it's right or wrong, it's just the way it is. Low mileage 1st gens especially have always commanded a high resale value and in this covid economy it's gotten even crazier, for some weird reason.

 

Stupid f***ing scalpers!

 

i love the grilles on those older tacomas.
is it possible to put one of these grilles on a 03 tacoma???

 

Yup, and vice versa!

 

difficult job?
are the older grilles hard to find online??

 

You'd have to replace the front fenders too, I believe; Doing a grille changeout on a 2005-2011 Tacoma is very easy, but they changed the grilles on the 1st gens were restyled frequently (1995-1997, 1998-2000, 2001, 2004).

 

Yeah you'd have to swap the front end, the grills alone aren't interchangeable. The front end swap is possible though, there are some write ups on here on how to do it. Pretty sure you need to swap the hood too

 

Yeah, hate flippers myself.....

 

Happens a lot in the bike community too ugh

 

This past summer, my friend bought my neighbor’s recently deceased in-law’s ‘05 Chrysler 300 with 83K miles for $2,500 (I led him too it and got a cut of the proceeds), cleaned it up a bit, and then sold it for close to KBB value (almost $5K). The Chrysler had some dents and dings, and the dead relative was a smoker who smoked in the car, but the Chrysler had a clean title and had never been wrecked, ran great, and had cold A/C; My friend knows how to undertake an engine swap, so fixing the incredibly minor flaws with the Chrysler was no problem for him.

That is the kind of flipping I’m fine with, because someone got themselves a decent vehicle at a decent price and a good friend of mine turned a nice little profit. What I can’t stand are these flippers who get a really popular vehicle (like a Tacoma) for likely next to nothing, then turn around and sell it for ten times its fair market value!

 

Anybody notice that the 16K version had a modern Sony radio and that the 23K version had the retro Toyota one? Seems like a strange swap...

 

Define "modern"? Was it just your standard single-DIN CD receiver with USB/AUX, or a touch screen double-DIN?

I had a touch-screen Sony in my Tacoma from September 2016 to May 2017; It turned to be a lemon. It did not pick up my favorite radio station (93.3 WMMR out of Philly) very well, and it rebooted a lot; I convinced Crutchfield to take it back even though it was well out of the period for them to take it back, and got a Boss BV960N at no cost. I ended up disliking the Boss even more than the Sony because it wasn't iPod compatible despite having a USB port, and I ate the cost of a new Pioneer HU a year later.

The Boss was not a lemon, and I just gave it to my friend @Gwyns04's daughter who'd just gotten her driver's license; Gwyn paid me for the dash bezel and wiring harness, my friend and neighbor Ryan who installed my stereo and backup camera rigged up the wiring harness, and I installed it in her 2010 Subaru Forester.

What I was basically trying to say is that while I love my PS4 and every Sony TV we've ever had, I have not been happy with Sony car audio equipment. Maybe whoever bought the '97 Taco felt the same way and obtained an OEM Toyota cassette/CD ETR cheap...

Also, that radio looks like a 2001-2004 model; Am I wrong...?

 

Also, I would have bought the Chrysler, but it did not have a HEMI; I would have also been a bit more tempted if it was AWD, but it wasn't...

It was RWD, and it did not have posi/limited-slip; Even if it was RWD but had a HEMI, $2,500 is a steal and I would have been all over it! At least it had the 3.5L V6 and not the shitty 2.7L V6 that's known for starving itself of oil, but the owner's widow told me that it sucked in the snow and that's enough for me.

 

I'm on the fence about the supercharger; I personally think they only serve to put undue stress on the engine and make the gas mileage even worse than it already is. The only 3.4L Taco I've ever driven was a friend's 2004 TRD 5-speed 4x4, which does not have the supercharger, and I thought it had plenty of power; I was even able to do a pretty gnarly burnout in first gear!

 

I'm all for fixing up something that most folks will not undertake and making a LITTLE coin but what I don't like is folks telling lies to obtain a vehicle. Case and point (long time ago) 66 Mustang fastback for sale, 4 speed with the 289, not a very common combo, anyways the owner wanted 6,500 bucks for it and it was in great shape, owner and I talked, agreed on the price and stated I would be back in 3 days. Got all my savings, begged my dad for the rest and went to purchase the vehicle. Showed up at the house cash in hand, man apologized to me and said his niece was crying and begged him not to sell the vehicle to me but to her boyfriend since he needed the car to go to church every Sunday (I'm not kidding). Needless to say I was beyond ticked as the vehicle was still sitting there in his driveway screaming for me to try harder and buy it.

Well 2 weeks later I saw the same vehicle parked at a lemon lot (usually a term for car lot on military bases) for sale...... $12,500

I prayed for revenge.....like they would get run over by an elephant while visiting a zoo....or something like that.....