Should I sell my tacoma? Need advice!

Hi everyone! I have been battling with myself for a while now. I would love to get additional advice or some input about a dilemma I have been dealing with. I currently have a 2020 Tacoma TRD Pro in Army Green with a CBI steel front bumper, winch, 30" light bar, snugtop sport cap, 3" lift and leveling kit. I'm the 2nd owner of the truck and it has 77,000 miles on it. I love the truck, im very much attached to it however I don't go offroading, tow or haul anything and I don't go camping(something I do love but haven't done in years and don't see myself doing for years). I live in the Bay Area and as of right now I have only been driving it on the road and averaging 40 miles a week, sometimes way less. I currently owe $19,500 on it through a loan with Bank of America at 3.9% APR and my payments are $693 a month, I believe i have 2.5years left. I also have some credit card debt of $8,500 I need to pay off. Should I part ways with this truck and sell it? I have been looking at the Honda HRV Sport AWD because I'd like to have the AWD for possible tahoe trips and the gas mileage is something I can live with, also it's a honda(id like to stick with toyota or honda). Also want something that has some room in the back seats too. I recently went to a dealership to see what my trade in would be and with all dealerships, I went through the gauntlet of sales people to where they ended up offering me $39,000 for the truck. I'm wondering if that's a good deal and just go through a dealership rather than private but with them offering me that much, I'd assume I can get more via private but I don't know how long it would take to sell because of the loan etc. The only thing that makes me hesistant on not selling is my attachment to the truck(i have had it for a few years now, it'll love how it looks and the compliments I get, if I do end up going offroading it's there for me and it's so incredibly reliable) but I know from any economic standpoint, it doesn't make sense to keep it. I do make enough to fulfill the nimum $693 but not enough to do that and also knock out chunks of my credit card debt(can do maybe $200 month).

 

You really need some financial counseling. You have an expensive truck that you don’t use as a truck and you dont need a truck. Apparently the only reason you have the truck is cause it’s cool and looks good. Then you have substantial credit card debt. Until you get yourself in better financial shape sell the truck , get yourself a cheaper more practical vehicle. Also get yourself something with better gas mileage. You’ll also pay less insurance with another cheaper vehicle and your annual California registration will be much less. (All pickups in California require commercial registration which is much higher than cars.)
Finally work extra hard to pay off your credit card debt and don’t use your credit cards except in case of emergency expenses. Average annual credit card interest rates are 22%. Dumbest debt anyone can have. Pay them off asap

 

Damn, those are not the choices I would make in your shoes

Sell the truck
Pay off the loan
Pay off the cc debt
Use what’s left to buy a used somewhat older car. HRVs have only been out since 2023 model year, so you are looking at new or almost new? 25-30 grand?

 

If you're going to sell the truck, check Carmax, Carvana, or any other car buying company.

Keep in mind that interest rates are up since you purchased the truck, so you likely won't be getting 3.9%.

If you did the deal you posted, you'd have approx. $11K leftover as a downpayment on the Honda. $28K for the HR V minus $11K with an APR of 5% would reduce your payment to approx. $540 a month. This excludes the tax incentive you would lose if you sold (not traded in) the truck.

 

Have you priced out what it will go for? Do that, then look at what the terms would be for what you want to buy. Even with the razzle-dazzle shapeshifting language a dealer will pull, you're most likely in an upside-down loan situation. Meaning, the trade in value, or what you'd get for it if you outright sell it to apply the cash to a new vehicle, will put you in worse financial debt than you are now. Do all the maths.

If it were me (and it has been me, almost down to the exact numbers) I would focus on doubling up payments and get this stuff paid off. I know, easier said than done, but I have never been financially wealthy and have never made a lot of money by most people's standards but as of 2020 or so have two vehicles paid off and my CC debt rarely goes over $1000. If you put your mind to it you will be surprised at how fast 20K turns into 15, then 10, then 5.

As mentioned above, interest rates are horrible right now with one exception: auto sales are suffering so much that lot of places are doing 0 down 0 interest for X months (sometimes 24.) What most people fail to do is use that opportunity to double up payments before the interest rate kicks in. It's pretty cool to buy something for 2-3K and when the last payment goes out you have paid zero dollars in interest. Beat them at their own game.

 

A 4th gen TRD Pro hybrid over 96 months might save you some $$$ and it's a hybrid, so you know it's efficient. It's a new Tacoma and everyone is going to drive their Tacoma forever, so it's basically an investment that'll beat inflation. Happy Friday.

 

Dave Ramsey to the courtesy phone. Dave Ramsey to the courtesy phone.

How old are you and what is your monthly take home pay? Are you making the payments on the truck and the CC's or do you have assistance from your parents?

Do you have any money in savings?

Do you have any other debts?

 

LOL good one, happy Friday.

 

Is that $8000 cc debt because of the truck or for the truck? Anyway, I think the dealer offer is good, considering all the shit done to the truck and the somewhat hi mileage.

 

I googled honda HRV sport AWD, most cost 23k - 30k
19k Tacoma > 23-30k
I think older $5000 Corolla/civic is a better choice here if you’re trying to pay off debt

 

at 40 miles a week do you even need a car? like just take the $80 uber....

 

I think his plan is to pay off the $8,500 CC debt and take the remaining equity ($11,500 roughly) and put it down on a HRV. Financing $20,000 over 60-72 months will be less than the Tacoma now and he won’t have the CC debt either.

 

Lots of good advice given, but one thing I’d add, do not sell your truck to a dealer and allow them to negotiate you into one of their vehicles. You will almost always get screwed that way. Sell it for a good price to them, then buy a vehicle somewhere else that allows you to pay as much as possible to that credit card debt. Lots of us have been in your shoes and I think most will agree that being in that kind of debt sucks. But being debt free feels amazing. Good luck with your decision.

 

Today I completely forgot that equity is a thing

 

Dave Ramsey ... "Total Money Makeover". The book would be a good investment to learn how to get money working for you.

Get a second job and apply all of that paycheck to your credit cards. After cards are paid off keep that job and save all of that paycheck in an emergency fund. Bar nights with friends are your enemy right now. You may well find that once you start building that emergency fund you become "greedy" and do not want to let any of that go because of how hard it was to get to that point.

Get a smaller less expensive less cool car that costs less for everything.

California is a financial disaster waiting to happen and you want money in the bank to weather the problems instead of paying 1/2 (or more) of each credit-card payment monthly to just the "interest charges".

 

Sell the truck and put that payment towards the credit card or pay it all off if possible. Don't roll any negative equity into another vehicle. Lease a new Honda or Toyota or whatever at a cheaper payment.

Start building 6-8 months of savings and contribute towards a retirement account.

Some financial advisors offer a free consultation. Talk to a few of them and go with your gut.

 

He could take the Bart. Of course you take your chances riding that.

 

No specific advice other than the bumper sticker philosophy of "Debt is Slavery". Work a second job, cut expenses and pay off the CC debt first as it's the higher interest rate. Maybe keep the truck for now and reevaluate after the CC debt is gone??

 

I was curious the other day and checked some of my cards. One was at 24% and another at 28% !!

 

I'm sure it's an age perspective, and I'll get flamed, but it's just a thing (yes, even a Tacoma). Things can be replaced. And I'll definitely get flamed for this, but being in debt for a toy is just a bad idea, especially when the opportunity cost is paying off really expensive credit card debt.

I'm sorry, but to me it's such an easy decision. Sell the truck, pay off the CC debt, and buy a cheap FWD car that'll take you to Tahoe.