Am I crazy to sell 2013 Tacoma?

Great advice mudd. I have financed one car in my life and that’s it. I have not had a car payment in 30 years. Never by a new truck and pay cash for it when I do. It crazy these folks who will by a new 40k truck just foolish. It’s amazing when your debt free how much money you have for things you like to do and that make you happy all the while knowing you owe no one anything ie banks.

 

Agreed with your last sentence especially. Not everyone wants the hassle of owning a house though, but I do agree it makes the most financial sense plus long term stability in life.

 

Take a Dave Ramsey class, together with your wife. It's worthless if you don't play as a team. Learn to budget and the methods to debt payoff.

Sell the Tacoma.

Get by on one car for a good period of time. Or buy a low TCO appliance vehicle with modest miles and well maintained. Corolla, Civic, Elantra, etc.

It will be an uncomfortable time period, but when you are ultimately debt free, it feels really good.

And no fretting over markets, interest rates and even job risks become less impactful. Regardless of the idea of have debt here at x% and invest that capital here at x+2%. Sure, that can 'work', but it doesn't take a lot to upset that apple cart.

BTW, while I like Dave Ramsey a lot (common sense, which isn't common anymore) I do not agree with nor abide by everything he espouses. However, there is nothing wrong with someone who is already in a bit of a whole doing so. Once you are clear, then maybe tweak your plan if you have the self discipline to deal with it.

Good luck!

 

if u have a Plan B for another vehicle u cold sell the truck for a profit

 

@felix1776, are you mechanically inclined and able to maintain older vehicle? If not, you could very well spend the same over the next 3-5 years buying and maintaining a 2006 4 runner as you would just keeping the Tacoma. Plus, I assume you'd be financing the 4Runner and on a vehicle that old the interest rate is likely going to be materially higher than on the Tacoma.

Personally, I'd look for other ways to cut expenses. If you have cable, get rid of it. Start meal prepping for the week to eliminate eating out. Just those two things can save $200+ a month. Take that extra money and pay down the highest rate debt you have first, then move to the next highest. Keep after it and you can get things paid off and then start saving.

 

Start with the debt at the higest intrest rate

 

Going back to post title.....

"Am I crazy to sell 2013 Tacoma?"

Given your situation...NO.

Sell the truck. Why? Because it sounds like you have the option of living with 1 car for awhile. The $$$ you pay monthly for the truck may now be used to pay off something else. Get rid of the truck; then do what 81shark said.

After you are debt free and have some cash, you can buy a 2nd vehicle - paying cash.

 

I agree with @stickyTaco, I have never and may never ever pay for Cable nor Internet.
I have an antenna with the smart TV.
I could Hotspot my iPhone to the TV if I want to watch You Tube Videos
Wi-fi would be nice... It's a convenience and not a necessity like water and electric.
I spent most of the 1990's in my 20's with-out a phone.
I didn't need it. I knew what time I had to be at work and it was a non-issue.
Of course, we did have pay-phones back in those days, so there was an emergency option.

 

Another way to look at this is you have been making payments on the truck for 1 1/2 years, and you still owe what it's currently worth. That's a horrible position to be in. I would only expect that to happen on a brand new vehicle. Sell it and chalk it up to an expensive learning lesson.

 

I won't sell it if you are going to buy a t4r. You are going to buy a vehicle you know nothing about and will probly have similar or more miles than the truck you have now. So you will need to do just as much or more maintenance than your current truck. All too save a few bucks a month. If you need a 4runner sell both cars and buy one. Or just keep the truck, you know the history and condition of it. Pay it off and keep it for those brutal winters in Colo

 

Asking for financial advice on TW is like asking your drug dealer if you should switch from Heroin to Advil. LOL

 

I hate to say it, Around here, you'll probably not get $22K for a 2013 W/ over 100K mi. I wouldn't sell it & have to get a loan to pay it off, I'd just keep paying till I could get out from under it. If you can sell it, "DO NOT" borrow for a replacement, When financing a vehicle, the main biggest loss, "that you can never get back", is the interest. If you sell the Taco & finance something else, you're still losing the interest. Little beaters can be had for $2K to $3K, Without the Taco pymt. you can have that pretty quick, as long as you have the discipline to not let that payment go somewhere else. My neighbor has a little "06" Kia, clean as a pin, with under 100K mi, he said he'd take $3K for. You'd never be proud of the style & comfort, but you'd sure be proud of the $500 to $700 per mo. you're not paying for it. As said earlier, teamwork with the wife & discipline will be your best friends. And your other friends won't give a hoot if you are driving a $30K Taco or a $3K beater. Gosh, won't this make you sick. You've paid, just guessing, $500 pr. mo. for 18 mo. = $9000. If you're lucky enough to get what you owe now out of the truck, you'll have exactly nothing. Wasn't that a $9000 bargain??? Good luck !!

 

Very good points. That's pretty much the whole hang up for me: Keeping what I've got and knowing its history but owing a massive amount vs buying something cheap and taking my chances.

I do currently "own" i.e have a mortgage for a townhouse but buying a real house is definitely in my plans for the near future. More reason for me to dump this truck debt.

Funny you mention Dave Ramsey. I am very well versed on him. Read all his books but haven't done the class. He's largely the reason we're having this conversation in the first place. He made me realize just how awful vehicles are from a personal finance perspective.

I am fairly mechanically inclined. I've done quite a bit of shadetree wrenching in the past when I was too broke to afford repairs. I've done brakes, oil changes, wheeling bearings, cv axles, starters, fuel pumps and the like. Never done any big engine rebuilds or anything though. My parents have a place just up the road with a nice garage and my old man is a helicopter/jet mechanic so he's pretty skilled and has a mountain of tools.

I've pretty much already trimmed almost all of the fat off my lifestyle. No cable for 5 years. No fancy dinners, no vacations. We live very modestly. I'm pretty into fitness so meal prepping has been a way of life for years. I rarely ever eat out. We do have phones and internet but those are required due to both of our jobs.

The truck was a terrible decision financially. I'm full aware and it has been an expensive lesson indeed. I only bought it because my last truck, an F250, had become overkill for my needs and was beginning to need repairs.

I definitely considered that especially after looking at so many big $$$ build threads but I wanted to tap into the collective knowledge/wisdom here.

You're pretty dang close on those numbers. The investment of $9k seems to be a good reason to keep it but if you're in a hole it's best to stop digging.

 

It only makes financial sense to sell the truck if you intend on using your wife's vehicle and becoming a one vehicle household. Let's say you sell the truck and best case break even, then you turn around and buy another vehicle for 10-12k.Yes that may sound like a lot of savings,but in actuality it isnt. You are putting yourself into an unknown 10k vehicle, with unknown history which may need costly work in the future, oh and you are taking on a other loan to fund that vehicle!
Either keep the truck, or sell it and become a one vehicle household. Selling and going into another vehicle is pennywise pound foolish. You sound like you have your head on straight with finances, but at the same time vehicles seem like a costly vice for you!

 

The one vehicle household thing would really only work for maybe a few months. I'd have to get another vehicle, however cheap, at some point. The funny part of this whole thing is that I've always drove older high mileage vehicles. This tacoma was the first and only nice vehicle I've ever owned. The wife's car is very modest.

 

I listen to Dave Ramsay all the time. I like his approach a lot, especially how aggressive it is in attacking debt. Listening to him finally got me on a budget and the money I've saved is crazy. Anyway, I think he would tell you to sell the truck and get a beater. That would be the most aggressive way to attack your debt. That sucks because we all love our trucks here, but just to pay that truck loan off will give you some big momentum right out of the gate, and get rid of that payment. I don't know your household income, but your student loan debt isn't horrible. If you can commit to a budget you'll knock that out in no time.

I agree with others though, selling the Taco for an older 4R with 2x mileage is crazy and is would result in another loan. I'd be looking for a Civic/Accord/Corolla/Camry.

Remember, car loans, credit cards and student loans keep the middle class separated from their money.

Good luck, you can definitely do it in short order!

 

BTW what was up with the head gasket? The truck is a V6 right?

 

Everyone seems so afraid of older cars. Maybe I'm lucky but my experience has been they aren't that bad . . . depending. My wife's car (Suzuki) is 21 years old and as reliable as clockwork. My son's car (Honda) is 13 years old and has 245K miles. He's saving for a replacement, but he's hoping to get to 300K before he pays cash for a newer used one.

Sell the truck. Buy an older car of a reliable brand, that gets good gas mileage. Start paying your debt off, highest interest first. While you're doing that work towards getting better paying jobs, advance your career with more education, certs, etc.

And, this is the most important part. When your debt is gone, DO NOT RUSH OUT AND BUY A NEW CAR! Keep saving until you can pay cash for a good used car. Then keep saving and after that, keep saving. And, when you are finished with that, retire early while you are still young enough to enjoy it. I've been following my own advice for a good long while and for me having older cars in the driveway and NOT having to go to work is soooo worth it.

 

I think you're right. Pretty sure Old Dave would tell me to dump the truck. It's my mission in life that once I get out of debt, no more debt ever, except for maybe my house. I'm definitely rethinking the older 4runner idea now. They're really too expensive for how old and how much mileage a lot of them have. Being in Colorado and dealing with winter and being an outdoorsman, I really need something that is at least AWD. Thinking maybe an older Subaru now.

My truck has the 4.0. I went in for an oil change last November and they told me one of my head gaskets were blown. I didn't really believe them at first because I hadn't had any issues but I did a bunch of research and got a second opinion so it seemed legit. It was right before christmas and I had a long road trip planned (2000+ miles) so I didn't dare take the chance on it. It was covered under warranty so I was only out of pocket about $150 on a $2800 repair. It's been fine ever since.

I've always had good luck with the older vehicles I've owned. Pretty much everything I've ever owned had over 150k on it. Never had a major repair needed until the F250 I bought about 3 years ago. It was an 06 V8 auto with 150k when I bought it. Wound up putting a tranny in that one ($3300) and about a $900 tune up a month before that. In fairness, I was pulling a 7000# camper through the mountains and deserts of CO, UT, and NV at the time.

When all this debt is finally gone, I'll be a cash only buyer from now on. Guarantee it.

 

Keep it unless you have legit mechanical know how and are willing to wrench because an older vehicle will have you replace things and break even if it's a Toyota.

Cut corners elsewhere, eat out less, get a cheaper phone plan, don't go out as much etc, all that crap adds up