First truck for son - age vs mileage

My son has approx. $18-19k to spend on his first car and looking at 2nd Gen Tacomas. He plans to keep the truck through what’s left of high school and then college, so adding something like 7 years and around 50,000 miles until he trades up. He’s looking at a couple of options: a 2008 with 120k miles or a 2015 with 200k miles. Assuming both are reasonable condition for their age and mileage, would experienced owners of Tacomas favor one option over the other?

 

$18-$19k??? get a 2015 with no rust, all the options, and 80k miles instead....

 

Show me one and I’ll buy it today! 4WD. Auto. Double Cab. 5 ft bed. Thanks!

 

All else being equal, I put a greater value on the age of the vehicle vs the mileage, especially with a high mileage capable vehicle like a Tacoma. I have no doubt that someday my truck will die due to frame/body rot issues before anything significant fails mechanically due to mileage. Of the choices you listed, I'd definitely go with the 2015 (Again, all else being equal except mileage).

 

I’d go with the newer vehicle. Less years on rubber parts and sun on the paint.

 

Frankly.....with the cost of college...

A POS beater truck may be a wiser long haul choice.

Consider. Spend $2000 on a beater, invest roughly half of the remaining $16000, save the rest. When college tuition, books, room & board come around, start working the savings. When that is depleted, tap the investments.

He would stand a reasonable chance of exiting college without debt or a small debt. Then he could start his independent life without a heavy burden of debt.

 

I was showing my son how to estimate future value by adding 50,000 miles and 7 years age to each option and then looking at KBB trade in values assuming he was trading in today like he would be down the road. The 2008 would become a 2001 with 170,000 miles and a KBB trade in of approx $5k. The 2015 would become a 2008 with 245,000 miles which currently has a KBB trade in value of approx. $9k. Looks like the market has a preference!

 

For that budget you could get a nice second gen slightly used probably if you look hard enough.

 

ZERO chance I would buy either of those. Come on, be a better DAD!

 

Depends on the vehicle history and who the owner(s) were, and how well they were maintained. I would go with the 2008 model if it was properly taken care of, or even better, garage kept. 200k seems like pretty high mileage for a 2015. But then again it all comes down to vehicle history. Jmo

 

I don't know you, or your son so your choice of vehicle is up to you. However, I know when we had to make the same decision when my son was a junior in HS we opted for something which was about as far from a "cool" car as you can get. We got a used Mercury Sable, which at the time was (and probably still is) an old fart's car, but it was relatively easy for me to work on and since it was not in high demand a good buy. On purpose, we did get anything that required great skill to drive, or was so attractive to his friends that they wanted to ride in the vehicle all the time. The car lasted beyond his HS days and he had to leave it when he went to his first year of college. We then got a used Forester his 2nd year which he drove for another 12 years. I drove the Sable as a beater for another year or two when the tranny crapped out and then it was donated to one of those car collection charities.

So, get your kid what you want, but here is a list from IIHS about teen cars (Tacoma not on list):

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/safe-vehicles-for-teens

 

Tell him to spend less and out the rest toward school, trade school, whatever.

I got a 99 with 200k on in highschool

 

I would get him a Subaru Outback.

 

^My thoughts exactly. There are countless reasons why with all else the same I'd choose newer but higher mileage.

This is a great mentality to have. Personally, I've become more and more focused on this with our vehicles to hopefully limit depreciation as much as possible.

Agreed. $18k seems like an insane amount of money for a kid to spend on a vehicle. But I'm also cheap, lol. If he's managed to save that money on his own then that should definitely be celebrated but maybe also encouraged that he invest half of it or at least set a good chunk aside for emergency savings and repair/maintenance for the vehicle. If he's getting a loan then I'd personally just avoid that altogether unless maybe it's a zero interest loan. IMO you shouldn't pay interest on vehicles. If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it.

 

Give him a piece of shit and some tools so he can learn how to wrench. Odds are, he is going to wreck it anyway.

 

Bingo! Best advice so far.

 

If he is set on having a pickup, i would just look at both and check for rust damage. Both trucks should still have a lot of life left if they have been taken care of.

Another recommendation would be to look at 4th gen 4runners. Same 4.0 engine, or even the rock solid 4.7l v8. They go for much less than the tacomas with similar mileage. You could probably find a nice one for under $10k.

 

bought b4 covid at model end

for a few thou more

i got a new SR...................

7 more years is a 100k more miles unless he never comes home

doesnt have a g/f

there will be Unexpected repairs...............i bought college vehicle

new knowing it would last w/o issues

selling them around here engine/trans state insp

oil changes for life NO charge

 

Look for low miles and bone stock. If it's been modded then it's more than likely to have been whipped & wheeled.

That is a lot of coin you should be able to find him a nice truck with a little time and monitoring online sales.

 

Roger that . Hey , dad contribute 10k and get your son a new base tacoma !