Breathe New Life!

Team!

1st post here.

I bought a 2006 V6 Sport (Blue) back 6-7 years ago now.

She's been GREAT. Love my truck.

First vehicle I ever paid cash for. Great feeling.

At the time I put in a 3in spacer lift, bigger tires, all new audio (Carplay, compact sub etc), tinted windows.

That said - a laundry list of needs has stacked up:

- I messed up moving a basketball goal and the roof got scratched and then has rusted over the years. 100% my fault. Need roof resurfaced and painted - Quote $1200
- Windshield Crack - $300
- A bizarre hum has developed in the last month. Could be HVAC door, actuator or maybe an air intake sensor for the AC - Quote - Unknown. Haven't investigated yet.
- Bad Cats are throwing the check engine light - Quote - Unknown

Current Mileage - 160k.

While technically I could buy something else... I barely drive. These newer used trucks are 30k+ (sweet lawd) and I'd rather stack those dollars elsewhere.

Lets see if we can another 90-100k miles.

So! I'm looking to take say $1500-3k to fix the above and make her feel new to me.

Would LOVE a fun upgrade idea or two.

Have you done anything that made your truck feel new?

Any pro tips?

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For context, my usage:

- Roughly 100 miles a week
- Occasional road trip
- 3 boys
- Never offroad
- MPG is important

 

I’d look into the bad cats/CEL situation first. That could eat up your budget right there as smoggable cats can be pricey.

from there I’d knock off mechanical issues next, like the hum you mentioned. Get her running right. 160k should be nothing for these rigs, so just keeping everything on the up and up is where I’d start. Since the paint issue is on your roof, maybe try to tackle that yourself (if you have time with the 3 boys), you can do some prep work and then buy color matched spray paint and some clear just to keep the rust from spreading and then throw on a cool roof rack (prinsu for example) and no one would even notice if your paint work wasn’t perfect.