Considering selling my '06 and buying a '12

I have a few questions here. I'm considering selling my '06 access cab TRD Sport, given the high resale value, and dropping some cash on a new '12, so I have a brand new, paid off truck. My other option is to enjoy the well cared for, paid off truck for a long time. I know the market is different since '06 so i am trying to get a sense of today's reality and what the best deals are. I am getting form letters from dealers offering $17,000.00.

My access cab is in great shape, not used offroad and never towed anything, driven reasonable carefully, and well maintained. I detail it nicely, have a few dings I am getting fixed, and its at 80,000 miles.

Add-ons :
-tow package
-Katskin leather (installing shortly),
-Brute Force rear armor bumper (installing soon),
-Access Limited tonneau,
-Sony in dash all-in-one, value $1000.00 new (nav/stereo/mp3/backup camera, dvd/cd etc.)
-console safe
-some other add-on's likely to not add value (weathertech floor liners, weathertech window and hood visors, aeries bull bar). My assumption is I should get top dollar sale or trade-in for excellent condition, and not sure how to factor add-on value.

I paid $26,600.00 new in January '06. I want either a TRD Sport DC shortbed or longbed. I see Edmonds TMV pricing them at $30,544.00, and $31,584.00.

Questions:

1. What are the best deals on these two models (who has paid less than Edmonds TMV recently)?

2. Given my truck and specs, what can I expect to get for mine (best deal, considering excellent shape and add ons)?

3. Given 1 and 2, how much would you plunk down to make this happen?

4. What would you do: stay put or upgrade to a new truck?

Thanks!

 

Even leather and rear bumper and in-dash nav?

 

Rear bumper will honestly make it seem like you offroad to potential buyers. Id part that out. Leather is iffy some people like it and will give you more it. Other could care less.. I'd pull that nav/dvd and part that out too. You'll get more money back that way.

 

The best value you will get for your upgrades/modifications would be obtained by removing them and selling them. Don't install the leather and the bumper.

 

I have an unused factory radio, so I could swap out and keep the nav unit if I get a new truck. I could also keep the tonneau, if its the same sized bed, console safe and bull bar, but I definitely would upgrade to a DC, so the weathertech stuff is unique for the access cab, but that stuff is no big deal.

The leather is replacing the cloth because my dog trashed the fabric with a pee-pee accident, and the bumper is to replace a dented rear bumper, so I can't parse out that stuff.

At any rate, outside of the add-ons, what about the $$$? And what's your gut, would you upgrade to a new truck, or stay put with what I have?

 

I paid less than edmunds but i use the USAA car buying service which if you have access to is awesome, one other thing to consider is looking into the SR5 extra value pack. I was dead set on a TRD sport as well, but after much research i could not justify spending substantially more for some different seats, a non functioning hood scoop, and the TRD shocks, which i was planning on replacing with 5100's anyway. That being said I love my 12 taco, really enjoy the slight changes they have made ascetically. If you do go new make sure you shop around, make multiple dealerships compete for your business, and trust me they will. good luck! either way you still have a great truck!

 

I'm in a similar situation. I'm trading my '08 DC/Short Box Sport in for a '12 AC Offroad.

In my case, I wanted the locker and the traction controls... plus my wife now has a car so there's no need for the double cab grocery getter. I get an extra foot of bed space and my friends will no longer want to ride in my truck. It's win-win all the way around.

 

I've debated the same thing. I have an '06 with nothing at all wrong with it but sort of wondered if the new features in the '12s might be worth the trade. Some, such as the backup camera (I've got a topper) and the side air bags might be but others, like the complex stability control system (since I have a rear locker) might not.

Of course, there are rumors of a new generation of Tacoma in a year or three so I'm thinking that I'll probably wait until then -- all four my Toyota truck purchases have been generational. Someone in another thread asked me why I'd trade in for essentially the same truck. I thought about it and agreed.

 

This is my reasoning as well. I've put all but 30 of the 28k miles on my tacoma and it's still pretty much brand new. I'm going to be throwing some money into it for mods after debating about selling it and getting a '12 to put money into. I figured what's the point? I'll just drive this one for many more years and enjoy it since it's working just for me right now.

 

If you've got dealers offering 17k for an '06 with 80k on it, check out Carmax.
They have been killing local dealerships on their trades... dealer makes an offer and the customer says "Carmax will give me $2k more just to sell it!" So they buy the new car from the dealer and sell their "trade" to Carmax.

Anyways... I just paid $13,500 for a 2008 RC Base 2.7 5-lug with 52k on it. Didn't bother trying to haggle, as I was happy with the deal and they worked to keep my OTD after tax and license to under $15k.

 

The letters from dealers are a way to get traffic in their dealership. Their figures for your trade are inflated. Don't fall for it. Then, forget about installing leather and bumper on your trade. If you were buying used, wouldn't you want a vehicle that the previous owner didn't mess with. I'd want completely stock, not butchered up with Mickey Mouse add-ons. You rarely see a used vehicle on a new car dealers lot that is anything other than stock. Dude, trust me on this.

 

You've got a truck that is problem free. If I were you, I would drive it until it starts costing you too much to keep it. I drove my /76 Ford until too many things kept breaking down. I just bought a 2008 Tacoma with 66,000 km (41,000 mi).
HTH.
Mark

 

The fix is in with dealing with Toyota. Thats why I went with a stripped down bare bones v6 4x4 Tacoma 7553. Add on to what you need later and save big$$$. They know the psycology of the typical stooge who justifies the add-on options and they rape them good. I could care less that I dont have power mirrors, temp gauge, camera, cruise control, painted bumpers or fog lights. I saved 3 grand in cash. Toyota loves princesses.

 

Lots of good replies here, so thanks to all.

Interesting. I am a USAA member and when I bought my '06, they told me they could get the truck at a price that was almost identical to the Edmonds TMV. When I went to the dealer and they wanted me to drive off the lot that day, I backed off and said I would let USAA do the negotiating. They said they love USAA, and named a price that was about two grand below USAA. I called USAA anyway and they said "grab it," so I did, and hey, drove off the lot that day.

Very good point. Although I would be starting off with a new truck with no miles, paid off, I would be extending myself into this model ownership for quite some time. I am thinking that since this model has been around for a while, the resale value will drop some when a re-design comes out, which could make that decision less cost effective, unless I then wanted to drive it into the ground for a long time.

Well, 28K is a relatively new truck and I would see no value doing that.

You almost have me convinced. It is a great truck, problem free, well maintained. I guess its a juncture point: do I take advantage of the great resale value now and reload, or take advantage of a great truck and enjoy why it has a great resale value?

This is something I am also considering. One thing I care about is the upgraded seats, since I have some minor (or rather intermittent) nagging lower back pain, and I think good seats make a big difference. Likey the seats would be the most expensive thing to swap out. (One caveat to your comment: power mirrors and cruise control are almost standard in any other vehicle, and are extremely valuable). Other than that, I agree, that you can put in better suspension, wheels, etc. and probably do it cheaper, and more to my liking, than a TRD package. Another thing is I wish I had a DC, and really wish I had a DC longbed. So I have been jones-ing for a brand new DC longbed in midnight blue. I could regret that, since I don't have off-street parking, but the access cab part of my truck is my only buyers remorse: its got limited usefulness and a bit of an albatross.

 

Looks like there's a lot of us with this same choice to make! I have a 2006 dclb with 94k miles and while I still owe $13000 I think it's in my best interest to trade in for the 2012 4x4 dclb.. with the resale value so high i expect my down payment to come from the trade in value which according to blue book is around 19k

 

Keep it...keep it..... until its 10 years+ old. By that time, the 3rd generation trucks should be out by then.

 

Manny, with an '06 and 94K, and you still owe $13K, I am assuming you bought it used? Mine is paid off and I had a standard note, which started in Jan '06.

I am not A doctor but I play one on TV. I would beware of negative equity on a trade-in. If you can pull that off and take advantage of the resale value, and come out ahead, then by all means do it. But that is a lot of money to owe on an '06 with that kind of mileage, so be careful, and do your math. You are going to have to not only get a good trade-in offer, but BEFORE that you are going to have to get a real good price from a dealer on the new vehicle. Likely they won't come from the same source, because whatever they don't make on one, they expect to make on the other, so you will probably have to do two independent transactions with two different parties.

But you are right in thinking about trying to exploit the high trade-in value while you can.

 

I want to say here and now that this Tacoma is a bad ass truck, and I love it as much now as when I bought it, which is why I am not even considering another new vehicle right now, just a possible trade in for a new one. Its part of my personality. Its almost like your dog or cat that you love, at least for me.

BTW, when I was married, I used 'The Fighting Chance' and got her '07 RAV4 WAY below invoice, so I am with you on that: broker the best deal in your region. And by the way, the Tacoma and the RAV4, at the time, had the highest resale values of almost any vehicle on the market (based on the 5 year projected resale scale). I think there was only one Mercedes and an Acura coupe that were up there with them, that might have bested them. You will always sleep better at night knowing that you won on that deal. Cars are expensive.

 

Yes I bought it used about 2 years ago and i am now looking for the same truck only brand new and 4x4 so it could be paid off at a reasonable mileage. I should also point out that I would like to take advantage of the fact that I still live at home and could afford a brand new truck. So after checking around on blue book and Carmax I would be making out with about a 5 or 6 thousand dollar down payment..

 

see if you can just swap out the parts. get the new steering wheel, revised center console, hood, grille headlights, bumper and misc. and just swap over to the 06. of course ask if it'd all fit. i would think so for most of the parts.