Thinking about trading her in (2010 limited). What should I get on trade-in?

[sandwich]

I don't know why I'm posting this here, you guys probably don't want to hear it but I'll post my story anyway

I love this truck but the gas mileage on my daily commute is killer. It's not that I can't afford it, I can. It's just seeing all that money fly out is driving me nuts. Plus I only really use it for commuting and use my fiance's car for everyday stuff. I don't really do any off roading and I only go on 2, maybe 3, camping trips per year where it's actually "needed" to have a 4x4.

So anyways I go down to the VW dealer to see if I can trade it for a 2012 Passat TDI SEL Premium..VW's top of the line passat with all the luxury goodies the Limited 4R has. I see people are getting 40+ mpg with this car since it's diesel and it's pretty damn nice inside and out. And they go and offer me 28k for my 4Runner :crybaby: Get the hell out of here! So I walked. The 4R lives with me still, I won't let her go that cheap!

What should I be getting for my truck? I'm thinking around 32k trade-in and about 35-36k private sale? It's got 33,000 miles on it, 100k extended warranty.

 

[GrantK]

$28K is about right for starting negotiations. $32k would be for show-room fresh, and no miles. Check Kelly's, these are their 'fair' and 'excellent' numbers.

 

[Y2KSR5]

I got $32,500 for my 2011 SR5 with 7300 miles on a trade in. I did not trde mine in for gas mileage reasons. I traded it in because I did not like it. If you are trading just for the gas mileage you should keep it. The loss in depreciation, price of new car, taxes etc will be higher than years and years of gas money. Just keep it. People do this all the time when gas goes up 20 cents a gallon. It cracks me up.

 

[chetJ]

Hey Sandwich- what kind of mileage were you getting?

 

[Lineman]

Your Runner is a 2010 with 33K miles. $28K is very reasonable...

In all honesty you have to remember the dealer is the one doing you a favor here. You're the one looking to trade in a 2010 vehicle, because now you don't want it. I'm taking its not paid off or $28K just might work for you.

You say you can afford it. Pay it off and keep it forever then you will not see all the GAS money flying out the window. The cheapest vehicle is the one you currently own.

Good luck whatever your choice.

 

[Jaker]

I love this truck but the gas mileage on my daily commute is killer. It's not that I can't afford it, I can. It's just seeing all that money fly out is driving me nuts.

Paying for fuel is driving you nuts but the hit you're going to take on trade-in doesn't?

:jaw drop:

 

[thejuice]

I got $32,500 for my 2011 SR5 with 7300 miles on a trade in. I did not trde mine in for gas mileage reasons. I traded it in because I did not like it. If you are trading just for the gas mileage you should keep it. The loss in depreciation, price of new car, taxes etc will be higher than years and years of gas money. Just keep it. People do this all the time when gas goes up 20 cents a gallon. It cracks me up.

bump!

I'm actually going the other way, sold my VW to get a 4Runner. I had 2 LR3's (first one totaled after van blew a red light). I sold the rover because I was annoyed that my gf's VW cost half as much to fill up. Driving a sedan was fun for about the first refueling, then a month in I realized I could no longer do all the things I used to do. I'd get dug in at the trail head when going mtn biking. I'd be stuck in an inch of snow on flat ground, spinning my wheels and cursing even though I had arctic max snow tires (meanwhile an x-drive bmw with slicks pulled out of the parking lot like it was summer). It got so bad that I kept a tow line in my trunk and hooks permanently mounted so people could get me out of muddy ruts when I drove down the trail to the gun club. [Before anyone makes a comment about my driving, I have plenty of beach and snow driving under my belt. The VW is an absolute sh*t box, even in rain. My old e30 bmw could drive circles around it]

My commute is about 85 miles round trip each day. The 4Runner is going to cost 50% more in fuel. The way I see it

1) I'm still alive because my first LR3 was a tank and saved my life in that crash. Look at the crash statistics, you're about twice as likely to survive an accident in a vehicle that weighs over 4k lbs. More time on the road = higher chance of bad accident. Fuel to me is cheap insurance.

2) I thought about keeping my VW as a daily driver. The savings in fuel would take over 8 years to break even on the $10k I sold it for.

3) Swapping cars will always cost you

4) If you have to get a sedan, and you want to play in the woods, at least get an AWD sedan. Of course, not many AWD's get better than 25mpg highway (not talking hybrid or oil burners), so why not just keep a solid 4x4 that can do 22mpg?

 

[DC runner]

This is a horrid financial decision. Literally the worst time to attempt to resell a financed (I am assuming financed, as most are) new vehicle is within the first 2 to 3 years. The first years are when depreciation is the highest and the chance of being "underwater", meaning you owe more than worth, is at its highest.

This is why, most financial planning folks suggest you get a 3 year old car. At 3 years, its depreciation begins to level off and it is usually still in warranty. You can pick up a great car, in warranty, for much cheaper than you would new and you will "lose" less money each year with depreciation.

The take away? Your going to take a bath and I do not see you getting paid what you owe on the note from a dealer. The closest you will get will likely be private party, but even then, I don't see it.

This means, if the dealer is really good in talking, you will make ANOTHER gut decision and let them roll in whatever negative equity you owe on the OLD car into the NEW loan. You will be standing by this flashy, pretty car and be drooling.. and go, OK. This is one of the worst things you can do.

Not only will it increase your NEW loan, but it will make it much, much, much harder to not be underwater. It means the moment you roll off the lot, and the car losses its NEW value; you will be underwater by a large amount with the negative equity from the old car rolled in.

If you really, really, really, really.. wanna get out of this car? You need to think long and hard about how much money you are going to lose. How much do you owe?

 

[Bay33saw]

What he said.......^

 

[Grizzld]

I just bought my new 4Runner after having my previous vehicle for only 1 year.

The good thing about buying a Toyota is that the depreciation isn't quite as high as other vehicles due to the high resale value. Ironically, I was getting rid of a VW when I purchased my 4Runner; the resale value of VW's is not as good! When I bought my 4Runner, I paid cash for the difference between the buyout cost and the trade-in value. I knew both going into the negotiations. I obtained financing on my own, through a credit union, so I was able to negotiate with confidence. I also made sure my loan allowed me to overpay every month with the extra money going towards the principle of the loan, not the interest. Making just a little more than your scheduled payment every month helps tremendously with negative equity.

I'm not saying what I did was practical; throwing away that much money never is. But, I feel it was the smartest way to get rid of a vehicle I wasn't happy with. To me, paying for the negative equity out of pocket was worth getting into a vehicle I really wanted.