Opinions Please

[Cthusker]

I have an V8 05 LTD (Galactic Gray) with every option but NAV offered that year. It has 18,000 miles on it and looks and drives brand new. I managed to get two 6 month lease extensions which will finally expire in March 09. My buyout is about 19k and I'm trying to decide if it's worth buying.

It does a really nice stainless bullbar, custom black taillights (Japan style) and a few other goodies I installed. Everything can be changed back to stock very easy.

Bottom line is the truck is like new, but with the way SUV's have bottomed out is it even worth 19k? I've tried to negotiate with Toyota before and they WILL NOT budge! Could I buy something better for the 19k? Probably not but I really haven't followed the market that closely... Any thoughts are appreciated... Ct..

 

[Clemsonfan15]

That's a hard call. The milage is great and KBB lists the private party value as ~$19,000, assuming it's in excellent condition.

I really don't think you could buy another SUV that has the same quality, year, etc... for $19,000.

If you have the money and have a use for it I would say buy it.

 

[westwind1124a]

Cthusker,

I just went through the same dilemma and ended up turning in the vehicle.

here are a couple of my reasons:

My buyout before tax was almost 22,000

Standard warranty was almost up at 3 years

Tire tread was also getting pretty low

I would not dare drive a sophisticated vehicle like a 4runner out of warranty(while making payments on it), so I would have had to spring for the extended warranty, which I did not price but am guessing would have gone for around 1,500 judging from previous vehicles I have owned.

Assuming that I would need tires in about 10,000 miles that would conservatively be another 500 dollars.

Total not including finance charges, sales tax, and the 60 thousand mile service; which, if memory serves me is quite costly. Would have been around 24,000. KBB gave the vehicle a private party value of 18,235, making the car way too upside down for my liking. Taking all that into consideration I just couldn't keep it.

One other overlying factor was my need for a truck over an suv. If you are happy with the vehicle and it fits your needs(which it sounds like it does) that would also be something that could sway your decision.

Not sure if that helped at all, but those were the things I looked at when my lease was up. Good luck with your decision!

 

[kregg]

^^^ Great Posting!!!^^^ :bigok:

"Yeah, what he said!"