Why the hell can't I sell my truck?

+1. I'm even a younger guy like you, and if I saw rattle canned wheels and someone touting suspension mods and headers on a 2011 truck, I'd run the other way...just too much screaming that the truck was beat on for me to consider it, esp. at that price.

 

i buy and sell cars, im a dealer. Here is why you cant sell your truck. The psecific trim of you rtruck is not in demand at all. Tacomas are HOT in the market and they are known to hold up their value. If someone wants a Tacoma they are looking for v6, AT, DC, 4x4 and if possible a TRD package. Only a selct few settle for the access cab, MT and 4 banger. Sorry but this is the truth. Your truck is priced right for the value but you just have to be patient and hopefully you will get lucky. If you need the cash that bad, you will be better off just selling it to a dealer but dont expect anything above 18k for it from the dealer.

 

I like all of your mods except for the rattle can rims with no center caps. What happened to the center caps??? I used to own a 95 Tacoma access cab with a 2.7L manual transmission. Loved it, but it went to the crusher with a rusted out frame. My 08 access cab V6 only gets 14.5 mpg here in hilly up and down WV. When I pull up to the gas pump I wish I could get that good mpg back like I had with my old 2.7L.

 

the center caps aren't missing I just never put them on because I didn't want to paint them. I just called a local place I'm taking my rims in Thursday to have them sandblasted then I'm going to spray on a clear cloat to give them a bit of gloss. I figured stock sport rims would make the truck appear less "youngguybeattheshitoutofthistruck"

I'm also going to completely re-write my ads and have my mother take some good pictures (she's a photographer with an awesome camera) after a good wash/clay/polish/wax and a serious interior cleaning.

Or I may just do all that and take it to a dealership, because I need this cash ASAP.

 

also do you think it'd be a good idea to take off my wheel spacers? once I put on my rims with the center caps you wouldn't be able to tell unless you had a great eye. I think I should leave them on because of the stance.

also I'm going to put my mudflaps back on and maybe do a bit of painting underneath to knock off some rust.

 

People dont care about stance. Your not going to get your money back for the mods... you can basically add 1/4 the cost and be ok. Best bet is to sell them separate.

 

If you get that thing back to looking stock you'll sell it. There are a lot of
tacomas in wv and there is a market for it.
My only other comment would be go look at the cost of yours brand new today.
You have to entice the buyers. Aim for around 20k as a selling point. List it at
your price but be prepared to negotiate. I almost bought a 2010 last year but
the major reason I didn't was I paid 1500 more and got the same truck brand
new. Know your prices!

 

Another idea...
stick a big "for sale" sign in the window and park it in an area where it will reach it's intended audience. IE: Local University/Junior College/High School. Or nearby a 4X4 shop. Online is obviously the best way to reach a larger crowd, but its also easy for people to skip right over your ride without giving it some proper thought.
I live next to the high school in my town, and there are more 2008+ lifted/modded trucks there than anywhere else! Kids are loaded these days! (or mommy and daddy are generous these days)

So while listing it online will probably be best, it cant hurt to show it off locally to a crowd that will dig the look. (lift, spacers, rims etc.)
all you need is some spoiled 16 yr old running home to his parents saying "i saw the perfect truck today!!!" and begging them to go buy it from you!
glws

 

Just for comparison... I paid $22.5k last summer (to a dealer) for my 2005 DCSB with only 34k on it. Bone stock, dealer maintained, one previous owner. ...and I got it with a year and a half of bumper to bumper warranty. Granted mine was an 05 and yours is an 11... but from a practical standpoint they are the same damned thing.

Your price is too high and the mods will scare away most buyers.

 

if stance doesn't matter I'm going to leave them on. also yeah your truck is six years older than mine, mine is six years younger, I'm going to continue asking 22k from a private buyer.

and I've been thinking about sticking a for sale sign in my window, though I can't just leave it somewhere all day as it's my only vehicle.

 

well def. put a for sale sticker on it!! think of all the potential buyers (every human being that has seen your truck since you decided you wanted to sell it) that you may have missed out on.

 

If you want a sale now, the dealer trade-in option is the only sure bet. It takes time to sell a used vehicle and sometimes it isn't easy. A Tacoma is no exception. I have sometimes sold my vehicles on my own in the past and you can never tell how fast it will go. e.g. -- I sold a Subaru WRX in a week. It took me four months to sell a Ford F-150. Both were in good condition and under five years old with less than 50000 miles.

How you advertise the vehicle can determine how quickly it goes, as others have suggested. Put yourself in the mind of a buyer, not a seller, and pretend you randomly came accross your vehicle on the listing while looking for a truck.

Things that might scare away buyers and have them move onto the next entry:

-- A truck that was used in extreme condtions or used in rough offroad conditions. Mileage doesn't matter here. Immediate red flag for most buyers looking at ads. It doesn't matter if the truck was used as such. Perception matters ,and with all the ads out there, the buyers will move on to the next vehicle.

-- Too many mods. Lifts, large tires wheels, etc.. will get people thinking perhaps there has been a lot of wear on transmission, suspension, and other components. Getting your vehicle back to as as close to stock possible will help your chances. All the mods may look cool to the person making the changes, but they just scare a potential buyer. Again, on to the next ad for most buyers.

-- No vehicle maintenance report on Carfax or with dealer. Many people who do their own servicing don't realize that if they plan to sell the vehicle, this is going to hurt potential sales. Nobody is going to take someone's word for it. They want to see maintenance listed for oil change intervals, standard maintenance, etc..

-- Repetitive maintenance issues on carfax reports--suspension, drivetrain, trans...any of these issues on a carfax will likely cause someone to move immediately to the next ad..

-- Accidents on carfax.

I would suggest, as others have, making sure your vehicle is as close to stock as possible, do not mention offroading or any other references to such uses, and make sure you have a maintenance history that is available to a buyer. Don't use any pictures of your truck in an offroad setting. Make sure it is nicely detailed and sitting in your driveway or garage when you take the photos. I have seen photos of Tacomas on auto listings where the truck is rock crawling, sitting balanced on two wheels in a crevice. These ads usually sit there until the buyer wonders why nobody is inquiring. Again, put yourself in the mind of the buyer. You are shopping for a vehicle. You come across two tacomas with offroad trims. One is clean and detailed to showroom quality sitting in a driveway, the other is perched on a rock ledge offroad. Even though you offroad, which truck would you be more comfortable buying, all else being equal? Image is everything.

--

 

I got a carfax on one ad, dealer serviced since I got it. no accidents. I don't like to lie but I guess leaving out some of the truth won't hurt.

 

I would change it to "All reasonable offers considered." Also, I wouldn't list any minor damage in your ad.

 

$23,000 was the purchase price of my ac 5spd 4x4.....in MA....new.

 

Like it or not, when one mods their truck, they are building to their preferences, not the preferences of the masses. You are looking for a limited number of buyers, and the time required to find one is reflective of that fact.

As has been stated before, Mods, Manual, 4 cyl=loooonnnnnnggggg time to find a buyer.

 

^ This is spot on, including the last line. He knows the market, as did the dealerships that quoted me "buy it" prices for my low mileage DC Sport that recently went down the road for a trade in on... your trucks twin, in a 2012 with 4,000 miles on the odometer. That unit, for just $500 more than your asking price, was a pavement queen I found already wearing new sneakers, complete with PC wheels and + 2 sized Goodyear Kevlars.

Mine was a rare find, in that it hadn't been on so much as a dirt road yet and nor ever was it in Cali to be launched off a dune. Your truck will sell, but you need to wait for the right buyer. Getting anxious to move it will likely end up costing you more in the long run. As others have said, losing the "kid style" modded up ad will help a great deal. I too would have ran your ad over and not bothered to back up based on its original wording. Dropping over 20 large on a used truck puts you in a bad bracket, in so far as the cost and benefit of buying new isn't that much further away.

I would put it back to stock, as in make it smell stock... list it as such and it will sell faster than the previously marketed attempt. There are guys like me who have done the mod thang, and just simply prefer to run em as they make 'em.

 

Ninja edit

 

You're welcome.

Man, I need more coffee... I completely missed the date.

Didn't mean to bunch up your political position there sunshine, gotta love the ninja.