Fair price for a Tacoma?

Hey everyone, I am going to a fairly small used car dealer right down the street tomorrow to check out one of these trucks. The dealer has a fairly good reputation around here, if that means anything. I have been driving my 98 civic (first car) for 11 years now, and it's finally time to get something newer.

2008 TRD Sport, 60k miles, 6 speed - Dealer asking $20k





Is this a fair price for the Tacoma? I could look at book values all day long but that isn't what they always actually sell for. Nothing bothers me more than a depreciating asset, which is why I've had such a hard time buying a vehicle. I am generally a terrible negotiator, haha.

Also, what's the best way to buy? Should I drop most of my house-down payment money and pay cash? Put half down & finance half? My civic is probably worth $500 trade in.. I might be better off selling that independently.. but it's not going to make much of a dent.

I plan on buying a house in about a year, and I think the truck would be useful. I don't see myself beating the hell out of it off-road, but I would like a vehicle capable in our Massachusetts snow (it's really not that bad, though I like driving on those snowy nights). Either way, I'd like a vehicle that can last me another 10 years, and maybe this can be the one!

 

yes this one can and they only last if u take care of them and do the maintenance. if u abuse it then u better take extra care of it. Check the frame for rusty spots and is it 4x4? if not then the price needs to go down some. 20k is his listed price im sure he will go down a tad. You have to make a decision on how to pay for it. Check and see if the 60k maintenance was done adn make sure it has good tires and shocks.

 

prolly 27-28 for a trd brand new and a few more for the dbl cab.

 

Looks clean. Check for signs of accident and usual stuff, but I'd buy

 

First, no price the dealer is asking is a good price.

Not sure where you are, but in my area, that truck is worth about $17-$18k. I would offer $17k.

For your situation, you have to be honest with yourself. You want to buy a house, and I don't blame you. I would too! Don't buy this truck if it means no house, PERIOD!

Also, you will get much more for your civic by selling to a private party than trading it in at the dealer. I too came from a civic (2001). The dealer was gonna give me $1,500 trade in. I ended up selling it private party and got $4,500 for the civic.

 

I would highly recommend looking at NEW ones ...and see what kind of pricing you can get on a new one (cough INVOICE cough).

Because, for a few thousand more...you can have a nice shiny new one without any previous owner headaches.

Unless of course, you can chew the guy down A LOT.

What are the specs on it?

And yes...you should Kelly Blue book it all day long. You should also look at www.cars.com and www.autotrader.com and compare other dealers/ prices.

As for the civic....it's hard to say and depends. Again, more research. Take the civic in and see what they'll give you for it if you buy a new truck. They'll give you MORE for trade on a new truck (and a loan) than a used one. I tried to sell my 2004 Dodge Ram privately (was only 3 years old). I dropped the price multiple times. The Toyota dealer gave me 'asking price' for the RAM as a trade-in. I was super surprised!!

 

Totally missed the house comment. What is your debt/income ratio? Buying a new car and financing it may prevent you from being approved for a home loan, or limit what you're able to finance on a home. Neither is worth a truck. Unless you're sitting really flush I would keep the Civic until you've closed on any home purchase and THEN replacing your Civic.

If you have to finance more than what you can pay off within a year without touching your down payment fund then I would NOT buy.

 

Wow, thank you for the ridiculously fast responses!

The truck is 4WD.

Here is a full link to the ad:
http://www.longmeadowmotorcars.com/...-MA-Torrington-Hartford/used_car/I9wXG88g96I=

I can't tell for sure but it seems to have always been brought to the same place for maintenance / inspection.. so it seems it might be a one owner?

http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/Report.cfx?partner=BDW_0&vin=5TEUU42N18Z572132#DetailSection

If I like it and it looks clean, maybe I will throw the $17k offer as suggested out there. I am blessed with being a very hard sell. I am not easily parted from my money!

Even in "fair" condition (private party) on KBB, which i think my car falls under, it is only about $1700. I suppose that may blur the line a bit trade in vs sell myself.

Ok, now onto the money part. I am a bit old to be living at home (27).. but fortunately it has allowed me to save quite a bit. Total I have saved is about $36k. I make a few figures more than that per year.. My only debt is my college loan, which I just started throwing $1k a month at and it will be gone by April.

Financially, I think I am doing pretty well, and I think a big part of that is because I've been driving the same car for so long. As I said, this is a once-in-10-year thing for me, so I'm trying to be smart about it haha.

Again, I really appreciate the help here!

 

What's 20% of home prices in your area for a home you would be interested in buying? Have that plus another 10% in savings. In addition to truck money.

36k for a down payment here iis less than 1/3 of down payment needed for the average single family home prices of existing construction 3 bed 2 bath.

 

I bet! California is crazy expensive haha.

I am currently single with no kids or anything like that, so I am not in a rush to buy. Plus, my living at home is just my mother & me, so I help out around the house, especially with lawn work & snow in the winter. There are some decent houses around $170k here, but if I can get to the $220k range I could be really happy. So I am getting close to that 20%. 3 bed 2 bath can be had in both price ranges, I'd want at least 1,400 sq ft. I need 2 sections in a house - recording studio & a workshop haha. I also don't mind if they need a little work, I enjoy those types of projects.

Right now the civic needs quite a lot - Clutch is going out, exhaust is rusted, the windows are pretty shot, heat doesn't work, radio doesn't work, I think it needs a new sway bar, it has wheel well rust, and some body damage from being hit by other people / when I hit black ice and swiped a guardrail. I used to enjoy the pride in a vehicle, but with the repairs it will take just to keep it running and pass inspection in october, I feel like it's time to let it go...

My buddy said that the dealership is all auction cars. The carfax shows it being traded in at a Benz dealership before these guys got it. Why would the Benz dealer just put it up for auction? Seems a little fishy.

 

For a house in CA as a first time buyer you only need to put down around $3000 out of pocket. that's what I did when I bought my house in Victorville.
I wouldn't buy a new car my self I think you loose to much driving off the lot I would just talk down the used a bunch.

 

Traded in my doublecab 2008 sport prerunner loaded up with 60k last year for 16k, dealer sold it for 17k thats here in NJ. The price is high on that truck, I would offer 16k, settle at 17k with dealer.

 

Here's my gut feeling on both issues:

1) You got your money's worth out of the Civic. Needing all those repairs makes it a hard sell privately IMHO. I don't normally advise trade in over private sale, but in this case I think it might be less hassle ... and I've had friends tell me you can sometimes get some "wiggle room" in the negotiations on the trade in side. Work them down some on the selling price and then get them to come up some on the trade in side. My two cents on that issue FWIW.

2) Benz dealer probably sent it to auction because people don't regularly shop for Toyotas or Trucks at a Benz dealer.
New Car Dealers clear out a lot of used vehicles by sending them to auction. My truck was a lease turn in from a Toyota Dealer in Oregon picked up at auction by the used car dealer I bought it from up here.

Good luck to you.

 

I picked up my '06 privately for 17k. Although it's 2wd, 60k miles. But, that's florida.

 

FYI, I Bought a brand new 2014 SR5 V6 accesscab for 32k yesterday.

Price after freight and taxes : 40k

(Canadian)