New 1st gen tacoma owner / member

Well, I am new here and have been looking around here for some while, and decided to post, because why not? This is my 2001 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner (4 cylinder) I am 16 and this was my first car!
Changed center caps, tail lights, tires, front UCA bushings, removed emblems, new mirrors and did some other minor things.


Day I got it:


Some recent pictures:

(new tail lights)

(after removing emblems, they were in bad condition, dirty garage I know)

(truck was a bit dirty, and I lost a front mud flap ;( )


Just in search for some black / smoked head lights, bought some spyder headlights but they were absolute crap IMO, returning them.


Not really anything special or extravagant like some of the Tacoma I see here, but it's all I can really pay for

Happy to be here! Not quite sure if this is right spot to post.

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome! have fun in your Taco.

 

Nice 1st Vehicle, enjoy it.
And right into the mods, you're hooked
Welcome to the forum.


CC

 

Yep just keep up on the maintenance and whatnot. Leave the mods for later in life when you have the money. I regret spending so much on cosmetics with mine as it was my first truck and went crazy with it. Because now I have a ton of maintenance related things I need done and struggling to save to get it all done. Wished I had spent all that on parts vs on lights and other stuff. But these trucks are tanks and even keeping up with basic maintenance will keep her going strong for a while.

How many miles on her?

 

271k, hasn't had any issues (yet)
Seems like it is in fair condition. I've got a lot to learn with these things (after all it is my first car, and I am "new" to cars) so I don't really know, but it runs well and looks taken care of. I would've never gotten a car with 271k miles on it from anything other than Toyota.

Also, I've been keeping up on maintenance, with bushings, belts, pulleys, air filter, oil + oil filter, brakes, rotors, cleaning, (and some other stuff which I cannot remember, done a lot to it)

Anything else that I could have missed, that is considered regular maintenance?
I've got one code, P0420, I replaced rear O2 sensor but it is still there (after clearing code) other sensor seems newer, I'm guessing it's the cats with this many miles on the truck (I can also sorta smell it, smells kind of "rich" I guess you could say, not sure how to describe it.)
Any advice and tips would be helpful for a newbie like me

 

Well, as far as the cats go, make sure you properly test them with a back pressure tester. Or have someone do it for you. Just to make sure it is in fact the cats because it could be other things too popping that code. I had a whole new custom exhaust installed and I still have that code. But I'm using and O2 sim as a temp fix until I can afford to delve deeper into things.

 

Nice taco man, what kind of lift do you have on it and also tires? I have a 2004 Tacoma base model I'm looking to lift it soon

 

Welcome and nice to see a single cab owner here,
There are plenty of ideas for you on this site.

 

Really like your truck!
NightProwler is right, be ready for future mechanical issues.
If you come to love a Tacoma as we all mostly do, the cosmetic attraction pales somewhat to the satisfaction of having it run at specs or better through mods.
Of course being much older than you I am probably a bit more practical LOL.