My nice 1991 pickup vs new tacoma vs...maybe a car e.e? (First Post!!!:) )

Sorry for the long post...please don't waste your time if you don't need to but by all means read on and try to help me make up.my mind!!!

So....I'm 19 and absolutely love my 1991 toyota pickup. (Bought it for 3,000 from a friend, and with all the engine work/parts/accessories, i put on it I'm 4,700 into it....my family is mechanics so all my labor is free when I'm helping and parts are discounted) Engines rebuilt with 4k miles on it, and I get compliments on it fairly often. Even had a guy offer me 5k cash at a gas pump for the thing. It has a lot of upgrades; custom exhaust that sounds like a V8, new 32/11.5/15 cooper stt's on new 10" wheels, Cold air intake, new shocks all arund, cv axles, joints, pitman, idler, stabilizer, rebuilt engine, HID headlights, bedliner, roll bar, 2 HID off road lights, brand new aftwrmarket stereo system, 1500 watt amp, 2 10" subs, aftermarket rear running lights, and much much more that I'm just to lazy to list.

Now no matter what I do I don't wanna sell it....i want to kwep it on the side and build it....but I'd like to lease and eventually buy or just buy a new tacoma...whether its used with really low miles or a brand new one. I have 3k saved up and after budgeting my gas and Yada yadas I should have around 10 to put down on a rig in about 8ish months. I'd want to get a 4 door 6 speed. 4 door because I want to have a rig I can keep for a very long time if not forever as a daily driver, and also if I have kids someday be able to comfortably have a family in it...which isn't possible with my standard cab chevy and my ext cab toyota.

Keep in mind I already have my toyota truck....and a very very nice lifted and restored 1979 Scottsdale Chevy short box (which is a family heirloom and I'm inhereting it under the promise I'll keep it in the family) so that leaves me with 2 trucks already, and if I get a new tacoma (already with a leveling hit, tires, and accessorized, which will be around 25-30k used and 35-37ish new...that's excluding my discount since I work at a toyota/subaru dealership....shave a few thousand off plus maybe another couple thousand if I barter right) I'd have 3 trucks. A really nice classic, my toy, and my daily driver that I can also take the family/friends camping in and up in the hills.

Or get a subaru wrx sti and have a car as my daily and have my 2 trucks on the side?

Or say screw a new truck and just keep dumping money into my current toyota?

How do the newer tacomas do offroad? Manual 4 doors? Going up hills? Mechanically stable for the most part? I drive them daily on the pavement since I work at a dealership and the 6 speeds seem pretty peppy! But no idea of the off road abilities if I wanna take a ride up in the mountains.

Bear in mind I get the privilege of living at home still and the only bills I pay are my phone and insurance. Which both are quite low. So I get money and save it quickly. I'm trying to think ahead in life a little while I'm young!

 

Sounds like your'e in a position to do pretty much whatever you want.

 

Stick with what you have - the newer trucks won't hold a candle to the older mini's ...
Just keep it protected from rust , biggest issues with them .
Sarge

 

Back when I was looking for a pickup last year, I really looked hard for an original Toyota before the tacoma. Found a great one, but just couldn't come to pay 5k for a truck with 230k miles, when I paid roughly 10k for a single cab 06

 

I'll second this. If my 89 was an extended cab I wouldn't have ever bought a new Tacoma in 05. I'm sure I would have by now though. It's pretty crusty. But it still plows my driveway just fine. I love the way the 86-94 trucks drive. A real chassis, direct steering, etc. And I love the size and the looks. But they are certainly underpowered by today's standards. But that can be fixed.

 

Well, I say get an sti if its going to be a daily driver / commuter / family hauler. You already have 2 trucks anyway. When my daughter was born in 08 I got my wife a Legacy GT Spec.b (sti in a legacy shell). Without a doubt, one of the best vehicles and by far the greatest inclement weather vehicle I have ever owned! Nothing I have ever had comes even close.

In all truth though even it is small as a family car. We upgraded her this December to a Durango R/T after the arrival of my newest one. Little ones despite there size require a lot of crap: Car seats, strollers, diaper bags...

Either way your problem is a good one to have, being torn between two nice vehicles, good luck.

 

Keep what you have and don't dump TOO much money into it. Save your money instead and worry about it when you have kids.

 

This is the best advice. You are 19. Save your cash and use it later. I could kick myself for the 10s of thousands of dollars I wasted in my early 20s!

 

Yeah the rust...my truck barely has any as you can tell from the pics I posted, the only trouble spot I'm having is the rear fenders. About a weak ago a spot the size of a dime rusted through, and I can tell it's going to spread. I want to keep my truck looking nice so what sould I do to combat it? Bedliner? Cut it out and put on bushwacker fender flares? Only problem is those are around 400 bucks for all 4 but I'm willing to do it to save my girl lol

 

Cut it out, repatch and paint it. That's too nice of a truck to do it half assed.

 

Yeah, I guess I'm just young and trying to live the best of it before i have kids someday! I posed some pics I hope you guys can see them it's really a nice looking older pickup! Why I don't want to sell it for a new one because I feel like I'll regret it down the road

 

Yeah I need to find out what color my truck is in the first place....it's a dark red almost like ruby or maroon. Not sure. Could find a donor truck and cut out the piece I cut out and patch it with that. I'm quite handy with a welder and a grinder

 

Highly agree with toomanytoys84 and LEX.

 

It appears to be a Medium Red Pearl if it's the original color. Code 3H4.
The color code is somewhere on the truck. Check the driver side door jamb.


http://www.toyotareference.com/truck

 

Alright sweet! Thank you!

 

Keep your truck and enjoy it. Its a classic that cant be matched today. The Taco is a hell of alot bigger and loses some of the greatness the pre-Tacoma trucks had. Also don't worry about saving money for kids. Kids suck. Spend the money on a nut snip and then you can enjoy your life as you want to.