I've been out shopping for a used Truck to have a 2nd car for camping and such, and all I can say is WTF! My god, I know used car prices were high, but no matter where you look, the prices are outrageous. I know a lot of these prices are high and can be haggled down, but when they start at 60% of new MSRP and the truck is 7 years old and had 54k miles, it feels like a bad dream.
Even Car Max is having fun with this. There is a 10 year old Tacoma with 81k miles, first year it had bluetooth, and the 4.0l engine, and the no haggle price is $22K. KBB says it should be around $18,200. Original MSRP for that exact car was $24,200. A 10 year old car with 81K miles selling for 90% of MSRP - am I dreaming?
To make matters even worse, financing on used cars is interesting. Most banks will no go past 3 year on a 7+ year old vehicle, and used car rates are pretty high too. Buying new looks like the only option.
When I researched Tacomas, I found that the prices usually only dropped, on average, one thousand bucks per year. I decided to go new. Bought it on '09, sold it in '18 for 8k less than what I paid for it. Go new if you can. And interest rates did go up recently. Get with a credit union. I was able to finance a Corolla thru mine at 3.25 for 48 months.
Posts: 17317 | Location: Lexington, KY | Registered: October 15, 2006
Originally posted by Fredward: When I researched Tacomas, I found that the prices usually only dropped, on average, one thousand bucks per year. I decided to go new. Bought it on '09, sold it in '18 for 8k less than what I paid for it. Go new if you can. And interest rates did go up recently. Get with a credit union. I was able to finance a Corolla thru mine at 3.25 for 48 months.
I looked briefly at getting a Taco and found the same thing you did. It would've made more sense to go new. In fact, with some of the Toyota certified pre-owned vehicles, the CPO was priced higher than new after factoring rebates...
So far in my travels, I'm the only one driving a car. And it's a small car at that being a Honda Civic. I work in new home construction and everyone is in a truck.
I just sold my 2003 Tundra . Mechanically it was in great shape . A few minor dings and the paint was bad on the front cap . It had been wrecked years ago with heavy damage and the CARFAX reflected that . $2500 . The guy that bought it never tried to dicker . He knew it was well worth the price .
Posts: 4421 | Location: Down in Louisiana . | Registered: February 27, 2009
About the only time used truck prices seem reasonable is when gasoline is pushing $4. I think GM is bringing out an all new 1/2 ton so there may be some good deals on the last of the current ones. Also on the Nissan Frontier if you can find a fairly basic one. My friend bought a new Frontier this Spring paid just over $22,000 for it, including tax. It was a 2wd 4-cylinder with automatic transmission and AC.
No car is as much fun to drive, as any motorcycle is to ride.
Take your used, low miles like new truck to a dealer to trade on a new one and see what THEY want to give you for it.
That is why I still have mine. I told them to shove it and then they wait a week and call me at home to see if I changed my mind. I said no, I am still sane.
NRA Life Endowment member Tri-State Gun collectors Life Member
Posts: 2794 | Location: Ohio | Registered: December 18, 2014
I have never had Kelly Blue Book be close on the pricing. Most of it comes down to auction pricing. I had a dealership tell me to sell the car to KBB for that price.
Posts: 5489 | Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA | Registered: February 27, 2001
I agree...we were in the market for a used truck last December, and I had been searching for a while. Ended up buying new, as it was only 3k more with the employee pricing sale GM had going on. Happy with it too. Still seeing prices right up there for used trucks with quite a few miles on them.
Originally posted by RHINOWSO: You can thank cash for clunkers / Obama.
How so?
I think the idea is that it depleted a lot of the used car inventory.
True. A government program that spent $9 for every $1 saved.
I remember being in the junkyard and they had three Audi A8s, a loaded Lincoln Navigator, and fifteen Tacomas lined up in the same row. All of which were in very good shape (save for the engine that was full of glass). The plus side of this was that I bought the headlights off of an Infinity Q45 for almost nothing and put them on my truck a few weeks later.
Posts: 9530 | Location: Somewhere looking for ammo that nobody has at a place I haven't been to for a pistol I couldn't live without... | Registered: December 02, 2014
