TacomaWorld!!! I need your opinion!

thinking about it, but the rear bumper would be a hassle, pretty much I'd have to swap beds with someone with a white tacom cuz the rear sides are cut out.

The front bumper wouldn't be too bad, but like a moron I cut out some of the support brackets when I took off the stock bumper. So I dunno.

no no, I said "have" not borrow! hahaha

 

Do it Beau, set yourself up now to not be in debt for the rest of your life. Even if it is just a little, the debt trap is a vicious one to get out of; if and when you have the opportunity to get out, take it.

 

Get the Corolla. After you are out of school making big $$$ sell it and buy another bad ass taco. My $0.02

 

x2. Part with the Taco and set yourself up for the future. You can always go get another Taco when you're better off financially. You may regret getting rid of it, but it will pay off. GL and wish you the best

 

Would refinancing the truck be a viable option?

 

This is an easy one. Sell the truck, buy a used focus for 5k, and put the remaining 4k in a roth IRA. I make 15k a month and I never owned a new vehicle until I bought my Taco last April, at age 59. You are spending WAY too much on transportation, and heading for a life of frustration and envy.

 

I say keep it. You're basically taken a 10k hit(difference in vehicle value) to save 7k (lower amount owed). In 5 years, your truck will still be worth probably 15-17k (condition & miles dependent) where as the corolla will be worth like 5k. Also, you bought your truck for a reason, dont forget how you will feel sitting in a little Corolla (that was a probably a rental car, look at history report) vs your truck. I say keep it.

Plus let's say you make the same payments and you have 3 years left on the truck and pay the corolla off in 18 months. You're $400/month for the additional 18 months equals $7200. Will your truck be worth $7200 more than the corolla? yes it will be.

 

Financially... The trade in and long term benefit will prob benefit you most. No lie...

That being said, how long/far is your commute to school and back?? Only reason I ask is have you considered riding a bicycle there and back? Lol... Seriously tho, yea you will still have the debt of the truck, but depending on how much you're spending on fuel it could MAYBE be worth it. Shit, I would even consider "rucking" to school and back with all my school crap strapped to my back.

Lol... I realize how this sounds. Only reason I bring it up is because these are the things that I would be considering if I was in your shoes, loved my truck, and was debating on whether or not I should get rid of it. All in all tho, selling it for the profit, getting a cheap/durable/MPG friendly vehicle, and ridding yourself of debt is your best bet. Best of luck...

 

I looked into it, not really that worth it in the long run, my apr is only 3.9%

Truth be told, this is a very good idea, and you're right, I do pay too much for a person in my situation, no kids, drive 30 miles (not much compared to others here though) but if I do the trade I'll take a 6k hit over my current 14 thousand, plus if I threw some of my currently saved money into the mix I'd probably be done with payments by next May the latest. with a much more reliable car.

The car is a rental, test drove it, drove amazing for a car that a shit ton of other people drove. I'm pretty sure if I do the trade I could negotiate the corolla to below it's current $15,999 and if I really tried I could have the car paid off by next May.

You see my goal was to keep the truck for ever, then again I bought it when I was active duty and I was financially secure. Then I got out in 2010 and started going to school, making less $$$ but thanks to the Corps, my honorable discharge, and teh tax payers I'm getting payed to go to school.

It's an awesome privilige to have and I'm very grateful for it. but my current situation doesn't give me much time to work a side job to make extra cash, there's other variables other than just school taking up my time.

I also thought about throwing $1,000 at my current loan every month and be finished with payments in just over a year, but I'd barely be gettin' by for an entire year. Then again I only live with my sister and don't worry about rent. But doing that will leave me financially vunerable.

I LOVE my truck, and I feel alot safer driving it, as opposed to a much smaller car, but nothing is indestructable.

I am saving $$$ currently, just not as much as I would like to, and $14,000 seems like for ever and a day away. haha. I honestly don't mind my shity mileage, but it's just that in my head it feels like I'll never be able to finish paying off the loan (dumb I know).

I feel like I'm currently living outside my means though, and I'm still on the fence about the trade (but I'm leaning more towards the trade than not) just cuz I love my truck so much but I never use it like I would like to cuz of the current situation.

 

Round trip, it's 28 miles. not much compared to some people on here. And trust me Ive thought about biking to school in teh mountain bike, or perhaps ride the bike to the bus stop a few miles away, but there are no sidewalks on the only road that leads to the main road where the bus stop is. Cars drive down that road at 50-60 miles an hour and to me, that risk was not worth saving the money on gas.

I currently spend $230 on gas a month (if gas was at 3.25) I know it's going down again, but who the f*ck knows what they'll rise up to next time.

Like I said if I could pay the truck off right now, I wouldn't give a $hit about gas prices, me not have that kind of monies.

 

do you need the truck? will you run into a situation where later down the road you will need to tow something or you will need bed space? if not then i would sell it and save on gas mileage and get another taco when your out of school

 

If I was in the OP's shoes, I would sell the truck and not do a trade in. Try to sell it locally as I know some dealerships buys vehicles just like Carmax does. Use the money to buy yourself another car without having to do payments on it.

 

dont invest in arotth ira until you have 90 days savings in the bank. a mutual fund of your choosing will work if you know not to rouch it. i say this because you cant access a ira once invested for emergencys but a mutual fund you can . you shouldnt but you can. once you have 3 months of bills sved diversify just my opinion save the mo ey ditch the truck

 

X2. I would try to sell it locally before trading it and then take that $ and pay cash for an economical Corolla or Civic. You'll come out way ahead by selling it yourself instead of trading...dealers make more money on trades than they do new cars. You're very smart for considering this decision...it makes total sense for your situation. You can always buy another Taco after you finish school. Good luck!

 

I would rather

 

It doesnt sound like you're barely scraping by right now, but your just not able to put an extra few dollars away each month? As far as I know, the GI Bill is guaranteed, so it is not like you have to worry about being fired and losing your income?

IDK man, it just seems like you're in a really good position with this truck and it would be a shame to let it go because you feel worried about the $14k. In the end, you're asset will be worth probably $10k less than what you have now and you will be only be saving $7k. Losing 30% doesn't make much sense to me.


You will regret trading your truck every day that you walk about and sit down into a little corolla, especially when you see every 18-24 yrs old chick driving one

 

haha you're totally right about the last paragraph there.

In my current situation I can easily afford the truck and gas, and after all monthly expenses I can still easily save another $400 each month and have another $150-200 (roughly) to play with (more like save actually)

It's just the fact that I know I could be saving more now and I wouldn't have to dish out $14,000. In the long run you're right, it would save me $7,000 but on top of that I'd get another $1000 extra in gas savings yearly. I've done my homework man and have been crunching numbers for the last month or so on all my expenses.

Total $$ spent on gas in one year for my truck (if the prices were at a stable $3.25 which we all know they fluctuate like crazy) is about $2,600
A car like a corolla would literally cut that in half, and just a bit more actually at around $1,200

that on top of having paid it off before next summer I'd be set, no worry about car payments,

my main concern is that I once this semester ends I'll only have 9 months left of GI bill benefits, and I still have about 2 more years of school left before I graduate.

I'm still undecided but leaning more towards the trade, the look of the car really doesn't matter to me, but I know toyota is reliable, and the corolla is one of the top selling brands in it's class for a reason, cheap, and reliable. but I love my truck!!!!!!

 

Best of luck with your decision man, i know is a tough one. I just hope you dont come to regret it like I did with trading my 2012 tacoma.

 

Sounds like you would be better of keeping your truck, if you can swing it. if you traded for a car and regretted your decision, its going to cost alot more.

 

I'm going in tomorrow to see if they'll bump it up to $24,000 (their offer) if they do that and I can get the corolla down to $15,000 more than likely I'll do it. It seems like win win to me "but for the warning in my heart" haha

I know I'd miss my truck!!! but aaaah, I'm going to go buy a shit ton of lottery tickets with all the loose change in my truck. hahahahaha