Appraisal

@cosmicfires OP has a 4x2. However there are some other HI users (and build/trip report threads) with some awesome looking trails on the islands.

Couldnt tell you which island or how hard it is to get there, though...

 

Suck it up and keep the truck. In the long run you will be ok. Tacomas hold their value

 

Sorry OP couldn't find anything for value and don't want to give wrong info. One old school way to get some extra gas money is to car pool ,and tell your buddies to pitch in for gas.You are very lucky to have what you have at such a young age ,I'm sure your parents would like you to stay in the Tacoma and won't mind helping out for gas every now and then .I'm not rich and I would always help my children out. Hope this helps good luck

 

I live on the Big Island, regular gas at Costco is $2.25. Yet, I see plenty of people paying $3.00 bucks or more per gallon at the local gas stations. Why?? Too lazy, they shop at the local market, yet Safeway's ad prices are usually very good. It's like they just don't get it.... I have found many locals have shitty credit, they just don't take care of their bills. Also, I think the basic educational level and common sense is low. The parents probably either have bad credit or got bent over on the interest rate. Plus, these trucks sell at a premium here, if they didn't try to negotiate, could of easily paid 2k over MSRP.

Lastly, I drive about 6000 miles per year, who knows where or why the op puts on his mileage. Toyota's really hold their value over here, I'm sure the op could easily sell for only a couple of thousand less than current MSRP.

 

See this is part of the problem with this generation. It's parenting. A brand new Lexus in high school. Many kids now a days fail to understand the value of things which leads to lack of appreciation for things in life. I have seen countless kids under this same sernario become dis functional grown ups later in life

 

Couldn't agree with you more. You earn through hard work you will appreciate it more. Vote Bernie!(I'm Kidding)

 

We don't know this guy .he seems like he knows what he wants ,he may have been mowing grass since he was 12 years old to come up with the down payment ,he just wants to know what it's worth ,and advice on getting something else so he don't get screwed .seems pretty OK to me

 

A brand new Lexus for a high schooler. Too much too fast can only lead to disaster in the end

 

I'm 36 and just got my first (new to me) 2013 Tacoma last year which is the newest vehicle I've ever purchased. I walked back and forth to high school and during the evenings or weekends I was driving my parents old, rusted junk VW but I was thankful I had something to get from point A to Point B. In university I took the bus and had a 16 year old Nissan Pulsar NX. Lucky kids I see these days driving these gorgeous vehicles in high school and university compared to when I was in that stage of my life. For 7.5k you could have gotten a decent used starter car and had no monthly payments.

 

I haven't read any of these 5 pages of replies, but I'll give you my 2c based on the lessons I've learned:

1. If your parents are paying your insurance, then you cannot afford the vehicle's maintenance, and thus cannot afford the vehicle itself.
2. If you have to finance it, you cannot afford it. I've financed three of my vehicles (started at your age), so believe me on this. This goes for vehicles, furniture, weddings, and absolutely everything else. The only exceptions are a) mortgage, and b) having the cash for full-amount in hand, but being offered a very low finance interest rate, allowing you to invest that cash (for a higher return %) and come out on top.

I'm sorry to say this, but by allowing/encouraging the setup you've got, your parents are showing you a very bad example and setting you up for bad financial decisions down the line.

Go on Amazon, get a copy of "Millionaire Teacher," and read it. It reads very easily, and has excellent advice on how to manage (and invest) your money.

 

I received a one year old GMC Sierra when I turned 16. It was a Z71 GFX edition too with the 350 in it. I loved that truck.

In order to get it I had to keep in the top 3 in grades at my school of 150 kids at my grade level. At no point did I ever own it, my parents did, and they made sure I knew it. I had to also pay for the insurance, which was 3.5K a year because of my age (they registered the truck under my dads name with me as a driver, which lead to me paying the rate for a 16 yo here which is BAD). I also had to prove that I was spending no more than half of my income on the truck and socking the other half away for school.

It taught me a lot of good lessons. Plus I got a really nice and safe ride compared to some of my buddies. One of which died in a rollover in an older truck... Basically my point of view is that it's okay to give your kid a nice ride but at all times you should control how they get it and the targets they have to hit to keep it should be high.

 

OP, you should look into trying to refinance your auto loan. You might be able to lower your monthly payments by getting a lower interest rate.

 

If you're concerned with saving money, I would just try to get it refinanced with your parents as a cosigner. It'll still be in your name, but also theirs to give you a better rate. I don't see anything wrong with him getting the truck. He saved up enough for a decent down payment and financed half of it. Sure some of you guys can afford to save up for 15 years and pay it off in full, but not everyone can or wants to do that. Some of you will say that you sold your last car and used that to pretty much pay for the next one. Guess what....maybe that's what he was thinking as well. If he keeps it and finished schooling, it'll be paid for. It'll be worth quite a bit and he can sell it privately and pay for the next one in full. We don't know the whole story so some of you should get over yourself. I would have loved to have a nice car during school to sell after college for a decent amount to get a decent car. It didn't happen that way. Sold my high school car for $1500. Can't get too much with that.

 

BINGO.....I was shocked to see he was in HS!!! I did not get my first new vehcile until I was in my late 40's and ultimately retiring at 58.
If I bought new cars for the past 30 years I would still be working, Tens of thousands of dollars lost in depreciation in life when people need to be setting themselves up for retirement. Now We can afford to pay cash...

Coming up my friends (who are all still working and struggling) rationalized "Why not? We could die tomorrow"....Silly retort. None of us died (go figure) but most of them are still working and struggling to get by. But they had nice cars and expensive clothes and watches at a young age, while we struggled to pay off a home with every extra cent. Having a paid off home at 37 years old and never made another house payment despite moving from the west to the east,.

Talking about rolling negative equity into a faster depreciating vehicle is silly, as the cost of that would certainly be higher than just keeping the truck for a few years.

 

RE: paying off house early and retiring -- wholly depended on your location.

The median house price here is 2.1 Million. Not many folks can pay that off by 37.

 

No he won't. It depreciates just like any car, just a little slower. No right minded person would spend 35k (let's just say that is what the truck cost) on a two year old truck that was 35k new with 25k miles on it when they can go buy a 2 year newer model with 0 miles. Get real.

Tyler

 

There are lot's of dealers here that sell used Tacoma's for 98% value of new. I obviously think like you and wondered why would anyone do that.

I've been told by one dealer is that a lot of folks can't get financing for new cars, but... can get financing for USED cars. I have no way of confirming this as I don't work in the industry, but it seems plausible.

 

I never said he'll get 35k back if you read the rest of the thread you'll find that he said he put down 15k for it that's what I meant when I said he'll get his money back
And get real "really" like how people try and act tough in front of a computer screen

 

Really I tried to tried my Tacoma in for an fj once I went to a few dealers hey always said its easier to get a new one vs an old one something about the back and stuff like that unless they just wanted to pin a new one on me