Trade 2003 to 2004?

If your goal is to save money then you need to sit down and write out on paper what it'll cost you to buy a new(er) car than what you currently have. Include the necessary repairs and then guess at what else might be coming up (tires, etc) and the compare it to making a monthly payment on a new car. Gas mileage is just one factor in the equation.

Personally I would have no problem trading in an older car is that is starting to need a lot of little maintenance items for a newer car IF the newer car is a good deal and will alleviate the need to do most of those maintenance items that you were trying to avoid in your current car. In this case IMO you're asking for trouble looking at a car with so many miles. If I was in your situation I'd be looking for a 2006ish V6 with ~ 80k miles.
 
rebelbowtie said:
also consider yourself very lucky to be able to afford a truck as nice as a 2003 4Runner or have parents nice enough to buy you one. when i was 17 i had an 88' chevy w/t base model pick up.
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Boy, that's the truth. When I was 17 I got an '86 Chevy S-10. It was my grandparents old truck and they were nice enough to give it to me for free. But when I got it it had 170,000 miles on it and was on it's second engine and third transmission already. That sucker got MAYBE 12 MPG highway even though it was a V6.
 
jimithing said:
Boy, that's the truth. When I was 17 I got an '86 Chevy S-10. It was my grandparents old truck and they were nice enough to give it to me for free. But when I got it it had 170,000 miles on it and was on it's second engine and third transmission already. That sucker got MAYBE 12 MPG highway even though it was a V6.
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it sure was fun to beat around in though wasnt it?
 
jimithing said:
If your goal is to save money then you need to sit down and write out on paper what it'll cost you to buy a new(er) car than what you currently have. Include the necessary repairs and then guess at what else might be coming up (tires, etc) and the compare it to making a monthly payment on a new car. Gas mileage is just one factor in the equation.

Personally I would have no problem trading in an older car is that is starting to need a lot of little maintenance items for a newer car IF the newer car is a good deal and will alleviate the need to do most of those maintenance items that you were trying to avoid in your current car. In this case IMO you're asking for trouble looking at a car with so many miles. If I was in your situation I'd be looking for a 2006ish V6 with ~ 80k miles.
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I looked at a 08 for 21k and payments were going to be around 460+. Had 63k. My 03 had 55k when I bought it.
 
rebelbowtie said:
you should look into fixing your truck you have now, the only reason i would even consider getting rid of your truck if i was in your position is to get a 4x4 truck. if youre anything like i was at 17 years old you have a thirst for the off road but if youre a pavement pounder fix up your truck.

I've looked into it. I thought about a 4x4 but only being off road (little mud and Georgia clay) maybe 10 miles every year isn't worth it when you factor in (front) diff fluid changes, if the actuator goes bad, etc etc. Plus pounding numbers I'd owe less money, pay it off in less time, wouldn't have to worry about a timing belt, etc.

I also am looking into a 02 Limited with 101k, but most likely going to pass because I hate leather, even if it is heated or cooled. In a few hours I'm going to look at it (the 2005) and look at the fluids, if theres any rust, see how it drives, etc. We'll see how it goes, it was a 1 owner with a good carfax (tho those aren't a great system) and I'm getting ready to see how the records on the Toyota site look.
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rebelbowtie said:
you should look into fixing your truck you have now, the only reason i would even consider getting rid of your truck if i was in your position is to get a 4x4 truck. if youre anything like i was at 17 years old you have a thirst for the off road but if youre a pavement pounder fix up your truck.

trading a v8 in on a v6 with more miles doesnt make sense just to save a little fuel and have less initial maintanence. things start to degrade rather quickly at high mileage. also consider yourself very lucky to be able to afford a truck as nice as a 2003 4Runner or have parents nice enough to buy you one. when i was 17 i had an 88' chevy w/t base model pick up.
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Ha, I wish my mom would have bought it!
 
My 2 cents:

If you cant afford the maintenance on a vehicle, then you should own it. That isnt a shot at your economic status, its just good business sense. If i dont want to pay the ridiculous price it costs to have a Mercedes's oil changed (father-in-law owns a tank SUV, costs a bunch for maintenance) then i dont purchase that vehicle!

Im sure no one here wants to get into the V8 vs. V6 argument, but they BOTH require maintenance, and have their "things" owners have to deal with. The V8 has exhaust manifold crack issues, the V6 has head gasket issues, the V8 has the timing bent interval change, both have the 4-LO actuator leak issue. If you dont want the responsability, then chose another vehicle.
 
zerowkul98 said:
My 2 cents:

If you cant afford the maintenance on a vehicle, then you should own it. That isnt a shot at your economic status, its just good business sense. If i dont want to pay the ridiculous price it costs to have a Mercedes's oil changed (father-in-law owns a tank SUV, costs a bunch for maintenance) then i dont purchase that vehicle!

Im sure no one here wants to get into the V8 vs. V6 argument, but they BOTH require maintenance, and have their "things" owners have to deal with. The V8 has exhaust manifold crack issues, the V6 has head gasket issues, the V8 has the timing bent interval change, both have the 4-LO actuator leak issue. If you dont want the responsability, then chose another vehicle.
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Why I'm doing 2wd.

It is t I can't afford the maintence, its there's too many thing going wrong. There only only 3 real HG issues on the V6 on here that I've seen. With 162k, if it was going to go bad, it would have already went and I didn't see anything on the Toyota site saying there was a HG replaced. I love my V8, but don't have a need and its draining my wallet dry.
 
then buy a honda civic. no vehicle that weights 5000 lbs will get great gas mileage.
 
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20034RunnerV84x2 said:
Why I'm doing 2wd.

It is t I can't afford the maintence, its there's too many thing going wrong. There only only 3 real HG issues on the V6 on here that I've seen. With 162k, if it was going to go bad, it would have already went and I didn't see anything on the Toyota site saying there was a HG replaced. I love my V8, but don't have a need and its draining my wallet dry.
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Go ahead and buy it then. You will quickly find out why the previuos owner sold it and you will wish you had your old one back.
 
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