At what point does "new" make financial sense?

when you buy a used vehicle its still new to you.
live life a few years without car payments .
you'll never want to go back.

 

I was in the same boat... I also wanted to buy a used one bc I didnt want a high payment and such...

But when looking, I noticed I could get a new one for about 3-4k more....
So... I did!

Traded in my 07 4x4 Sport and got 20.5k for it... So payments arent too bad about $260/month and plus I got a free 100k mile waranty..
Im loving it!

 

Having worked at a dealership before you should never buy a used pre-owned vehicle from a dealership. The reason they mark used up so high is because the bank does not own them but the actual dealership does instead of a new one were the bank owns it and that is the reason they will drop the price of new vehicles versus a preowne. Hope this helps a little

 

Just go new and buy the 100k mile warranty. You will never be upside-down onthe loan (unless you put $0 down) not to mention the insane resale value of Toyotas.They just do really good retaining value so just pay little more and go new.IMO, I speak from experience...Good Luck!

 

It's just too much of a gamble sometimes buying used. I just sold a "gonna be a problem soon" vehicle to pay for the new Taco. I don't relish the fact, but caveat emptor . . . . .

 

Consider the DCLB Sport 4x4 the Cadillac of Tacomas...If they don't sell here, they'll ship them up to Oregon and Washington where they WILL sell for $34k
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-The only Persian guy you'll ever meet who drives a Tacoma............................Uuhhhhhh..No..I paid $29,600.00. LB,DC,Auto,TRD Sport..4by4....I live north of seattle. I have seen the MSRP between 31,700 to 35 or so. I would never pay that much. I still think I paid to much..lol

 

I might be one of the newest brand new Toyota owners here on the site. I've had it 4-5 weeks. I started looking at slightly used ones, 2007 and up. Didn't take long for me to see that a new one, with 0 miles and a warranty was the better deal for me. For one thing, the last two ford Ranger's I purchased new lasted a total of 23 years (completely used up when I traded each in- started costing me an arm and a leg in repairs both cases), so I have a history of getting the most out of a vehicle-- as above, I decided to start off the long journey of owning this truck with no milage or wear on it.

I am not rich, but I bit the bullet and paid cash-- no interest/financing to pay, saving money over the long run, compared to the lousy interest I'd make out of keeping the $ in saving accounts, CDs, retirement accounts, ect. My banker agreed with me on that.

All that said, new was what worked for me. My only advice to the OP would be to look at all the costs/benefits (many given in this thread) before making a decision.

 

As far as a financial decision, I could pay cash for the new truck if I really wanted to, but you don't get the college $1000 back unless you finance through TFS. The plan is just to make sure that there is no penalty for early pay-off and finance, then pay it off after a few months, paying far less in interest than the $1000 credit I get. If the tacoma market followed the typical used market and trucks were ~75% of new, certified with less than 40-50k then I would probably go that route, invest the difference, and if I had to put the occasional repair into it, then I'd do it. When used trucks are 90-110% of new ones though, I will just buy new, and then hope I don't have to dip into savings for some unexpected major service in the first few years.

 

When I bought my '11 Tacoma, the sticker was right around 31k. I ended up financing right around 28k after the negative equity I had from my previous truck. Keep in mind that I am able to buy at cost where my Dad is a Toyota employee. There were two '10 Taco equipped almost identical to mine with less that 8k miles that were priced right around 30k. If you trade every couple of years, buying used can be the right idea. But if you keep your truck for any length of time, new is the only way to go imo.

 

I'm looking to buy a used 2009 TRD OR AC AT with 9830 miles on the odometer. Found one at a local dealer, asking price is $24,500. 4 months ago it was priced at $27,000. For the life of me I can't get them to budge on the price. But for the amount of miles on it and a clean history it still seems like a pretty good deal to me. Then again like you guys pointed out the interest will be a bit more over a new truck. But it is certified and comes with a warranty. I'm still on the fence about it

 

It's really about budget and what you need vs want. For me, all things considered, used was the way to go since I got the deal I wanted and could afford. I also took into account insurance new vs used, buying outright or finance, yearly depreciation, maintenance, etc.

I also believe there are big changes coming soon in the truck industry as far as engine design, mandated mpg, etc:

"The average fuel economy for cars must improve from the current 27.5 mpg, where it has been since 1990, to 37.8 mpg by 2016. The truck standard has to rise from 23.5 mpg to 28.8." - Car and Driver 2011

Also, used car dealers high prices reflect other factors first and foremost they offer insane loans (high apr) to customers who would never qualify at a Toyota dealer so those customers have no choice with poor credit. They also offer trade in incentives that bring the vehicles down in price to a reasonable range but also get the trade in, which they markup to full blue book and start over. It is a tough market to be in and all dealers have to try to maximize profits...just like buyers have to ensure their buck goes the furthest they can.

I figure I can drive my used truck, not worry about the bumps and bruises on a new vehicle, save on insurance, save on $ and sometime down the line in the next few years upgrade when their are truly dynamic changes in features and or quality...but if I were financially where I wanted to be, new hands down.

 

Why... you can "Buy warranties" for less then you'd loose on selling-reselling, save that money for repairs or gasp "risk it on a 3 year old truck with only 35k miles".


In this day and age if your having power-train issues before 150k miles you are driving a POS.

 

I find it funny that Toyota claims to be one of the most reliable and long lasting brands in the industry - but also has the worst warranty in the industry.

I love it even more when one of the basis for the "best reliability" is the lower occurrence of warranty work on their cars.

 

That is a simple after market radio swap. I bought a Pioneer blue tooth head unit and put it in my 08 Tacoma just a few months after I bought it. It sounds so much better then the stock head unit. I just put another pioneer head in my 2000 Celica It was a like $180.00 it has blue tooth and HD radio built in. And again it blew the stock head unit out of the water in sound quality.

 

For me, it came down to finding the exact truck i wanted to replace my old one.. 4x4 Dbl cab long box, speedway blue. She was an 08, 61k miles, and we got it to 23k before any trade or down. The only other truck (in horrid red) like it was at 33k new.. Not a tough choice really.. I enjoy new, but this one was so well cared for, that it may well be new..

 

The potential savings from buying used is huge if you put the effort into the process. I bought mine with 30K miles for $11,000 under the cost of new, and my truck was spotless. Yes it took some leg work.

The one supposed advantage to buying new has never worked out for me anyway. That is the ability to get exactly the vehicle I wanted. Every new vehicle I have bought turned out to be something less than perfect because the dealer didn't have it, couldn't get, or the cost to get it was ridiculous. In my experience I'm just as likely to get exactly what I want used as new.

The money I saved paid for a whole new suspension, new bumpers, a twin stick transfer case, new gears, air lockers at both ends, and a whole laundry list of goodies.