quote:

Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
Friend at work just got a 4Runner, they cost so much used, he just bought a new one. Nice truck.

I bought my new Tundra for a few grand more than a nice used one. Any at a low price were scratched up or strangely modded. I’m sure it’s the same for the 4Runner. Hold out until there are good rebates and play the dealers against each other.

After buying CPO (goddamn thing is in for a new engine right now, after having the transmission replaced last year) and then buying NEW in the last 5 years...

I'll probably buy NEW for anything I intend to keep.

I'll probably never waste my money on CPO again.

And if I want a beater/daily driver that I don't want to pay top dollar for, I'll buy used with verifiable service records.

Also a fan of the CPO option. Particularly with the amount of tech in many of the late models. Also a 4Runner fan currently driving my 5th. There lies the rub. Not many deals on late model 4Runners at dealerships.

For online shopping, take a look at Auto Tempest. It allows you to search a bunch of the big sites at once. Kinda like Kayak for cars.

I have bought all my used vehicles at a Manheim Auto Auction since around 1990. These auctions are usually open to dealers only.

They have anything you want from cars and trucks under a year old to cars from the 60's; some are low mileage (1000 or so) some are beaters with over 200K. If you get there early enough you can test drive any vehicle you're interested in at the in house test track.

I love 4Runners but with those kind of miles I would consider a RAV4 or Honda CRV. New RAV4s are larger in this generation (about the size of older 2nd or 3rd gen 4Runners) and far better fuel economy.

quote:

Originally posted by GRIZZLYBEAR:
I have bought all my used vehicles at a Manheim Auto Auction since around 1990. These auctions are usually open to dealers only.

They have anything you want from cars and trucks under a year old to cars from the 60's; some are low mileage (1000 or so) some are beaters with over 200K. If you get there early enough you can test drive any vehicle you're interested in at the in house test track.

Sooooo, then how does an 'average' person get into one of these?

As to the CPO...I simply buy an extended warranty with the vehicle (you of course have to find a good one with decent mileage to start). Probably about the same as what the dealer bumps the price to call it a 'CPO.'

Yeah, everyone says that's a waste of $$...but its like any insurance...most folks pay for years and years without ever making a claim. It's not for the small ticket items...it for when they say 'The tranny and computer are shot...that'll be $5,700.'

Boss

I have used the app Car Guru. Set my search perimeter and keep checking. I’d recommend checking auto trader and other apps as well. Some dealers will post on all while some post only on a few.

It’s a good guide based on actually sales nearby.

quote:

Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
Friend at work just got a 4Runner, they cost so much used, he just bought a new one. Nice truck.

This. Email the internet sales person at several Toyota dealers and get their best prices. Then get them working for your business.

Hertz sells former rentals.

https://www.hertzcarsales.com/...=30141&geoRadius=500

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

quote:

Originally posted by gibby29:

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
You seem like a good candidate for a CPO car from a dealer. Especially if Toyota offers a fixed term but unlimited mileage CPO - not sure if that’s their deal or not.

Most CPOs I see are 1 year/100K. You’re probably right. I’m out of most new car warranties within a year or two anyways.

I'm not sure the CPO is the way to go here. You drive ~ 50K miles/year, and even the best CPO usually warranty's extend the original warranty to 100K miles total. Even if you found a CPO w/ 25K miles on it, you've only got 75K miles of remaining coverage, which would be less than two years.

Probably not a great suggestion, but the Porsche CPO is 2yr (on top of whatever factory warranty remains) and unlimited mileage. You can get 6 month old dealer loaner Macan/Cayennes with 3.5 years factory warranty remaining + 2 years CPO warranty that have already taken the depreciation hit.

It’s the best CPO in the business, by far.

quote:

What’s the best deal in the used market?

We just bought a '13 Outback used. Our experience is that we used Car Gurus for most of the shopping, but drove local when we could find deals, and then also contacted the dealers on CarGurus when we found one that was a decent deal. We had a lot of info going into the process (Thanks to SigForum and other people), and so we were able to narrow it down quickly.

There were tons of dealers on CarGurus that were very quick to respond, and very helpful. Cars from Illinois seemed cheaper and very well maintained. (Fleet cars?)

I'd say 2 of every 3 dealers offered to ship the car to a local dealer.

Do not try to use cash. We wanted to pay cash - just write a check - and we got a severe dressing down from family (my brother was in the auto industry for years and years). "Either get pre-approved for a loan and use it, or go in and say you're pre-approved and right when they have you sign the paperwork, change your mind and pay with check, but they'll hate you." Apparently there's not enough meat on the bone to even bother with cash these days. Dealers want spiffs and kickbacks from lending institutions, and cash doesn't help the auto dealer carry as many cars as perks from their lending institutions do. I never even realized how cut-throat the auto industry is now.

Other than that, I'm sure all the other information here is great too.

Good luck!

Cargurus.com

4runners depreciate very slowly. Sometimes you are better off buying new then used as the savings aren’t much opting for used.

I look at several sites: Autotrader, Carfax, Carmax, KBB...

Also look at local dealers as well (looking for recent >2017 Tacoma Off Road in the next few mos).

Carmax is higher but most of their cars are very good quality. They make a lot of $$ off of the service contracts they sell, and if the cars are lemons and in the shop frequently on Carmax's dime... Don't know diddly about Carvanna just that I will never buy a car I don't drive first so its irrelevant to me. Personally (hope I am not stepping on toes here) I think Carvanna is for young people who don't want to have to learn how to buy a used car the proper way so they take a short-cut (which comes at a premium).

Carfax a must to know history: like has it been on northern roads and salt for several seasons, was it sold in auction and where. Have been told by a dealer that the really good trade-in cars go CPO, the others to auction. Probably some truth in that but YMMV.

KBB for pricing. I seem to recall that Carfax usually includes some info on that as well: the price range you can expect to see for specific car model years.

Just off lease: 3 yrs old (e.g. look for a 2018 this Summer that was sold in 2017 as new model year). I recently bought a Honda Accord V6 CPO from the same dealer that leased it out 3 yrs prior. 32k miles

Go to Consumer Reports and look at the historical reliability by model and year.

Most of all, be patient. Look around.

You aren’t looking at the cheapest used car option out there. Lol. Doubt you will save much the way you are planning. Lot of options with come in cheaper and save $$$ over the long haul. 20 mpg sucks. I like 4runners though so I don’t blame you.

quote:

Originally posted by Veeper:

quote:

What’s the best deal in the used market?

We just bought a '13 Outback used. Our experience is that we used Car Gurus for most of the shopping, but drove local when we could find deals, and then also contacted the dealers on CarGurus when we found one that was a decent deal. We had a lot of info going into the process (Thanks to SigForum and other people), and so we were able to narrow it down quickly.

There were tons of dealers on CarGurus that were very quick to respond, and very helpful. Cars from Illinois seemed cheaper and very well maintained. (Fleet cars?)

I'd say 2 of every 3 dealers offered to ship the car to a local dealer.

Do not try to use cash. We wanted to pay cash - just write a check - and we got a severe dressing down from family (my brother was in the auto industry for years and years). "Either get pre-approved for a loan and use it, or go in and say you're pre-approved and right when they have you sign the paperwork, change your mind and pay with check, but they'll hate you." Apparently there's not enough meat on the bone to even bother with cash these days. Dealers want spiffs and kickbacks from lending institutions, and cash doesn't help the auto dealer carry as many cars as perks from their lending institutions do. I never even realized how cut-throat the auto industry is now.

Other than that, I'm sure all the other information here is great too.

Good luck!

Yep.

On-line car selling has cut (gut?) the margins in car sales quite a bit I suspect. Those of us around before the internet remember having to search the likes of the newspaper deals and Autotrader magazines (paperback)...which if you were lucky showed one black & white photo of the 'good' side of the car and the dealer gave the 'not to my knowledge' responses to things like 'Has it ever been wrecked?'

Now, totally different ball game with likes of Carfax, CarGuru's, etc. With a few clicks, you can see many, many versions of a car within 200 miles, with numerous full color photos and details, ratings, listed from great deal to way over priced. You can hop on your phone and 'shop' instantly to see if a deal is good or not.

FWIW, CarGuru's and Carfax seemed to have the easiest to use websites...most importing info on a particular vehicle right up front on the 'main' page so you didn't have to go looking/clicking for it.

If you have USAA, they also offer online shopping and/or financing...might be worth looking into...sometimes they get some better deals others don't.

One other 'trick'...look at higher end dealers...BMW, Mercedes, Audi lots for vehicles that people have traded in to 'upgrade.' Not so much with a '4Runner,' but most of these lots look 'down' on used non-luxury 'off' brands (not what they normally sell) and can be more motivated to get them off the lot without trying to squeeze ever last dollar out of you. It doesn't look good to have a used $8K Accord in with other high end cars and taking up real estate where they could put nice new car and make more $$ off of (particularly in a cramped lot). That happened with my last purchase...the salesman was rather disinterested in the vehicle I was buying...he was used to selling/driving much higher end stuff...the vehicle I purchased was really sort of 'yeah, whatever...don't know about much it, don't really care. *Yawn*' IIRC, he said he wasn't really sure why they even had it on their lot (his ignorance, my gain). And higher end lots might be inclined to do a better inspection/service without trying to cut every corner (mine came with new brakes and rotors all the way around)...they *might* a bit more image/reputation conscious.

4Runner, as previously said, depends on how old/used you're looking for. If you're putting 50K a year on the odometer, you're probably just better buying a new one.

Otherwise, perhaps look at a brand with a higher mileage warranty.

$.02 worth.

Boss

Tesla dealers get lots of higher end trades, they are sought after big time by the larger Auction houses generally they just auction them off and don't deal with the used business.

Find a local auction shopper for you, tell them what you want and let them go to the auction, buy it and away you go without the dealer hassle and mark up...