Guidance on buying first Tacoma...

That's alot, it's worth traveling out of state. I got a v6 4x4 2015 last year for about the same price

 

I've been trying out of state as well. Most have been dealerships though and they just don't really seem to care because someone will probably drive 30 mins after talking to me on the phone and purchase it. I've even had them just stopped responding after the initial contact, once I tell them Im from out of state. Its a struggle out here!

 

Way overpriced, mods don't add to resale, despite what many think here. Go off KBB maybe high end but not a dime more. It'll sit if he thinks he's getting that much. Tons of overbuilt ones here that are sitting, saw a 2013 with 116k kings, etc. wants $26995, ya no way dude.

 

That and people don't realize that interest rates on older than 2015 vehicles are pretty dumb >7%.
One bank quoted me 3.18% on a 2015 and 7.7% on 2014. I didn't even bother asking for rates on older ones since I'm just going to pay cash.

 

This is the problem I foresee happening with that truck. I don't think I could even get someone to do a loan on it, and if they do, probably 12-14%. NO BEUNO

 

Also, those were the rates buying from a dealer that participates in the CUDL, where the money never gets into your hands and goes directly from the Credit Union to the Dealer. "Personal" loans would have an even higher rate.

 

You can get a plane ticket to another state for $400 and buy one there. Just because California is a screwed up state doesn’t mean you have to play by their rules. I would never pay an extra 7 grand just because it’s on the left coast. I wouldn’t pay an extra dollar.

 

CT pulls big money for tacomas. I just paid 22k for a CPO 2015 trd sport. with 55k on it Don't get hosed because it has cool wheels and a lift.

 

If he does this he's never going to get a truck. These trucks consistently sell for significantly over KBB value here in CA. Maybe not the base model sr5 work pickups but the nicer, higher end and 4x4 models for sure. KBB is not always accurate and this is one instance where it's way off.

Yes, that's true. But you're not factoring in the time, hassle, risk and most of the time unwillingness of the seller to bend over backwards to do a long distance deal. If you're not picky, maybe it's easy. But for me I'm picky and would have a hard time buying sight unseen. Vehicles always look better in photos and you miss damage/wear that you would have seen in person. Very few sellers I found were willing to take the time to inspect the vehicle, take extra pics and generally be honest and upfront and on the same level of detail orientedness. Their "great" condition or "9/10" could very well be a 6/10 for me. I may be the oddball here though since I'm so picky.

 

In a down economy and in other areas outside CA, KBB is usually a good standard and don't think he'd have any issues negotiating that, dealer is gonna offer the seller KBB trade in if not lower, its a good starting point. But that truck is $7k over clean retail, so ya even in CA its not gonna sell for that much. People under this crazy mindset that mods = increased value, which is far from the reality, its overpriced, period. And that's the point.

 

It's easy to say that when you haven't spent 6+ months scouring the internet for trucks for sale in your area daily. I'd be extremely surprised if that truck sells for anything under $18k and wouldn't be surprised if it sells quickly at very close to the $20k asking price. People don't give a shit what KBB says if they have buyers lining up around the block to fork over thousands above KBB. And that's the situation we have here in CA.

This may be changing due to Covid though. I was searching for my truck in 2019 and bought it in Oct of last year so things could definitely have softened a little since then.

I'm done beating this dead horse.

 

Maybe thats the CA reality, but its not for the other 90% of the country, I get supply and demand, but KBB is widely used, its overpriced and not worth that price. Period.

 

Nice looking rig, quality mods, Etc. but pushing 200k would be a deal breaker for me.

 

After all of this, I guess when it comes time to sell my truck, I will go visit some friends in California...i don't understand how a 13k truck everywhere else is a 20k truck in california. Not casting doubt on it, just weird. I guess a 150k house in texas is a 600k house there too though.

 

600k will get you a 1 bed MAYBE 2 bed condo outside the city.... or a cardboard box in the city.

 

Close to 40 million people. The old economics of supply and demand.

 

I get supply and demand, but even new ones are crazily priced there from what I have seen on this forum. There isnt a scarce supply of Tacoma's. Almost 250k were produced last year alone...

 

Exactly. I think its often the easiest reaction to explain overpaying, its not indicative of the market / value in the majority of the country.

 

I don’t know about your credit union but mine offers a service whereby you spec the vehicle you want and they scour the entire country looking playing the dealers against each other looking for price.
Consumer Reports also offers this service for a small fee.
Why not get the vehicle you want for best price?

another possibility take a large southern city such as Dallas Texas where they have multiple dealers and search their inventory. California is the last place I’d look. Oddly enough the largest volume dealer In the United States is Longo Toyota Since 1967. They speak ten different languages and you can get a haircut and a BJ while you are there. Just kidding.

 

I am not a member of a credit union but the big one out here that's made for people that are freelancers and in the entertainment industry does have that service. I was looking at giving them a call today and talk about joining.