If this was your tacoma would you sell or invest?

I have 2012 4.0 v6 six speed manual transmission. 227,000 total miles. Less than 100 miles on new tranny and clutch. 3 years ago I hit a pothole while driving and drivers side window airbag went off damn near knocking me out on a mtn road with No guard rail and forced me to swerve and clip a mailbox on the passengers back rear quater panel. Literally couple weeks before COVID hit so repairs got put on the back burner. Last year the transmission went out in November. 3 mechanics later I just got my truck back last week because they all cited sourcing "parts issues"

So now I have a battle tested tacoma that is functional with a brand new clutch and transmission that i was gonna sell as soon as it got fixed because I got a 2018 loaded Tundra, but now I'm thinking of keeping my tacoma and possibly turning it into an overland rig......maybe?

I have like 5 lights that are on my dash.

Seatbelt - both front belts are locked up because apparently seat belts are one time use nowadays and they're like $300/piece. So if you where I can get universal ones that bolt on loved to know. I'll even click on your affiliate link.

Tire- guessing this light is on from fix-a-flat spray because there are no flat tires

Airbag- I'm never gonna spend $2000+ on airbag. Is there a contraption/ product I can buy to plug into this sensor whatever it is to shut it off? Is there a DIY hack that will turn this light off on my dash?

Than there's two (engine & Tract off) that come on only when you turn on the A/C in humid climates like Minnesota. If I'm up in the mtns never comes on. Only way to get it off is to clear the codes or disconnect the battery. Brought it to a dealer they said it was a canister replaced it and came on less than a day later. They want $145/hr to guess & check some more....no ty!


I'm thinking of putting a flatbed on it so that will take care of the bumper and dented rear truck bed.

Does anyone know some1 that does aluminum flatbeds for reasonable rates? Near Minnesota or a welder that's skilled enough with reasonable rates that could fabricate an aluminum flatbed and camper shell with windows, vents and doors?

The horn hasn't worked in 2-3 years. When I brought it in to install an aftermarket stereo I asked them to fix it they couldn't figure it out. Any ideas?

Front bumper is a fab four design, and has 4 pod lights mounted. I have a 16 inch light bar to install too.

Right before the accident i purchased new headlights off of Amazon for $250ish they are complete junk. All fogged up and aged.
what would you buy to replace them?

Front windshield now has a crack all the way across the bottom. Any other options besides safelite?


I have had this vehicle since 70,000 miles and I used it. It wasn't garage art or a weekend toy. I dragged a 30 foot travel trailer with a 12 foot slide and roughly 2500 pounds of gear all around the country for 7 years mostly in the mountains. New tourist town in the summer and new ski resort every winter.

I change my oil & filter every 3,000miles with full synthetic+Lucas oil additive, and even use an engine flush for 5 minutes before every oil change.

I've got a dog that comes everywhere with me<<<<<any good tips on how to clean up pet hair easily out of a vehicle?


At 227,000 miles am I lighting good money on fire? Is investing $15,000-$20,000 just absurd? I mean the clear coat on the hood is starting to look like reptile scales? Can I just go buy black gloss and paint it myself?

If it was just one repair I'd pull the trigger, but before buying flatbeds & camper shells it feels like there's $5,000 in OEM parts that I'm obviously gonna try to find knockoffs as long as they don't age like my headlights did.

What would you do?
Sell the tacoma? Invest in the tacoma?
Sell the tundra?
Build out the tundra?
After driving the tundra my tacoma feels like an ATV, which is kind of how I used it, and my tundras too fancy to be blazing trails in the woods.

I'm just curious what my taco family would do?

 

Turn it into a trail rig! I’m guess it wouldn’t pass inspection with all those issues (I could be wrong) so if it doesn’t owe you anything and it runs it’s time to weld and learn how to do gears and suspension (if you already know how to do these things then get to it!).

Make yourself a sweet hunting/trail rig to get you to those places that regular vehicles can’t get to in those awesome ski towns! You’ve got a tundra to pull it!

 

Ditch the taco. Spend your time and money on your Tundra. It's 6 years newer, hasn't had any airbags deploy and sounds like it has less problems overall.

 

Hahaha it basically is a trail rig right now hahaha and I don't deal with DMV got an Arizona license with a Montana registration so I don't have to talk them peeps until 2048

 

What would you sell it for? KBB has it ranging from 10,000 -14,000 at 247,000 miles, but that doesn't account for brand new transmission & clutch.....does it?

 

Whatever the market will bear.

 

Deployed airbag is not going to be your friend when selling. Best bet will be finding a buyer that wants to turn it into a bush machine.

 

Keep the Tacoma and drive it until it won’t drive any more.
So what ever you want with the Tundra. I’ve outgrown my “modding” days.

 

Either a trail rig,or sell it,at 227k it's not really worth investing a lot more money into it.
Won't get much for it with everything wrong with it,but dumping it will get you out of a money trap.

 

Give the old girl a big hug and dedicate her to weekend adventures to a no worries offroad truck.

 

It's nice putting money into a vehicle to help make it run, ride, look and sound better and the maintenance to keep it that way.
When it gets to the point where you're putting money into it monthly just to keep it running, well...
With all the repairs already done and or needed to be done it feels like the dominos are falling with that one.

 

Fix the Seat belts and airbags, let the cosmetic stuff stay cosmetic. Sell the tundra unless it's paid off. Become debt free from vehicle payments

 

The air bag incident, for me, would have been the final straw.

 

What about finding the airbag and seatbelts from a wrecker? The tacoma isn't stolen as frequently as other vehicles but that's the doner I'd look for if possible. Purchasing all that stuff new wouldn't be my first choice based on the mileage and condition.

 

You certainly have a laundry list of items on a ride that has seen it's better days . Sell ! Curious about the transmission though . New or rebuilt , used or new in crate ?

 

My calculation for older vehicles is to ask myself if I could just replace it for the cost of repairs and the money I would get for selling it. There’s a little room in there for sentimental value, but not much. I was sad to see my 06 4-Runner go, but investing all that time and money into something that was likely to nickel and dime me forever didn’t make sense, and that Toyota frame isn’t a forever thing.

 

Send the seatbelts to https://www.safetyrestore.com/

They do excellent work and at much less cost than replacement.

 

D

It’s definitely not worth this. If it’s needs all the work you said it’s does it’s 5k truck at best that’s good for turning into a project truck.

 

That's what I'm thinking because there is nobtacoma crew cab manual transmission on the internet for sale under $10,000

 

It was rebuilt with new parts