Need help spicing up my wife’s taco

Heyo. My wife’s 2006 Tacoma is showing its age and has sat unused for the most part the last couple of years. Shes considering selling it after having it for the last 18 years but I know she would prefer to keep it since it was her first vehicle and part of her personality but it needs work and is not an enjoyable ride right now.

I’ve been browsing for the past couple of months and slowly been working on things but looking for advice and recommendations on what else I can do for her Taco. The paint/clear coat is flaking off the hood/fenders/door panels, the exterior plastics are faded and the interior needs some work.

I'm in the process of doing some updates, but I'm looking for some other recommendations to make the truck a more enjoyable driving experience and bring some of the smiles back when we are in it. I've put on larger wheels/tires, upgraded the head unit to one that supports carplay and I plan on getting tint put on. I'm sort of at a loss on what to do about the exterior paint condition. Shes mentioned in the past wanting to vinyl wrap it a funner color as an alternative to painting it, but I'd still need to fix the underlying paint issues before doing that. Shes also mentioned wanting a Sport hood with the scoop so maybe I just swap the whole hood out and fix the individual paint issues on the panels?

Pics of wifes taco attached.

 

Well a repaint is cheddar. If you are going to keep it. I would get a good wash and wax and wrap. You might be able to get a clear coat correction. Those would at least preserve the paint and if you wrap you can get some different colors, themes and such. You can also get some updated lights and such. For headlights the H4 ultimate upgrade is popular. If the shocks, suspension, wheels, and tires are aging you can upgrade those as well. I bought most of my upgrades used, refurbished them and went from there. Also, no mention of miles.

 

Relatively low miles at 155k. Good call on the light upgrades as they are pretty bad right now to the point she doesn't feel safe driving it at night.

 

Also my best lighting upgrade was just getting Baja fog drop ins (i got the pro). Much better than even the headlight upgrade I have. You can polish the stockers and upgrade the innards. But once you polish them you will need to keep polishing them.

 

Wait a minute……

 

155k is just nicely seasoned and worth the work. The wrap idea seems good and fun for the needs.

You can try polishing the headlights and then clear coating them, and stick in some Osram H4 bulbs. For the love of god do not rely on brighter driving/fog light options. That is just obnoxious and dangerous for oncoming drivers.

 

Also, one of the better thread titles this year so far.

 

The headlights have gone through a couple restorations already so they are oxiding faster and faster. I probably should've hit them with some clear coat after the first time. I ended up picking up a pair of the OEM TRD Pro headlights mentioned in the H4 Ultimate Upgrade thread since it'll be a nice cosmetic upgrade plus better visibility compared to the current ones. Ended up being a little less than $350 for the pair with the current Toyota promos going on so not too bad.

 

There’s some pretty bitchin examples of like bed liner or raptor liner paint jobs.. not for everyone but may be more cost effective, just a thought..

 

In this situation I strongly suggest you transition her to a minivan , you can accomplish this with a simple trade-in. You will achieve 2 things. More room and less problems from wife.

 

IMHO, I would NOT go for a wrap. They don't typically last very long and it is a PAIN to remove. And it is expensive. You can try and get it detailed and live with the paint in the current condition, or get it painted. But, a repaint isn't always a sure thing either. I've seen some repaints that look like absolute garbage after a few years.

 

Im not a fan of the hood scoop, especially on the previous gens....
Dont think that juice is worth the squeeze...

 

I think detailing and painting the exterior is money well spent. A pro could probably get the trim looking good again, and a quality paint job from a *quality* paint shop would get you through the next 100k pretty well or help you get top dollar if you sell. I have no idea what prices are like these days, maybe it isn't worth it, but from what I've heard, wraps don't age very well. A friend of mine just tried to remove and change his wrap and it didn't go well, but that's an anecdote, not data.

Ditto the inside, either watch a few videos from pros, buy quality products, and take the weekend to do it, or pay a pro, but a real interior detailing is amazing.

Maybe upgrade the speakers to match the new head unit? My experience is that vehicle speakers tend to age poorly and new ones make a difference. Pretty easy to do for middle money.

 

Agreed. The neighbor has a 4th gen Tacoma Sport and she likes the way that looks, but there's obviously other exterior aesthetics beyond the scoop that I think shes actually digging.

 

For the lights, I'd recommend OEM Toyota headlights for the best functionality without blinding oncoming drivers. Definitely refresh the paint with the color of her choice. Suspension and tire upgrade will make it look like a wholly different truck.

 

Regardless of if I get it wrapped or painted or leave it as is, I'll need to do some paint correction and detailing so I'll start with that and go from there. I wasn't planning on a suspension upgrade, but if I don't wrap/paint it, I may put the money towards that. Need to do some research though.