Is this a crazy idea? What's your opinion?

[4Rager]

Let me start out by saying I love my 5th gen and am in no way unhappy with it, but lately something has crossed my mind. A quick blue book check indicates that a stock 2014 Trail Premium like mine is worth over $34k to a private party in "Good" condition. That got me thinking that I could sell it and buy a dedicated and capable trail rig, as well as a fun to drive street car as my daily driver.

I'm thinking something like this, or maybe an Evo or STi. Something fast and fun with good tuning potential. This one is already modded:
https://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/5485765605.html

That would leave me a nice chunk of change to get something like a 3rd gen 4R or 1st gen Taco, with the eventual end game of a SAS and 35's or bigger (not to mention it would give me the opportunity to slowly build it up since it wouldn't be my daily driver).

What do you guys think? Anyone considered something similar? It may not be the most rational decision, but I love modding street cars as much as I do 4x4's and this way I could end up with a fun fast dd as well as a more capable 4x4.

 

[RoverGS]

Whatever works for you dude. Go for it, you only live once. You may come out ahead, you may lose tons of money, either way have fun.
I do silly stuff like that all the time. Sometimes I make money on a deal, other times not so much. But at least I had fun and walked away saying I took a shot. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[Atlantan]

I can relate, call me nuts...I almost traded mine in a couple weeks ago. In the end...you can decide what will make you happy.

 

[T5RUNNER]

Not crazy at all to take advantage of the market. And yes, two totally different cars is the only way to get the best of both worlds. The only thing I would suggest is sticking with an old 4Runner instead of a taco. They cost half as much, and are better off-road anyway.

I picked up a mint focus svt for $3000. It is a fun practical daily driver that I also just discovered works as an autocross car that is actually competitive (I'm not but the car is) . Now I am free to mod the 4Runner because it's not my dd.

 

[Marcocopuffs]

I came from an e90 335i with the n55. I do miss having something to whip around, but I can never see myself going away from a 4x4.. If I were to get something different, I'd get a Lexus GX470/60 simply because Lexus service is 100x's better than Toyota's and have a cheap fun car (s2000, boxster, 997.1, c6). BMWs are great, but your resale on the STI will be far better than either of your choices.

 

[jwkilgore]

Driving a reliable older car vs a new one always makes sense... if you are willing to drive an older car instead of a new one. You'll miss out of some of the more modern safety features (or nanny features, depending on your point of view).

One thing to keep in mind is you'll have double registration/tag fees, double insurance, quadruple maintenance (older vehicles = more maintenance), double parking room, etc. What you hopefully won't have is a new car payment, which will likely offset much of the above.

It sounds like an good idea to me.

 

[Srt4runner]

That's my current situation right now and it works great for me. Just make sure you keep one of the cars you plan to daily drive very reliable. A used STi/evo can turn into money pits really quick so be careful. I keep trying to justify upgrading my 3rd gen to a 5th gen, or keeping the 3rd gen and buying a new Sti, however I'm still having fun with this combo. It's nice having 2 cars so if something breaks you have the other to rely on. I do get bored driving the 3rd gen around from time to time so the SRT fills in that gap nicely. Another thing to consider is the insurance for 2 cars, parking situation, twice the maintenance, twice the car washes/detailing, etc.

 

[FrontRange4Runner]

As stated above, just be sure that you are willing to take on the monthly expenses of both cars. Insurance on an EVO/STI will not be cheap and you will have another vehicle to insure on top of that. Obviously mtx will be much higher on 2 older cars than a single new one. Also, if you are commuting at all, your gas millage wont be going up, and it will be slightly more expensive due to premium gas requirements. That said, you will not have a new car payment which is always nice, and an EVO or STI would be a ton of fun. I recently picked up an 02 RSX Type S for under 5k as a commuter and its awesome. Fun to drive, Honda engineering and I'm averaging around 37 mpg on my daily 100 mile commute. Granted its no EVO, but the insurance cost and gas millage were worth the power trade-off to me. Honestly do what makes you happy, just make sure you have done realistic research beforehand. Taking advantage of the awesome 4Runner resale is always nice. You could have gotten a Jeep, which would have already depreciated massively.

 

[K9trainer]

Is your truck paid in full?
Do you have money for another car? Why don't you just buy a additional car?

 

[thevanillagorilla]

In March of 2014 I sold my nicely built 2008 Tacoma because it too had a very attractive KBB Private Party value. I turned around and bought a 2014 WRX STI Hatchback...regretted it almost instantly. Ended up keeping it for less than 6 months and sold it and bought another Tacoma.

I'd say, keep your 4Runner as your DD/trail rig, look for something sporty to buy for the weekends.

Side note - as someone who has owned and modded 2 STis, they're not that fun. Turbo fast is different than pure displacement/torque fast. And, if you mod them heavily, they get annoyingly temperamental.

 

[Apex Overland]

thought about it many times because we have a heavy Subaru background. were on our 8th Subaru now, all but one was a sti or wrx.

Then I sit back and think, this things really comfortable to drive everyday, does great on the trail, and is reliable. Na ill stay in what we have.

 

[Apex Overland]

to add to that, ive been kicking around the idea of buying/building a supermoto to have fun on. you live in Nv [MENTION=107267]4Rager[/MENTION] year round riding weather!!!

 

[thevanillagorilla]

I'm thinking something like this, or maybe an Evo or STi. Something fast and fun with good tuning potential. This one is already modded:
https://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/5485765605.html

One last thought, sorry.

As someone who has also owned two e46 M3s...you might want to set aside a cool $10k for maintenance/repairs if you really want to have fun with it. BMWs are ridiculously fun to drive, but also very expensive to maintain and the newer turbo models, even more so.

Keep your T4R!!

 

[4Rager]

Is your truck paid in full?
Do you have money for another car? Why don't you just buy a additional car?

The 4R is fully paid off, which is a big part of the incentive to me. I shouldn't have looked up the KBB, cuz now I can't help but look at my truck as $30k+ sitting in my garage. The way I'm looking at it right now I have a vehicle that I love, but it's a jack of all trades, master of none. Since I own it flat out, I could use the cash for two not as new/nice vehicles, but offer more variety. Don't get me wrong, I definitely couldn't live without a 4x4, but I'm ok with it being a '98 instead of '14.

Parking is not an issue since I have a 2 car garage and the 4R is the only thing in it.

Registration: Probably be a wash since my 4R is already like $500/year and I can't imagine a 90's Runner + a 5-6 year old car would be much more than that.

Insurance: It would go up, but again we're talking two older vehicles vs. 1 newer and much more valuable one.

I doubt I'd come out ahead, but I probably wouldn't lose much money either. Basically the 3rd gen or whatever I end up with would be my trail rig that I never get rid of, and the car would be my dd that I replace 5-8 years down the road.

And when I saw Evo or STi I'm thinking no more than say a GT30R. So nothing you can't build with off the shelf parts, which would keep it more reliable than a crazy build with custom fueling and everything. 350-400whp is already plenty for me haha.

 

[4Rager]

BMWs are ridiculously fun to drive, but also very expensive to maintain and the newer turbo models, even more so.

Keep your T4R!!

I've been asking around about that. My mom has a 535i and hasn't had any issues but she only drives it like 5k miles a year. Kinda reminds my of the 2.7T S4s. Around 90-120k you have to replace the timing belt and possibly the turbos, which requires lifting the entire engine and costs major $$$. That's why so many S4's end up with upgraded turbos, because if you're pulling the engine anyway, might as well replace/upgrade the turbos while you're at it.

 

[thevanillagorilla]

I've been asking around about that. My mom has a 535i and hasn't had any issues but she only drives it like 5k miles a year. Kinda reminds my of the 2.7T S4s. Around 90-120k you have to replace the timing belt and possibly the turbos, which requires lifting the entire engine and costs major $$$. That's why so many S4's end up with upgraded turbos, because if you're pulling the engine anyway, might as well replace/upgrade the turbos while you're at it.

The e46 M3s are prone to the catalytic convertors failing. In order to get the to pass cold start emissions in the U.S., they had to relocate the cats from underneath the car to right up on the exhaust manifold so they'd warm up more quickly. As a result, they end up cooking themselves. On both e46s that I've owned, they failed and it was a $3,2k repair on each...luckily covered under warranty. Those cars are also really quite tire hungry, even more so if you're doing any sort of track days or spirited driving...which I do/did. And the brakes are foolishly expensive as well for what they are.

Don't get me wrong, BMWs are fun as hell, there's just a price tag that goes with it. But hey, you gotta pay to play.

Given any thought to one of the newer Mustangs? They seem to have come a long way since they really sucked and there's a ton of aftermarket support for them, and they've got a pretty good amount of grunt just "as is."

 

[Bob22222]

Mr2 ?

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

This thought has crossed my mind as well. I guess you have to ask yourself how much you would really want to go extreme wheeling? I myself decided that I like the fact that my 4R can take me pretty much anywhere I want to camp or exploring in the mountains, on easy to moderate trails, then hit the highway at 75 mph on the way home.

But if you really enjoy rock climbing, hill climbs, and driving over obstacles, then a designated wheeler might be for you. Just my 2 cents...

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

Also keep in mind that a full on crawler setup with larger than 35's, no swaybars, full lockers, etc... will not be fun driving on the highway, so you may need to buy a truck to trailer it.

 

[Taco04]

That would leave me a nice chunk of change to get something like a 3rd gen 4R or 1st gen Taco, with the eventual end game of a SAS and 35's or bigger (not to mention it would give me the opportunity to slowly build it up since it wouldn't be my daily driver).

Why not just buy an 80?