Which Tacoma do you foresee depreciating the least?

Just a clarification on my post: I might have also added in my post that I don't want to be the owner when a vehicle breaks down in eastern Montana in mid November on my way to/from a North Dakota hunting trip.

Once upon a time I had a vehicle (Volvo) that just "traumatized" me with breaking down (blown engine, blown transmission) at the most inopportune times (Christmas travel, vacation travel, etc.). It was that vehicle that pushed me toward vehicle reliability as a primary criterion for ownership.

And, no, I can't afford to buy a new vehicle every couple of years; but can every 6 - 8 years.

 

Still, instead spending 35k+ on new trucks every 7 years why not 400$ on a water pump or 1000$ on a clutch job.

 

I certainly agree with you in part, esp. the $400 water pump as an example. Maybe it's the combination of breaking down at the inopportune time combined with a high expense repair.

But I'm not spending $35K or more every 7 years for a new vehicle; I recognize the high depreciation hit of buying new. For example, my out of pocket expense for the 2015 Outback was $13K and for the 2017 Tacoma $19K after subtracting the return on the previous vehicle.

Anyhow, I do agree with you up to a point.

 

Buy a new one . People are crazy with what they ask for a used one .

 

I would have to get a much better deal on a used 7 year old truck that has had the same body style for 13 years. Our 16 has been flawless.

 

P.S. I won.

 

Understandable. There's a bunch of different variables. I've been keeping an eye out for a friend of mine and a 4x4 double cab in Florida with 100k or maybe even a little more will go for 20g easy but year, mods, mileage, location. Everything plays a factor. Good luck with whichever you choose

 

Ask yourself, if you get a used 2012, are you going to wish you got a new 2018 every time you see a 3rd Gen? If you plan on keeping it for 10+ years, how are you going to feel owning a 16+ year old car? If you are fine with an older used truck, save yourself some money.

 

2nd gen 62k.

I like the 3rd gen and it's been problem free. I couldn't find anything around a reasonable travel distance for what I was looking for that was priced competitively. I was looking similiar prices for a 2nd gen with 20/30k miles.

21,500 for 62k miles sounds like a pretty good deal. FIL and I were looking at used 2nd gens a few weeks ago because he likes my third gen. Based on what we saw, that looks like a good price. 50k-60k mile 2013's were going for around $25-27k around northeast to central PA when we glossed online. 2007's at 100k miles are still going for 16K to 20K around us. So, even if you get your 2012 for 21,500, drive if for 5 years and sell for $16k, you spent $1000 a year to drive your truck. That's not a bad deal.

If I paid 35K and sell mine in 5 years for 25K, I would have paid $2000 a year to drive my truck. I think you are the clear winner here in the financial dept.

 

The 2nd gen will be worth less but you will have LOST less overall.

See very scientific chart below of a depreciation curve. Red is where you buy a new truck, green is where you buy a used truck. Note: The verticle red and green lines are the amount of value lost (depreciation). Green is smaller because you will lose less.

 

Buy new. I personally don't like spending a good chunk of change ($20k) for a used vehicle. You don't know how the previous owner treated it. Spend the extra money, which I assume will be financed, so you won't feel the price difference so badly every month, and go new.

 

After looking at cargurus and crunching some numbers:

• You buy a brand new truck at $36k, drive it for 5 years & 100kmiles, then sell it its worth $22k (39% loss in value -$14k).
• You buy a used truck at $22k (with 68K miles) driving it for 5 years & 100Kmiles, then sell it (with approximately 168K miles) its worth $13K (40% loss in value - $9k)

The used truck depreciates less by $5K, but it loses roughly the same percentage of value: 40% loss.

Another way to look at is is you spent $2800 a year to drive a new truck, and you spent $1800 a year to drive a used truck.

I'll say though, if you are keeping your truck for 10 years, regardless of when you buy it, its going to lose a lot of value. You'll have just saved $14k initially by buying used. One thing to note: the 4.0 engine is a "known" in terms of longevity, known issues, etc. The 3.5 is not. It could be better, worse, or about the same but no one really knows yet. So the long term cost of maintenance is more of a risk in the 3rd gen.

 

IMO, it really depends on what you want to do with the truck. The 2nd Gen doesn't sound like a bad or great deal to me. More like a meh deal. If you are going to mod and off-road it, you might want to go with the older truck. If you are going to just drive it to work for awhile, definitely go with the new.

I kind of think you can do a little better price wise for that configuration new. Maybe not, but I think so.

 

Oh, the other thing..... if you do drive this daily, a used and older interior will definitely show more age in squeaks and comfort issues.

 

You are worrying about resale when you sell it in 2028???

 

If you pay the asking $20k price for the '12 Taco, as a consumer there's not likely to be any upside for you, the house (market) always wins.
If you could pick one just like it at an auction or pay no ore than $16-17k its not a bad deal, as you can always unload it at minimal loss if things don't workout for you imo.

Buying brand new with full warranty and keeping it till the wheels fall off maybe a much better wtg ftw, but who does that??

Best of luck
Cheers!

 

OP, last year I was in the same position like you. Will I buy a "well cared" mid-used truck or buy a new one? As other stated above, each choice has its compromises (and particularities), so I made a list of Pros and Cons. It helped me to visualize in black and white what option will suit better my personal values. Please note that there is not a good or bad choice here, -as far as you feel that you make a selection based on what you really value more- so:

Buy Used:
Pros:
- Fewer Initial price spent
- Well Known Resale value
- Extra money to customize/personalize

Cons:
- very limited or No Warranty
- Outdated Model (less efficient, older tech)
- Usually high prices for used Tacomas
- Can need repairs in the near future
- Options can't be chosen (color, amenities, etc)
- Uncertain or unknown conditions (As it is used)


Buy New:
Pros:
- Full warranty (No expenses for repairs in the near future)
- Up to date technology, Fresh/new model, better MPG
- Fully options to choose (Color, Trim, Packages, Engine, etc)

Cons:
- Higher Initial price (and higher depreciation too)
- Future Resale value?
- Longer time to pay off (maybe)
- No money to customize/personalize

There are other factors as for how long you will keep the vehicle, how comfortable are you dealing with unknown issues; etc, that will affect your choice.
As you can see in my avatar I bought a new one, as I planned to keep it for at least 7+ years and I'm usually risk adverse to buy second hand/used vehicles (specially if I had to spen $21.5K!) with unknown history. My comfort zone is to buy new, (baby it a lot) and use it until I feel that either vehicle's value (depreciation) justify to jump to a new one, or due to mileage usage. But it is just me, maybe is not the best "money wise" choice, but it worked for me so far, as I didn't have to do (or paid) a mayor repair in any of my vehicles for the last 12 years.

 

@TexTako has some really good points to consider. Totally outside of the vehicle you'll have to look at some other factors.
- Insurance rates: Is there a significant difference in insuring the new vehicle vs the older one. Are having factory replacement parts important to you?
- Maintenance: Are you a 'go to dealer' type or are you a find parts in 'pick-a-part' lots. The older vehicles could be easier to find used/aftermarket parts in different price ranges
- Replacing/repairing bigger ticket items: Paint/drivetrain etc are going to be more likely in the older vehicle, but its a part of what's factored in to the depreciated price.
- Financing: This can be a big one. OP seems to have experience with it, but I know for me financing a used vehicle got to be a bit of a headache and costly. Tacoma's don't get the 0% financing deals, but I know with my bank atleast a car loans for vehicles over 3 years old start getting pricey if there even an option (prime + 4-5%).

For myself I took the hit on buying new, but it leveled out some of the potential hiccups over my financing period. The potential of having a $1000-2000+ repair on my daily driver while still making payments didn't work into my budget.

 

I'm fully in the buy-new camp, especially where it comes to vehicles with historically high resale value like Tacomas and Jeep Wranglers, for example. I was recently reading an article about cars that lose 50% or more of their value in just 3 years, and a lot of "popular" car models made that list, BMW, Volvo, Audi, even Mercedes models. For those, I'd prefer to buy used! But not a Tacoma.

I traded an '11 Tundra for my '17 Tacoma, and my insurance rates went down about $150 per year, not a huge amount but close to 20%, so not insignificant either. And while I didn't have to finance my trade, I do know that new vehicle finance rates are a lot lower than used.

 

Key with a new one is to keep it a while. You do not want to paying those taxes too often. I kept my 2009 Prerunner for a little over 4 years and my 2013 4-1/2. On the 2009 I recovered a little over 80% and on the 2013 about 70%. I knew going in that I would not do as well with the Baja. I drive more miles annually that the average person.