Hey all,

I picked up a limited 4wd golden pearl 3rd gen a couple of months back and have been loving it so far. My dad had one in the early 2000’s and sold it and I’ve wanted one ever since.

I got it with 238,000 miles at an auction sight unseen and a lot of service records (non paper, only through the Toyota owners website). After buying it, I found that it had a couple of AARP stickers on the windows, which is a major plus because that points to an older owner who hopefully would not have abused it. It drives wonderfully aside from a potential driveline hum while driving (this was fixed with a diff fluid change!).

The suspension feels very tight, engine feels strong, and most importantly the body is very clean with all matching VINs on panels, and ZERO signs of rust underneath or on the body. The interior is also very, very clean, which I am very happy about. The limited options such as electronic climate control and heated seats have helped out this past brutal winter.

I am planning on keeping this build OE+, meaning that I want to keep it looking stock, but I do want to improve a number of things that will improve off-road ability, and that will ensure I keep the engine running strong to 500,000+ miles (one can dream, right?)

Here is a crappy photo that I took once I got it. I will update with more pics soon.

To do list:
1) BFGoodrich KO2s - DONE (Wrangler DuraTracs)
2) Bilstein 5100s - DONE
3) 99 tall coils - DONE - want to upgrade to OME springs
4) OEM E-locker retrofit - Not done
5) Supercharger - Probably will never happen.. (edit: IT HAPPENED!)
6) Hilux Surf Field Monitor Unit - DONE