Selling 99 Tacoma - Dealer or Private - Any other advice?

Sadly I'm about to part with my V6 Xtracab '99 Tacoma with a camper shell for a more city friendly fuel efficient vehicle. It has 170,000 miles and mechanically in great condition. It has a few dings on it from over the years so it's not the most cosmetically perfect truck. It's well taken care of and was driven very minimally over the years - mostly highway miles from camping trips.

Kelly blue book says that for a sale it would be worth $2700-4400 in fair condition (cosmetically imperfect but good mechanical condition). This is not considering the camper topper. The trade in says it's worth $3500.

If I sell the truck to the dealer, do you know if the camper shell has any value to them?
I've never sold a vehicle before. Is there any other general advice that perhaps would make it more appealing to a buyer other than the obvious like making it shiny and clean?

I'm guessing whoever buys it will either love to camp or use it a little work pickup to haul things.

 

Older vehicles, especially something like this, should always go private party.

Always.

 

If it’s 4wd, you’re probably losing 8-10k relying on those prices. 6-8k if prerunner.

even a five lug will command more than those blue book values.

sell private and if you are in SoCal and the shell is in good shape, let me know if you’d separate them

 

It's 2WD. I was in Oakland, CA last year but now in western PA. I would've totally separated the shell from the truck (the trim around the window has a cool teal color). One of my favorite things to do was to drive north of Santa Cruz and find a overlook and just take in the ocean while laying in the bed with the shell window open. So relaxing.

 

Worth 7k all day. If it has a great frame and great maintenance could get up to 12k

 

2wd prerunner or 5-lug?

 

It was owned by my in-laws before us. Just passed around the family. It's a SR5 and I know before we owned it they had rear suspension installed if that's what you're asking.

 

There are two different 2wd suspension versions. Does it sit up high or down low? Or if it’s easier, do the wheels have five or six lug nuts each?

 

It looks like this

 

You could put on that Craigslist or Facebook marketplace, asking 6000 and sell it for that much in less than a week. The Camper shell has next to no value whatsoever to the dealer. There may be people looking for a truck without a canopy and it could reduce the pool of people interested in buying the truck, so the dealer isn't going to give you much more for it. Of course, if it also might help them sell it to someone wants a canopy anyway, but the numbers are not in the dealer's favor. You could ask the dealer to appraise it with and without the shell, and if it really is worthless to them, you could sell it yourself. But at that point you might as well sell the whole truck yourself. Tacomas are popular and they're not hard to sell. Getting it cleaned prior to sale will make your particular vehicle more appealing, so I say go for it.

 

Probably worth 5-6k easy down here in SoCal. Your area may differ, especially with frame condition considered

 

Unfortunately the gas gauge doesn't work so I just fill up on mileage it was never a big deal to me. The sliding rear window also does not latch but I never kept valuables in the vehicle since I was living in a place where there was a lot of smash and grabs and apparently in my new city I don't have to worry about break-ins. It's been well maintained, oil changed, just had the clutch replaced last August, and new tires. The windshield is about a year old but got a small chip in it on my move. The inspection mechanic thought that it would be all rusted and didn't think it would pass inspection in PA. I was very confident as we had to pass the higher bar emissions of California previously and of course it passed. He said he's also used to seeing older vehicles rusted out underneath and was surprised our Tacoma didn't have rust on the frame. I saw these Tacos all over the place in CA but they're not as common here.

 

Only time to ever trade in is if the vehicle is unsafe and your have to pay a salvage yard to come get it.

Since it starts, moves and stops on it's own you'll have no trouble selling it.

Start high. You can come down but not go up. If you get no legit calls in 7-8 days, drop price a bit, as you probably started too high.

How many lugnuts it has matters. Not sure why you wont answer that. But regardless, it will sell and KBB isn't a reliable factor for these trucks.

 

Hi Clearwater Bill! Sorry! It has five lugnuts on each wheel.

 

dealers here are offereing $2000 over KBB ...................advertised !!

accessories seldom help

usually private will get U more............maybe not

 

Awesome! This is all very helpful advice. I'm such a newb at this I would've probably just sold it to the dealer.