Toyota: Why pay for resale value if you never intend to re-sell? (yes, I changed the title)

So YOU are the guy personally responsible for the cost of Tacomas

 

Ok, Op can be just mad at me. Hope that makes him feel better now.

 

That's easy. The sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light.

 

I believe at the current moment he is driving his Nike's.

 

Holy crap, this thread is still going! I was going to edit the original title to something less inflammatory like "Should you buy Toyota if you have no interest in re-sale value", but this is much more fun!

At present I am driving a much-abused 1996 2.7 liter single cab, in Florida, with no AC... I'm not a Nike fan. I do have nice shoes but they are gifts. Any clothes I have that aren't secondhand are gifts... I'm _that guy_ cheap...

 

YOU!!!

 

Where'd you gett he GIF? Is that an SNL skit? Oh, Seth Meyers!

 

A secret undisclosed location.

 

Tacomas are STUPID OVER PRICED, like doesn't even make slight sense to buy used if you ask me. I also see a good deal of them here just for show, use the thing like a truck and people slam you for "abusing" it. I beat the hell out of mine, sides are all beat up, it's a tool to get me where I wanna go I don't give two shits what it looks like. I'd rather eat the thing than spend the day waxing it or avoiding roads that will give me pinstripes!

But, why a Tacoma, I mean, I have a $900 F250 inline 6 that would put my Tacoma to shame in most areas. The Tacoma is IFS so it's basically an offroad toy not a serious contender, it's costly as hell, I mean, when I think about it 2I'm willing to just call it the perfect compromise. It's good at a lot and great at nothing, you pay a price for how many things it's good at but there isn't a single thing it's the best for.

And honestly, I love TW, this place is amazing but I can't say as a rule I like Tacoma owners, I don't know why or what but overall there's something annoying about them. I'm sure that sounds all kinda wrong, I own one and I'm here in the forum but that doesn't mean it's less true. I think red block Volvos are without question the best vehicle ever made and I've owned at least 20 of them and I feel the same way about Volvo owners. I'll toss Subaru in that mix too while I'm at it.

 

I use my Taco to tow my trailer with my mower around to my rentals... I put my trimmer, bags of mulch, bales of pinestraw, yard debris, etc on the back, sometimes I haul my 4wheeler. So yes, I do use it like a truck, but that doesn't mean I can't get out there and wash and wax it. I take care of everything I own, hell I even wash my lawnmower occasionally. Just because you see a Tacoma that looks nice doesn't mean the owner doesn't "use it like a truck". I have no desire to go mud riding or rock climbing (don't have that here) with my truck, that's not what I bought it for, if I want to do that I'll use my 4 wheeler.

 

I remember back in the late 80's/early 90's, around here it wasn't the Toyota pickups that were popular, but rather the Nissan hardbody 4x4, everybody wanted one. When Nissan came out with the Frontier it's like former Nissan buyers jumped ship and went over to Toyota, and I think that's when you started seeing the big difference in resale value between the two.

 

Man you got to pay to be in the club, around here driving a tacoma is like a status symbol

 

Is that the Volvo diesel? My ultimate vehicle would be a Small diesel engine in a 4X4 pickup, like they sell in the rest of the world. Auto manufacturers here rigged the market to kill small diesel imports (but that's another story).

I've seen a few 2010-2015 used Tacomas selling for what they would sell for new lately. The sales reps are so smug when I ask them if they will come down, and what'd they give the guy in trade for it... they really don't give a shit. Newer Tacoma owners are a club I don't generally like (except for some folks on here) and I'm reminded why when people tell me about resale value as their main motivation in buying.... Cars aren't an investment (except for some rare/classic) They are a depreciating asset. I'm going to use anything I buy until it completely wears out. I don't care what it looks like. I don't care what Chet and his soccer mom wife with the private school kids are going to pay me for it in 2 years. If it's still running I'm never selling it.

I also don't buy a house in a deed restricted subdivision just to sell it later and then maybe 20 years down the road buy where I actually want to live in the first place. I buy in the location I love on land with privacy and never look back and never plan on moving.

(somehow I feel like 95% of new Tacoma owners live in deed restricted subdivisions)

 

You're right, every vehicle is a depreciating asset, however some lose value much sooner than others. Everyone's life is different, and you never know when something unexpected will happen... you could get sick, or laid off from your job, or maybe have a need for a different vehicle. If you buy a fast depreciating vehicle, and it's financed for a lengthy term, you're STUCK with it for the first half of the loan.

In my younger years I have had cars that I was upside down on, and it's not a good experience. I remember being 19 and trying to trade my Chevy Monte Carlo after one year, that salesman told me "son, you're married to that thing, there's nothing I can do for you".

 

I buy new cars and trucks because that's what I want and can afford them. I buy old used cars to fix up and sell for a profit. There is always someone who will come along and pay that ridicules price for a toy because they just have to have it. Here are just a few toys that I sold for a stupid amount of money.

 

I only buy what I can afford too, and everything I own today is paid for. I know that's not the case for most people though, and a large majority finance their vehicles. I was just pointing out that many people have been burned by having negative equity, and choose to minimize the chances of having it happen again. I've known many people who have said they'll "drive it to 200k", but that rarely happens.

There's generally two types of people, those who live for today, and those who plan for tomorrow... this even comes into maintenance, some are anal about preventative maintenance, while others say "hell with it, I'll fix it after it breaks".

 

I love your style and I'm right there with you but I think you meant depreciating liability not asset. If the first feature you saw when pulling up to my house was the garage I would leap from a tall building! I don't know how people end up with those lives but I'm thankful as shit not to have one!

The red block Volvos were the 70s, 80s, 90s, RWD 4 bangers, amazing cars. I've have them in every configuration from 2dr turbo to 4 door wagon and they were utterly solid. I'm with you on the diesels too though, the rest of the world got awesome trucks, we got the Tacoma and call it awesome cause it's the best of the worst.

Not to knock on people that "take care" of there truck but I can promise you all mine with run just as long with the one waxing every four years I give it. Some people just love doing it and for them it's awesome but that's not my thing and doesn't do it for me. I mean, it is IFS so I don't romp on it like a solid axle truck but I don't try to keep it pretty either. I have a friend with a F40 (that's his cheapest Ferrari) and he would be tending to that thing like a newborn, actually applying wax with his fingers. Never made sense to me honestly, I would have just driven the shit out of it so maybe I'm totally out of touch with reality.

 

My 05' Pre-Runner AC TRD-OR has 89k on the odometer. Prior to the purchase the Yota dealer in south FL replaced the frame and related suspension components.

The Atlantic ocean was not kind to this truck, and neither was I when I first purchased it. The state of the various component systems are good overall. However, as a result of my spirited off road adventures I am now needing to rebuild the entire brake system as well as replace the torched struts/shocks.

Total parts cost is about $1000. For me the vehicle is a tool, not a toy. This has been an expensive lesson.

There must be a level of respect given to the world around you, in this case with the things we own. It stems from first having a high level of respect for oneself. A lack of which yields threads and posts like this.

 

I think a bro-mance may have begun here... hahaha... The only thing good about deed restricted subdivisions is that they keep the people who want that kind of life away from everyone else, like a self imposed prison.

Why did the big domestic auto makers want to kill the small diesel here? That's another good question. MPG and functionality on a 4 cylinder small displacement diesel would be awesome!

In terms of maintenance. I think there are studies that show that lubricants still perform their job far past recommended intervals (outside of extreme racing applications). The guys that want to change their dirtbike oil every 2 hours in the dirt or their car oil every 3k miles just enjoy doing that. It is their hobby. That's cool, the problem is when they start to accuse everyone else of being a slob for not being anal retentive. The only value things have to me are functional value. It's like people who choose to get up at 5 am everyday, work or no... that's awesome for them, but I can get just as much done from 11am to 3am on a day off as they can from 5 am to 9 pm. For some reason the morning people always think everyone else is "lazy" though. Must be nice to sit way up on that high horse.