What’s the best way to trade your current Tacoma in for a new one?

I don't think this is correct...if I understand you correctly. Toyota dealers won't offer you more than any other brand. To them, it's a used vehicle, period. They aren't fanboys, they're car dealers. You will get a wholesale bid that will likely be near as makes no difference the same as CarMax or a Mercedes dealer is going to give you. Every dealer in America knows the used Taco market is pretty hot, but they're going to take a look at Mannheim auto data and basically give you that. If it's a good vehicle, maybe they clean it up and retail it themselves. Worst case scenario, they can punt it on down the line at auction and not lose a penny. That's just how it works.

Look at local private sales to try to get a general idea of what you can sell it for yourself. Then go get a CarMax bid, then go talk to your preferred dealer about a trade on yours. Have a good idea of what numbers are real. Then figure out the delta between trading for less but offsetting sales tax on the new one and selling privately yourself. If that number is worth the pain in the ass it is to sell privately, then do that. It rarely makes sense in my experience.

 

We will have to agree to disagree with my first hand personal experience. It’s the games dealers play to get the most out of the deal. I’ve done it directly with back to back F150s and back to back Rams. The equity you retain vs switching models or brands is noticeable.

 

Exactly this. Toyota dealers (or same make dealers) don't give a shit if you're trading their brand or another. In fact it can often work against you because some dealers will pay a premium for Toyotas because the market for them is always super hot. However, a Toyota dealer isn't going to pay above auction for your trade unless they are screwing you on the new vehicle you're buying. Those that claim to get private party value (or above) on their trade aren't going to admit they over-paid for their new vehicle...they'll make up some bullshit that they also got it for a steal. Dealers are businesses, they aren't there to lose money wether it's their brand or not.

 

I can't say it will be the same for you, but my experience in tracking down my dream access cab manual ended up being very easy. I found one about 300miles away, and the dealership was happy to deliver it to me at no additional charge (and they picked up my trade in.) Did all of the purchasing/negotiation over the phone, and it was ezpz. I even paid less than MSRP, which can be kind of rare with Tacomas.

Maybe I got lucky - I bought it from a small town dealership that may have been struggling during the early covid days. But my point is that you don't need to resign yourself to waiting months for your truck - I think it's worth a little time talking to any dealerships (even if far away) that have what you're looking for in stock.

 

So you’re saying you have no leverage when trading the same model for the same model, just newer. A dealer can’t under-value the same thing they’re going to sell you. The numbers have to give one way or the other or they have to admit their vehicles do not hold value and lose the sale. You can’t have your cake and eat it too!

 

You're contradicting yourself. You're right, you can't have your cake and eat it too. If the auction value of your vehicle sucks, the dealer won't be in business long if they are going to give you more than auction value AND cut you a killer deal on new. It's simple. They aren't going to say, sorry our trucks don't hold their value for shit so we won't give you shit for your trade. They're going to play it up and try to make you think it's a strong offer. They're going to make money on one side of the deal or more likely both.

 

Dealers look at wholesale prices when looking at trade in values. They are going to flip it or if it’s a lower value vehicle send it to auction. Market value plus is what they will sell it for and make their money there. The game, as mentioned above, is to act like they are doing you a favor and giving you more only to roll that into the price of the new vehicle.

I just went through this. Dealer was going to give us $8500 on our 2009 TRD Sport. I sold it on Craigslist for $12,500 in less than 12 hours. Similar vehicles were selling for $13-14k at local dealers.

right now wholesale prices are very low and used cars are in high demand. Good time to sell it yourself if you don’t mind dealing with people looking at the vehicle. Craigslist charges $5 to post a vehicle add, Autotrader is upwards of $40 depending on add type. I would also buy a carfax report so you can show potential buyers it’s a safe buy.

 

That's exactly right...trading in an older model for a newer model means nothing. You have no leverage just because you're staying within the Tacoma family.

We talk about trading...which, is a slight misnomer. For the dealer, it's two transactions. They're buying your vehicle from you, then selling you a new one. When you bring yours in for trade, it doesn't matter what you bring in, there's a used car buyer/manager person who give it a quick look to establish a condition, evidence of repairs etc, grabs the vin, and runs it through the MMR database to see what that vehicle in same or similar condition is fetching at auction. That's it. One dollar over that number is pure risk. Not gonna happen. Sometimes they may call a friend or two at another dealer to see if they may be interested in buying it after they close your deal, but that's generally how it's done.

You can literally stroll into a Toyota dealer looking for a new Taco and bring your 2017 Porsche Turbo in to "trade" for the new vehicle. It doesn't matter. They're gonna buy it for whatever the wholesale number is and not a penny more.

If you are shown a trade in number that's materially different than what you see on kbb.com or from carmax, etc., congratulations! You just spotted the gamesmanship. They'll make that up somewhere by crafting a terrible deal somehow on the purchase price of the new one. And no, there not in the business of "admitting their vehicles don't hold value" or defending residual values. They want to shift vehicles under their floorplan as fast as possible.

 

You guys are totally missing the point. It is not about value, it is about leveraging a deal.

 

What leverage are you talking about?!?

 

Agree, what leverage.

1) they buy your truck for less than it’s worth and sell it at a profit to someone else.
2) they sell you a new truck and make a profit on the truck, possible add ons and even more if you finance with them.

 

Re-read my original post. In short, removing the BS excuses dealers try to use.

 

Yeah, people have to eat but some people also pay much more than other people. It’s not about value, it’s about negotiating.

 

You should not be seeing 2022 Tacoma's until around September or October, the Tundra's will probably show up earlier though because they will be the next Generation Platform.

 

Get a trade in quote from kbb.com. Print it and take it with you to the dealership.
Don't produce it until you agree on a price for the new truck. Just focus on the purchase price i.e. cash. Then produce the trade in quote.

 

I've always sold my trucks myself, then gone to a dealer to get the best deal. Usually i can do better dealing with a private individual. Whether one of those car companies, or a dealership their only out to make sure they get the lowest price out of you on a trade.

 

I mean, ok...you're not entirely wrong there it IS about negotiation. BUT, if you think you're going to get more for your Tacoma at a Toyota dealer than you would at the Honda or Chevy dealer that's right next door, you're crazy. It is simply a matter of what is the car's wholesale value. Period.

Same for "leverage". You think you have more leverage in the negotiation because you rolled up in another Tacoma? Again, no. It's a car deal, not a loyalty deal, and the guy responsible for putting the numbers together in the back last been working 6 days a week with two phones blowing up his ear at any given moment and is probably burnt to a crisp with exhaustion. He just doesn't give a damn what your trade is, only how fast he can turn it without having to show his boss bad numbers at the end of the month. You get about as much attention in the back room as you would walking up to the counter at McDonalds to order a #1 meal with a Coke.

If a Toyota dealer DOES offer you more than others nearby, like I said earlier, they're probably playing to your perception that there is some sort of "wink wink" brand loyalty and they're giving you the hook up somehow. Wrong! There are as many ways to bury that extra "value" you are getting on your trade as there are shapes of snowflakes in the sky.

Not saying this to be a difficult old crank. Just hoping to disarm common misconceptions about buying and selling cars. We all love our Tacos, that's why we're here. But the minute you walk into that store, it's just a used car and the new one you want to trade for is just a stock unit. Frankly, I think most folks would be well served to walk in there understanding they have no real leverage. You're up against a salesman, sales manager, used car manager and F&I manager who do this all day long for a living. Most average joes do it what, once every 4-5 years on average?

 

As mentioned, we will have to agree to disagree. I’ve mentioned my experience in the matter. How has your experience trading a car for the same car a few years later been?

 

Understand this the dealer isn't looking to sell your old truck and make no money on the deal. I'm sure the Nissan dealer will do very well on my 2018 Tacoma that I traded in this weekend. I picked my battle and selling privately, nope there's just too many shitty people in the world looking to waste your time and mental energy.

 

On a vehicle worth $5000 or so you can usually do a little better selling outright. But once you try to sell something worth $10K or more I've found it better to just trade.

Go to www.kbb.com Enter the information to determine your trucks value in your zip code. You will get 3 prices. One is what a dealer will be asking for that truck. The lower price is trade value. And the 3rd price is what you can expect to get for it if you sell to an individual. All of those will be within a range. For example they may say trade value is somewhere between $7500-$9000. Same with the other 2.

Where I live there is a 7.5% tax on vehicles. If I buy a new $40,000 vehicle outright I pay $3000 in taxes. If they offer me $12,000 in trade I only pay tax on $28,000 instead of the full $40,000. Or $2100 in taxes. That is a $900 tax savings, and I'd have to sell my used truck for at least $13,000, or about $1000 more than the dealer offered me in trade just to break even.

And there is the hassle, costs, and lost time of trying to sell. If I buy 1st then try to sell it could take months to get a price that beats what they offered in trade. And I'm paying insurance and taxes on both until I do sell it. I figure I need 10% over the trade offer just to break even and 20% to be worth my trouble.