Hi Everyone! I'm Caden and I have had a 1st Gen 2005 Scion tC since 2019.
I bought the car before I even had a drivers license and it is my first car. I bought it from an immigration defense attorney who received it as payment from a client on a case. I paid $600 it was in pretty rough shape and had multiple check engine codes. I ended up replacing the catalytic converter with a cheap replacement and all of the emissions based codes disappeared.
After I did basic maintenance to it and took it on the highway, I lost all power to the wheels on an exit ramp and it had to be towed home. I took the transmission off to find the flex plate completely sheared from the crank. A cheap replacement was found on eBay and I replaced it in the driveway. The car still had a growling sound while driving around town, so I eventually replaced the front drivers side wheel bearing and the noise went away.
I then took the car for inspections and got my license!
After 6 months of driving it I decided I wanted to make it louder, so I bought the Borla S-Type exhaust for under $400. This also resulted in me resealing the entire exhaust so the car would be louder. (Will definitely make a post reviewing it.)
After another year of driving it, I decided it was time to do a transmission swap. I was getting bored of driving the automatic. There was a great guide on another forum and I am fortunate enough to be near 4 junkyards that had parts for a manual transmission swap. (Will make a guide with more photos and video about this)
Once the transmission was swapped I had no check engine codes and the car ran great. I then decided I wanted a new color, so I did some sanding and took it to Maaco. The results speak for themselves!
If you read the whole thing thanks! I've definitely learned a lot about the car over the three years I've owned it and hope to help other with their problems.
I bought the car before I even had a drivers license and it is my first car. I bought it from an immigration defense attorney who received it as payment from a client on a case. I paid $600 it was in pretty rough shape and had multiple check engine codes. I ended up replacing the catalytic converter with a cheap replacement and all of the emissions based codes disappeared.
After I did basic maintenance to it and took it on the highway, I lost all power to the wheels on an exit ramp and it had to be towed home. I took the transmission off to find the flex plate completely sheared from the crank. A cheap replacement was found on eBay and I replaced it in the driveway. The car still had a growling sound while driving around town, so I eventually replaced the front drivers side wheel bearing and the noise went away.
I then took the car for inspections and got my license!
After 6 months of driving it I decided I wanted to make it louder, so I bought the Borla S-Type exhaust for under $400. This also resulted in me resealing the entire exhaust so the car would be louder. (Will definitely make a post reviewing it.)
After another year of driving it, I decided it was time to do a transmission swap. I was getting bored of driving the automatic. There was a great guide on another forum and I am fortunate enough to be near 4 junkyards that had parts for a manual transmission swap. (Will make a guide with more photos and video about this)
Once the transmission was swapped I had no check engine codes and the car ran great. I then decided I wanted a new color, so I did some sanding and took it to Maaco. The results speak for themselves!
If you read the whole thing thanks! I've definitely learned a lot about the car over the three years I've owned it and hope to help other with their problems.