I forgot to mention on
May 25, 2016 I took my Tacoma in to a local dealer for it's first check-up (hit 5K miles on my way back from Moab, see previous page) and had a horrible experience. I am done with dealer service. The jerks removed items from my center console and left them on the passenger's seat (what in the hell were they doing in there?), left my AC on full blast (I rarely use AC), changed my radio station and left the volume up, didn't move my seat back, rear-view mirror was pointing up at the headliner, the floormat's yellow safety warning tag that is a mile long was unraveled (I had it neatly tucked under the mat), and they left my Qi charger on (I don't have a Qi-device). To top it off, they lowered my tire pressure from my setting of 40 PSI (mfg max rating is 44) to 28 PSI (door sticker says 29) (this is probably federally mandated or something dumb like that).
I've slowly been learning that dealerships are worthless and my standards have been too high for them. I expect them to be Toyota experts (are they not specially trained by Toyota?) and to provide the highest quality of work (do they not charge the highest labor rate?). But that's it, I'm not taking the Tacoma back in. Especially since it is going to be modified, all I need is some inconsiderate dealership junkie to mess around with my gearing and roll the truck in the parking lot. Screw that. And it's not just the Tacoma; Other dealers have done similar things to my wife's 2013 Yaris such as left oil plainly drizzled clear across our plastic engine cover. If you want something done right you'd better do it yourself so from here out I will.
Speakings of which, I don't know if I've shared pics of our 2013 Yaris SE and my 1987 Supercharged MR2 so here come a couple:
We've driven the Yaris all over and it's a fantastic car. Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, etc. Have done a bunch of road trips averaging just over 20K/year.
I have a long history with this MR2. My father bought it for me my senior year in H.S. with a blown engine for only $300 and a week later I had it running with an engine pulled from the wrecking yard. Have owned this car for 18 yrs and counting, and it has almost 350K miles now. I know this car inside and out, have done a ton of track-specific mods, and currently have it up to 265-HP (166 HP/liter!). It is both quick and fast: As fast as a brand new 5-liter V8 Mustang. I even have my own lil MR2 website: If you're bored check it out:
http://bigmike.marlincrawler.com.
Here was my original "blow it up big-time" plan with this truck:
August1. Order the Tacoma August 2015
November: "Stage I"2. As promised by the first dealer, take ownership no later than November (as we know this didn't happen)
3. Install All Pro's upper control arm kit + rear leafs for a 3" lift
4. Install 33" tires
5. Get our new MC11/TacoBox installed (redesigned if necessary) so I'll have the World's First Dual Case 3rd Gen Tacoma
6. Install Rock Sliders
January 2016: Attend basic eventsThis should be enough to get me through the basic/easy events such as CVC's New Year's snow run, Cal4WD's Winter Fun Festival, be the first and only 3rd gen on display at the King Of The Hammers, Kingsburg snow Poker run, TLCA's Mud-N-Yer-Eye frolic at Hollister, Cal4WD's Molina Ghost Run, our local Fresno 4WD Club's Blue Canyon Poker run, and Cal4WD's Hi Desert Round-Up. (Reality: I didn't get the truck until after most of these events.)
Late May 2016: "Stage II"7. Upgrade All Pro's basic front kit to their long travel kit
8. Do a ton of fender trimming and install 37" or 39" tires
9. By this time hopefully ARB would have a new rear Air Locker ready and I'd be able to have some actual lockers
10. Come up with something for F & R bumpers, most important being the rear (Still on the fence about what to do for bumpers as nothing on the market has really excited me yet).
June 25, 2016Be the first 3rd gen Tacoma to conquer the Rubicon trail for TLCA's annual "Rubithon" event!
It's painful to look back as there were many missed opportunities. Time to get this ball roll'n!
