I cannot give my 2008 Toyota Tacoma (17,577 miles) away (well, I exaggerate)

[DemoTex]

I'm trying to buy a new Ford F-250 p/u to rig out for the 2010 fire season in the Oregon wilderness and to tow a small travel trailer. The deal is contingent on selling my low-mileage (17,577) 2008 Tacoma for a decent price. I have it on Ebay (classified). I have it on Craig's list. I have had it sitting on Harvey's BP best corner position (rented) for four weeks. I have dropped the price $2000 from KBB/Edmunds "good" retail. I'm close to wholesale.

Most of the problem is the Upstate SC economy. However, part of the problem is the toxicity of Toyota. But I see the same vehicles for sale on those aforementioned web sites, day after day (renewed).

The Ford dealer made a great deal on a F-250 Super Duty, but their trade-in offer sucked. So I went down the road to Toyota. Their deal on a Tundra was fantastic, but their offer my my Tacoma was insulting ($14K (they would put it on their used lot as a "certified used vehicle" for $22,000)).

BTW: I pay cash for the amount over the trade (or what I get from an outright sale). I think that works against a buyer (not buying the financing, that is).

The point: Are the car dealers screwing themselves by insisting on an un-equitable difference in their buy versus sell prices on trade-ins? Or is it just business as usual? Or is it a phenomenon of the depression?

[SmileyRose]

1. business as usual

I have only gotten rid of a car while it was worth anything once - because a life change meant a different type of need. I drive them until I'm just glad the teenager down the street will buy it for 200 bucks so he can rip the guts out of it and soup it up.

However, I have a car dealership owner in my extended family. Their goal on a full size truck is to end up with $5000 - $7000 in their pocket overall. However that gets divided, between profit on the car, profit on the trade in, or profit on kickbacks from the manufacturer or credit corp.

BTW - sound like they are making a killing but the dealership in my family averages a net 4-6% profit margin at the end of the day. A lot of money to be sure, but a reasonable margin.

[NYC_SKP]

2. My first new purchase was a F250 HD, Diesel. That was a serious work pick-up.

I loathe calling them "trucks", but this was pretty much a truck.

Rubber floor mats, vinyl seats, you could take a hose to it inside and out.

The only options that weren't about serious work were the clearance lights.

That was a truck. CT dealer really wanted to unload it toward the end of the year, September 1986.

I got them down to $15,500.

As to your question, dealers try to make money on all ends of the transaction.

Common wisdom (under ordinary economic circumstances) seems to be that it's always best for the consumer to sell privately and not get involved in the trade-in deal with the new car dealer.

I would figure out which of these trucks you want, do your homework and insist on cost plus a couple hundred, and then only after you've come to that price make them give you wholesale on your trade-in.

I think that's reasonable.

[doc03]

3. A couple months ago I was talking to a guy that wanted to

buy a used Tacoma but ended up buying a new 2010 Nissan Frontier for the price the Toyota dealer wanted for a 2008 Tacoma, boy how things change. When I bought my Tacoma back in 2006 you couldn't get any deal at all on them and I was willing to pay more because their reputation and resale value. So now we take a double hit because of their safety recalls. I blame the news media hype for about 90% of the problem.

[lib2DaBone]

4. Hi Demo.. Good luck on the upcoming fire season...it should be busy

It has been my experience that if you can get the dealer to give you wholesale value on your trade.. you are doing good. The dealer doesn't need any more vehicles, they can buy them at auction, but they are always looking for good clean trades. It's just the way the game is played. If your Ford dealer gave you a good deal... and you are not upside down.. it might be worth taking.

You will LOVE your new F-250. Talk about a nice riding truck. In 2004 Ford re-did all the suspension and steering on their pickups. The best riding truck in a long time. Plus.. Ford pickups holdup, no rattles, no squeaks.. they will take a beating.

You should be able to sell your Tacoma if you are asking near wholesale.. even in this economy people are looking for economical pickups. I had a 2007 Tacoma... it had an annoying rattle in the dashboard right by the glovebox.. they never could find it. It was like "dripping water", you could turn the radio up but you could always hear that rattle.. lol I traded the Tacoma for a F-150... I took a beating on the trade but I am so happy with the Ford that it doesnt matter.

I'd give it anouther week or so.. if the Tacoma doesnt sell, go back and talk to the Ford Dealer.. he may give you a little more for your trade (especially if it's towards the end of the month)

[upi402]

5. Your Tacoma used to be a midsize PU

That year is bigger than my 2000 Tundra was! Nobody has cash they want to spend. I can't even sell my little Toyo, low miles, gas sipper for KBB.

You are in the driver's seat at the dealer. Chin up like never before. They want you to finance but NEED to sell inventory. Tell then what you are going to do, give them 10 minutes to say yes, tell them where you will stop next if you don't hear 'yes' within 10 minutes. Then drive away as many times as it takes. Put it on sheets of paper and hand it to the first salesman you talk to so they can take it and wipe their ass with it if they want.

I used to view rigs at night and write down the unit's # and options, color etc on a sheet of paper. I'd give them $100 over invoice in good times, about $200 over for the Tundra when hard to get. Never get roped into their games, they want to control the situation to pressure you- do the opposite. Taking a sales course is a good thing while living in a capitalist/mercantilist world.

[DemoTex]

8. Yeppers. I agree.

I might just buy the Ford F-250 outright (remember, my 90 y/o dad bought a new F-250 Super Duty long bed in January - for cash - to carry his fishing gear in! Bwaa haa haa!). Now is the time.

And yes, I study the inventories carefully. I know for a fact that all dealers' inventories (Ford, GMC, Chevy, Toyota) are very, very stale .. nay, rancid.

[Codeine]

12. The Tacoma exploded in size.

I wanted to pick one up a few years back because I remembered them as being a smallish truck with a decent reliability record; turned out they'd gotten freaking huge! Way too big for me to consider.

[DemoTex]

15. Well, mine is the small 4-cylinder SR-5 version

Access cab. I love it, but it don't cut my wilderness needs during the western fire season.

[Schema Thing]

6. be sure to figure in the difference in sales tax

At least in TX, the amount traded is excluded from sales tax. That is still probably not enough to make it worth trading in, but it should be added to the mix.


Dealers have long made more money selling used cars than new cars. Sounds like business as usual. The toyota curse is probably hurting you some... but it is just not easy to sell a used car on your own anymore. The dealers, the tax laws, the banks who hardly lend to individuals direct for vehicles anymore, the advertising cost.... have all conspired to make people more inclined to deal with dealers. Which is a bummer, cuz the dealers are screwing everyone.

[DemoTex]

9. Sales tax on an auto purchase in SC is limited to $300. Period.

The second poorest state in the union cannot figure that a swell buying a $120,000 Mercedes S550 should be taxed a little more than the guy buying a Ford Escort.

[Schema Thing]

10. yikes. that's crazy.

[LWolf]

18. Or buy your Ford when you get to OR, and you won't pay any sales tax.

I'm happy with my '04 Tacoma, which is, I believe, the last year before the new version came out. I didn't like the newer version; bigger, and seemed more like and urban street truck than the rural work truck I was looking for.

I hope you get a reasonable price for it.

[DemoTex]

20. Unfortunately, that's not the way the tax law works ..

If I buy a truck in Oregon, without an Oregon address and ID (DL), I pay my home-state taxes .. SC.. $300. PERIOD. The taxes are paid in the state in which the vehicle is registered. Many a sucker as crossed a state line thinking his/her taxes would be attenuated.

[LWolf]

21. I have family who spend 6 months here and 6 months in the south,

avoiding the harsher winters. I was thinking of them; they keep their vehicles registered here at their northern address.

Summers really aren't enough to count, though. :hi:

[stevedeshazer]

7. I work in the auto recycling business.

Don't know from your post what you're asking for your Tacoma pickup, but I can tell you from northwest Oregon and southwest Washington, my stomping grounds, that used cars and trucks are practically being given away because the economy is so bad.

There is a very brisk business in recycling crashed cars with reconstructed titles. These are the only cars and trucks that people can afford around here.

Dealerships with new cars are suffering but the truth is that even the used vehicle market has cratered. It is a buyer's market.

An '08 Toyota Tacoma with very low mileage is a sweet truck and should be valuable. The fact that it isn't speaks volumes.

And the fact that you can get such a good deal on a new F-250.

Every car lot in the Portland/Vancouver (WA) area is choked with trade-ins, many are excellent deals, but no one here can afford them because unemployment is so high. I have a job, but I make less than half what I made six years ago.

Your truck would be perfect for a guy like me, but I have to keep driving my 99 Civic until it dies. That's just the way it is these days.

Good luck, man.

[DemoTex]

11. Better advice than you know, Steve ..

I considered driving the Tacoma to Bend, selling it there, and buying in Oregon. Looks like I'd better get things moving here, or relegate myself to the Tacoma through fire season (which really does not work).

[stevedeshazer]

13. Despite what I said, I wouldn't rule out trading up in Bend.

By summer things might change.

Okay, probably not. :(

[DemoTex]

14. I'd much rather rig my rig here.

The big constraint, time wise, is the A.R.E. top. They promise 4 week delivery, but my last one took six weeks. If I buy a truck and order a top on March 15, the bed top might not come until May 1. I might have to leave that week to make a National Weather Service course in Pendleton the week before the lookout opens.

I have to have the bed top to secure my gear for the cross country drive from SC to god's country .. Oregon. Lot's of gear, in the rear, but no beer (maybe a Shiraz though).

[stevedeshazer]

16. Nice.

I'm sure you already know, but in this El Niño year, conditions are very dry. The snowpack is well below normal.

You're gonna be busy!

Looking forward to your dispatches.

[bullwinkle428]

17. Don't worry about taking any beer cross-country, DT...

Oregon has lots of kick-ass micro-breweries, if you're into that kind of thing! :beer:

[DemoTex]

19. I know .. I don't drink much beer any more (mostly a wine-o now) .. but

I did have some Red Chair in Bend last summer .. fine stuff!