New or Used? Which one did you get?

[bigdon]

I know some will disagree, but since we're here to express our own opinions, this is mine...
I do like my 4R, but it isn't worth the price of a new one, imo, so I bought a 3 yr old one and saved 12 grand.

My last 2 trucks were bought brand new, I won't make that mistake again.
It's just burning money.

My rules now are:
Buy only Toyotas
and buy them at least 2 yrs old.

: )

 

[Benski]

The truck I was looking for came along...

I was looking for a 4wd SUV while living in Miami working a Winter job. I looked at a lot of trashed neglected used vehicles that were priced too high. I was about to give up for a while when the exact 4Runner came along. I called the guy 10 minutes after he had posted the ad. I bought a 1996 SR5, V6, 4wd, 5 speed manual, with factory hitch in green with tan cloth with a killer 6 disc Clarion and 63,000 miles on it, for $7000 in January 2006! I have had it on sand, snow and dirt, and it pulls my boat and work trailer. It looks good, is fun to drive and I'm very happy with it as is. Now 6 years later it has just turned 160,000 miles. I've replaced the clutch, shocks and struts and a lower ball joint. It's a great vehicle!

 

[BOSMECH]

Well I live in New England and my BMW 530I sucked in the snow and cost a arm and leg to maintain, so I was going to get a Subaru but I said no and went with a used 03 T4R SR5 because of the reliability and am loving the choice, I just hit 100,000 mile on it and have had it for 4 months now.

 

[Mpower3]

I bought new (2004 SE V6 with 4 miles for $29,000 OTD back in February of 2004) but will probably never buy a new vehicle ever again unless it makes sense financially. I haven't had a car payment since 2006 and love it, but I yearn to have a newer care pretty frequently but resist the urge.

Depreciation on a new car is just so bad I don't blame peopel for buying used. I guess I can hear my Dad's voice when he used to tell me "you're oinly buying someone elses problem if you buy a used car."

The 4runner is a tricky sell though. They retain their values so well that even gently used ones with very little miles, people ask for prices as much as new ones sell for, which is why people usually just opt for the new ones because usually what you end up paying more for in the new car, you end up saving in interest on the loan.

Additionally used car interest rates are as low as some new car rates these days it just makes better sense for people to try and forgo that depreciation and simply find a gently used car/truck.

I'm actually in the market for a used 2011 Sienna SE but am finding that the newer ones aren't much more expensive, hence my point about lower interest rates offsetting the additional cost of a new car.

 

[DC runner]

Never owned new. Never will. Isn't worth it. Waiting even a year represents a significant savings over new in terms of purchasing power. I don't look at cars as investments and simply try to manage the "loss". Buying new represents the worst case in terms of financial ratio.

 

[rockwall]

My 2003 Limited V8 was already five years old when I bought it in 2008, but it only had 32,000 miles. I got it for $23k so the age saved me about $20k. I love my truck and think I made the right choice.

 

[Morals]

2006 V8 SR5 with about zero options (just the way I like it)

72k miles, $17,000.

VERY pleased with purchase so far. I really can't stomach the thought of buying a new car.

 

[oljedi11950]

used

05 sr5 v6 14,988 $ 89,470 traded my 03 toy taco upgrade probably hang on to this 1 ,maybe try to upgrade 06 or 07 v8 n a yr or so already 5100s adj up front w/se roofrack flowmaster super 70ii reson delete very nice afe dry liking it

 

[Geosh]

Just bought my '05 SR5 V6 w/ 72k on the clock for $14k. It was a little higher than I hoped but it was the right color (Galactic Grey) and had 3rd row seats like my wife wanted and was in good condition.

Only problem now is that since I have found the forum here, I have swapped on some '11 wheels, replaced the tail lights with 06+ LEDs, tinted the windows, and bought a color matched grill from a forum member. Reading some posts here has also got me thinking about swapping in a Scion radio, adding HIDs, putting on a new exhaust, modding my dome lights so the front ones come on too, changing the colors of my gauges... You all will be the death of me. :cheers:

 

[Sungod]

Used wasn't an option when I got mine. I got the first SR5 with the 'appearance package' on the east coast. That was when they realized that people didn't like the ugly unpaited body cladding and for an extra $1000 you could get the painted cladding. Of course 3 months after I got mine they made the painted cladding standard equipment.

 

[NikonShooter]

Used

2009 Trail Edition $31,000 with 17,000 miles on it. Yeah, close to retail, but the 2009 TE was what I wanted so I was willing to pay more. My trade-in? A 2011 Limited T4R.

 

[MikeInNH]

When I buy I usually buy new. My 05 4runner is the first used vehicle I bought in over 25 years. I was looking new but came across a few Pathfinders and 4runners that were one year old and have less then 15k miles on them. It was worth checking out. I bought my 05 SR5 4runner with 11k miles on it. I bought for about $10k less then a brand new 06 was selling for.

 

[emelianenkov]

Bought my Salsa Red (apparently super rare in my area) '05 Sport Edition V6 4x4 used with just 20k mi in October 2010. Got it for a steal at $21,000. Even better, it came with the extended platinum Toyota care warranty.

Literally the only things "wrong" with this truck were the speakers, and I already had plans to upgrade those before I even found the car . My truck was obviously owned by 'the little old lady who only drove it to church and back on Sundays', and judging by the blown speakers, this little old lady was deaf.

I will drive this thing for as long as it'll let me. Never gonna trade my baby in!

 

[TOY2G]

Bought all 7 of my 4runners used.. and all but 1 came from a private seller...and I ALWAYS buy for a great deal, or I don't buy. I was looking at a couple vehicles the other day, but mine were not worth en enough trade.

 

[bobdod04]

Got my Galactic Gray 2005 SR5 4x4 V6 with 104K miles last June. It was at a Nissan Dealership. Paid $10,800 for it after A LOT of negotiating.

It had some scrapes here and there, but I didn't really care. I am in Philadelphia, so a few months of street parking will make any pretty car cry. Truck was toyota maintained every 3K, with no major repairs. Toyota owners website had 8 pages worth of scheduled dealer services (including all the major ones). Sunroof was broken, so that got fixed as part of the deal. I think I got a good deal because most people in that area would want a vehicle with perfect cosmetics. The dealer was having trouble selling this one because it had a few small scratches. I have 123K miles on the truck now, and no issues (have taken in on several long trips of more than 1000 miles). I did replace all fluids and front pads/rotors/calipers since purchase. Fluids were just preventative maintenance, but the front calipers were siezed and had to be replaced (a pretty simple DIY job).

 

[earthrealm]

@bobdod...wow that is a STEAL.........AM ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SIMILAR...BEEN searching on craiglist,cars.com n autotrader since dec 2011.yet to see anything similar to urs

 

[450exc115]

Even though we could afford it I had a hard time plunking down close to 40K for any car and the new 2010-present are pretty ugly. Call me cheap but I searched for many months till I found my near mint 08 sport. Heck I had to keep bugging the deal ship to see/drive it as the GM was using it for personal use (since it was in such nice shape)

 

[mitre]

bought a 2004 limited v6 with 119,200 on her for $9800 from a private party about 2 weeks ago. Did the 120k mile service the next day for $700 and so far so good. Never used for towing and never in an accident. Some minor scatches but I was going to do light offroading so I didn't care. Hoping I get to 250k miles with no major issues but am aware of the head gasket and actuator leak problems with the v6 models.

 

[the550]

bought last march...

2006 white SR5 4x4 52k miles, cloth, s'roof, one owner clean carfax ... paid $16,500

1 year later it has 62k miles and @ 3.0% apr, its nice to know i will never be 'upside down'

 

[JB.]

Bought new with 2 miles on the odo because I planned on keeping it for a very long time and was willing to trade the eventually small depreciation hit for the value of knowing the complete history of the truck. As the sole driver, it's been out of my hands basically twice (dealer).

The only thing that really gave me pause about buying new was the prospect of getting in right before an abrupt (by auto industry standards) technological shift which seems more and more likely as time goes by (we've already seen a little). As predictable and slow moving as the auto industry has been, historically, it seems unlikely it will be able to manage the same controlled pace going forward.

Ironically, sort of the opposite happened, at least as I perceive it, with the 5th gen delivering less than I expected.

With this truck, I'm perfectly happy watching from the sidelines. Given the above, and considering the time invested in learning about 4th gen 4Runners, if something happened to it I'd buy a used one.