How to prep to sell '04 Prerunner

2004 Tacoma Prerunner DoubleCab 4 door 3.4L SR5 TRD Package
225,000 miles , all in Southern Cali, mostly highway commuting

Our Tacoma has needed suspension components replaced, dents pulled, a repaint, and a detail. Now we're looking to sell and trying to balance whether to just throw it out there at some discounted price or try to do some upgrades to get a bit more for her. She's been used for freeway commuting for years now, and not much else. Minimal wear otherwise since her early days of playing in the desert with dirtbikes.

-I'm considering KYB Monomaxes. With strut mounts(I assume needed at this point) and bellows that's $360

-My leafs are unhappy. We never load the back, they're just sagging. General Springs replacements with their hardware kit shipped is $563

-There's some chipping of the paint but no actual rust eating metal, so got a quote from Maaco for their Urethane job. To fix the only 2 notable dents and do the whole job it'd run me $1,700.

-There's the rest of the suspension to consider, and I just don't see being able to recover what I put into it if I start replacing the lower ball joints, etc. So I don't want to start

-Under the hood has held up great, that's the only area I've tended to regularly


I've got a back issue that's been more of a problem this year, so I won't be able to do more than put on the rear shocks to save myself money on anything. So I'll also be adding install costs to whatever I've got to do to this. I have no idea what the market is like for these other than knowing they're generally reliable and hold some value. What would you do? I don't need it sold right away, but don't want to wait more than 6 months either. Thanks to anyone for taking the time to read all that.

 

You would get the best return from just cleaning it inside and out and get it running ok. You won't get a return on aftermarket upgrades because it may not be what the buyer wants. Skip the whole paint job, just do some paint correction if it needs it.

 

It’s a 21 year old truck. It’s not going across the block at Barrett Jackson. Just price it accordingly.

 

Yep,
Clean it and leave upgrades to next owner. Repair anything that’s broken that affects drivability.
We haven’t seen photos but doubt you’ll get an extra $2k back on a 225k mile truck from repaint.

 

Buy a can of New Car Smell spray.

 

@MattMMMan17 even after you did all those things, you’re likely going to get about $5000-8000 MAYBE for the truck. Sounds like since you’d be paying for labor as well, you’d lose money doing that.

Clean it, sell it, move on.

 

This.

More than likely the buyer isn’t going to be impressed with low end suspension components just thrown on.

Save your money.

Clean the interior, exterior, undercarriage and engine bay up and put it on the market.

 

Check for safety issues, clean it, put it up. Ethically, I wouldn't feel good selling it with bad lower ball joints (undisclosed. Honestly, if they are bad, I'd feel fine being open about it with the buyer.)

 

Ditto

 

Agreed all above posts

IMO
Your gonna get 2type of buyers

-one that will nick pick all blemishes on a 20yr old vehicle…..trying to get price down
Then Likely to flip for a 2k profit 2 weeks later

-one that will be ‘noticeably’ excited about the purchase and hopefully aware of the work needed. This guys usually will not be able to afford the asking price. But, I would rather knock price down for her knowing going to good home than other guys looking to make a Q buck flipping.

 

One other thing
Just to get a ‘baseline’
Might get a dealership/carmax/online vendor trade in quote
GL

She will sell quickly.

 

I appreciate all the feedback, thanks everyone. This is an easier decision now, I don't feel like I've got to do much to it. I'll check the lower ball joints so they'll know how immediately they'll need to be replaced. I may just put 4600s on it while we've got to use it until we can get something else because it just transfers everything into the cab and I don't know how quickly we can get something.

Again, thanks everyone, I appreciate the weigh-ins