Gotta sell or trade...

Well even though my modded 5lug base Taco has been a great truck, I am going to stop modding and most likely will sell in the next few months. The regular cab is VERY impractical. Nothing fits and even with two people its crowded! I want to be able to take my family camping, to the lake, etc... There is no way I can fit myself, my wife and our 3year old in a car seat into the regular cab. Me and my wife went to lake Pleasant a on Friday night, spend the night in the bed of the Taco then swam and rode jet skis on Saturday. It was a blast and I want to do more outdoor activities especially with our son as he gets older!

I would love to get access cab 4x4 TRD off road, 6 speed, however something in my mind tells me that I wont be satisfied, because the access cab wont be comfortable for the whole family on long trips... And my wife can't drive manual so she wont be happy with 6speed.

So I will need to got the double cab route with auto transmission. Wishing for 4x4 and TRD off road with automatic transmission. Tha'ts the dream truck, If anything at least DC PreRunner with TRD Off road package so at least I have a locker. Seeing my buddy get stuck at the lake unloading jet skis in his 4x2 Tundra reminded me of how impractical 4x2 open diff sometimes is...

The Taco would still be my work truck. I am OK with short bed, however the truck MUST have tow package so I can tow a trailer if needed.

Now I also have another option! I could sell or trade my wife's Camry and upgrade her to DC Tacoma and keep my Tacoma as a work truck. The payments on the Tacoma and Camry are the same, so it doesn't really matter what car I get rid of. However what I keep coming to is that I just don't like the regular cab... I have to drop off and pick up our son from child care and car seat in regular cab is a pain in the ass... In the long run we want another baby and we both know that I can put two car seats in regular cab.

I know that either way I will get bigger monthly payment, which I am OK with if I buy a truck I want and can keep for a long time. Also the plan is to purchase after the next tax return so maybe I can put some money down...

Sigh... decisions, decisions...

 

there is not much room in the access cab, if your gonna haul the family around then spring for the double cab.

 

Exactly why I want a DC. I dont have a family yet, but what about when I do have one? And what about those times when I need/want to carry more than one other person with me? I'd rather have the room for that (or at the very least, an extra large cargo compartment for whatever kind of junk I feel like hauling when its raining) than to NOT have the room and be limited in what I can use my truck for.

Plus I'm a big guy (6' 2" 250lb) and prefer vehicles with large cabins.

My ideal car situation would be a mid-size sedan, either economical or sporty, plus a DC tacoma. Alas, as a bachelor I cant justify two cars, so the Sedan is out. If I were you i'd keep the Camry for economical reasons (it's not pretty but it will get you from place to place comfortably, right?) and the DC for work/play with the family.

 

Trade your truck in and get the right one.

 

I have an access cab and it works for us. I am married and have two kids, a 3yr old and a 7 month old. We all fit fine, a bit tight on my legroom, but fine. I'm also 6'1" and 240. We put my forward facing 3yr old behind me, and the rear facing little guy behind my wife.

Both of our kids were in 3-1 convertible seats and it was tighter as those seats are huuuuge. We since bought my oldest a 5pt harness to full booster

Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat, Matrix

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Nautilus-Car-Seat-Matrix/dp/B0011URFRE and he fits way better. (headrest removal mod did wonders for the space) My wife is comfortable, lots of room, and I'm one or two notches forward from where I would normally drive without a kid behind me. Still plenty comfortable. We can turn the little guy around to be forward facing in 4-6 months and he'll go behind me then letting me get that inch or two back.

Do I wish I had a double cab ... yea. But I looked for weeks and weeks and never saw a double cab anywhere near my price range. 09 and newer less than 25k miles the double cabs were all running 28k+. I saw Access cabs for 24-25 regularly. (all were V6 4X AT, as that's what I wanted. Ended up with a 2009 AC with 14k miles for 23k.) For me, this truck is perfect for 5-7 years. After that I'll look into trading it in on a DC. The kids will actually fit better after they get out of their car seats into boosters.. my 3 year old has one more year to go.

I'm going to pick up this locking box for the back and strap it in to get some extra space. http://www.homedepot.com/buy/storag...bins/stanley-37-in-mobile-job-box-137458.html

 

I owe $14k on my 5lug... Do you guys think I can get $14k for it if I sell it or am I fucked upside down in this truck?

 

dude I think that may be a little much

 

You may be slightly upside-down on that... but probably not by much.

 

My 06 trd offroad wen i traded it in lifted and rims and new tires nerf bars with only 60000 on it every delaership in san diego offered between 12-13,000 so yeah for a base modle i would say that ur upside down but the good things about toyota is that little bbit of negative equity can be rolled into new loan. The only othher thing is iterest rates with my new 11 offroad and good credit i got a 6% rate bc they dont give shit on tacomas go figure

 

LOL.. Ya figure I am about $2-3k upside down in trade in and about $1k if I get lucky upside down private party...

Which means that I can't get rid of this truck anytime soon... O WELL

 

Black Book average trade-in for your truck should be somewhere around $14,875.00 and that's with 50k miles on it.

If you're looking to trade something in now's the time to do it while the used car market is thin. Dealers are appraising them higher right now.

 

I was in the same boat as you. I opted to trade in my 5 lug for a double cab Trd sport. I was able to get a pretty good deal on it and they gave me a great price for my trade in.

 

Go with the double cab, ac is good but for a family you'll want the extra space. Also trade in your truck, not the camry. You'll regret not having 2 cars to transport the family in the event one breaks down or something else happens. Since you're willing to wait about a year for your tax return go down and talk to some dealers. Tell them what you want. They get used vehicles all the time, and when one comes with the spec you gave them they can call you.The best advice I could give you though is to stick to your guns with the dealer. I wanted a 4x4, EVERY dealer told me that with atrac and the locker the 2wd would go virtually everywhere a 4wd would. I stuck to my guns and within a week a dealer called me saying he had got a used one in with everything I wanted except the color. I got that at 8000 cheaper than a brand new one.

 

Definitely trade your truck. Putting kids in the front seat is dangerous in the first place and you should never do it plus it is illegal, at least in PA. That should not even be an option. Good luck with your new truck.

 

I 110% agree with NOT putting children in car seat in the front seat, however with regular cab pickup I dont have a choice I bought my truck in a crunch. I needed a pickup and this Taco was the only one in my price range, well in the price range I was WILLING to pay...

Ideally I would like to sell my Taco private party and buy 1st Gen Tundra or Taco. I saw on local craigslist 1st Gen Tundra 4x4 SR5 for 9k with 100k miles. In the perfect world I wish I could sell my Taco for what I owe and get 10K loan to get that Tundra... My monthly payment would go down or be the same and I would have the pickup I want...

I am NOT worried about buying older vehicle with more miles, since I am very mechanically inclined and I can do anything repair wise.

The other problem is that if I sell the Taco private party, I will be without pickup, well since I need pickup to do my job, that becomes a big problem. If I got through selling private party and buying private party, there will be several days with no vehicle which could become a huge issue. I do property management, maintenance and I am an emergency on call plumber for 200+ apartments. I cannot transport my 75foot industrial roto rooter in a camry...

If I go through a dealer, yes I can get another pickup the same day, however the dealer wont give me 14k for my Taco and I would be rolling over negative equity on the new loan and that would be REALLY dumb financial move...

Seems like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place...

I learned one thing... Don't ever buy a vehicle in a time crunch if you can avoid it.

 

Trade your Regular cab in and get a 4x4 Double Cab.



Honestly, you really can't go wrong with that!

 

Edmunds True Market Value is a really good estimator of what you'll really get out of a vehicle (or what you can expect to pay).

Trade-in for a vehicle like yours is about $11,200, private party sale price is about $12,300. Assume that if you're selling to a regular person, the actual prices will range from "I am taking off $xxx for the non stock stuff" to "I'll pay you $xxx extra for all the non stock stuff".

 

Sounds like you need a double cab... I'd rather go for the SR5 4x4 than the Pre-runner Off Road if your worry is boat launches. Without trying to start a 2wd vs 4wd debate, I'd rather have 4wd with 2 open diffs vs 2wd locked diff on a boat ramp. I'll take the one front tire further up the ramp to help pull the truck out and 4lo is nice. Also, depending on what you tow, you might now need the tow package. I bought an SR5 and put a class III hitch on myself. For what I tow with it, the heavier alternator and transmission cooler are not missed. They'd be nice to have but I don't worry about the truck not having them. I don't tow overly often but when I do it's generally in the 3,000# range. Just my $0.02.

 

Good points and that is EXACTLY what I have to do. I am not stupid to roll over few thousands of dollars onto a new loan... I will suck it up for few years and then make the right move. Our little one will be four in a few months so he can be in a booster seat. We could all fit in the bench seat with the little one in the middle. It wont be comfortable but doable for about an hour to get to the lake or camping site!

Those numbers sound about right!