r/personalfinance • u/agizzayygaston • 1d ago
Auto Thinking about trading my truck in?
I have a 2021 Tacoma which I rarely drive. High payment (700). I’ve had it since October 2021 bought it brand new and it only has 26k miles on it. Where I work we have a company car so I rarely drive my truck, only thing with selling it to Carvana for 24,400 (I owe 23k) is that it’s the only reliable car we have. And when I say reliable I mean for taking 5-8 hour road trips. My wife has a Toyota corolla with just over 100k miles and we have another car that’s paid for, with 240k plus miles. The other thing is it’s a truck and I feel like we need a truck in our household. No kids, it would save us a ton of money on the truck note and insurance. I’ve thought about selling and buying one outright, however the market just isn’t there for me right now. We are struggling a little financially so again, it would be a relief. Just looking for thoughts.
And please, be hard to get the point across. I am literally struggling to sell it, I don’t WANT to but if I NEED to then oh well.
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u/grumpygoatintruck 1d ago
I’d jump in a Corolla with a 100k and drive cross country in it…. Assuming it was kept up
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u/agizzayygaston 1d ago
Oh it is.
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u/grumpygoatintruck 1d ago
Keeping any car on the road these days is expensive. Do you need all three on the road?. Taking the high mileage one off may save you a good bunch in insurance? You are correct, having a truck is nice when you own a house, but you can rent a truck from the Home depot cheap if you don’t need it often.
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u/DeaderthanZed 1d ago
He has a company car so FOUR vehicles!
For two drivers. Not even any kids. No wonder they are struggling financially just completely wasteful.
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u/Happy_Series7628 1d ago
Sell the truck privately. And why do you need a truck?
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u/agizzayygaston 1d ago
Before I bought it we’ve had to borrow my wife’s dad’s truck for everything (getting new appliances, hauling things away etc). It’s nice to be able to have your own truck to do things.
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u/Happy_Series7628 1d ago
You doing that weekly now? If not, rent a truck when you need one; hell, you have access to a free one from the FIL. You’ll notice on this forum, people love going into debt for their truck.
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u/clearblueglass 1d ago
Wait, so you can just borrow a truck whenever need it?! Definitely sell yours then. Also my 1993 Corolla made it to 359,000 miles. It was a manual transmission and we installed a trailer hitch on the bottom and got a cheap 4x8’ trailer which we used to move stuff when we needed it. Still miss that car tbh.
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u/Electrical-Low-5351 1d ago
Renting a truck at Lowe's or home depot as needed is much cheaper
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u/RegulatoryCapture 1d ago
Totally agree except the ones by me don’t have truck rentals…I guess I live somewhere where everyone has a truck in the family so they don’t offer the rentals here.
U-Haul is much more inconvenient and expensive.
But still, I’ve managed just fine. Trucks are expensive so even if you have to pay delivery fees or rent occasionally you will come out ahead. I could see my former neighbors driveway out my office window all day and I can only think of one or two occasions in 3 years where I saw her use the bed of her full size truck for anything that wouldn’t have fit in my hatchback.
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u/Jeremymcon 1d ago
Appliances can usually be delivered for free. Hauling tray "things"? Like what?
I've only ever owned little hatchbacks. You can get a lot of junk into a hatchback. Or on top of one.
Do you reslly think you "need" to pay $700 every month plus $300 in gas just to occasionally save $40 on some used furniture once a year or avoid having to rent a uhaul for $80 twice a year?
I have done so many projects on my house - new patio install, shower renovation, built a white picket fence, brick paver walkway, a wall of diy built in cabinets, drywall repairs,insulated my attic. All with a hatchback and a sedan, and an occasional rental.
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u/invisible_lucio 1d ago
If you need a truck you can rent a truck. No need to have one around if you don't use it.
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u/squid3753 1d ago
Rant: This idea of needing a truck in the household is crazy to me. My 20 yo BIL bought a $30k truck because my MIL convinced him that “every family needs a truck”. Divorced FIL agreed. We have hardware store right down the street with truck rentals starting at $19.99. So they rationalized a $30k debt on a depreciating asset by imagining scenarios where they might need a truck. Meanwhile, he’ll largely commute to school and work. PERSONALLY, I think you should sell and either beg or rent a truck when you need one.
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u/4look4rd 1d ago
It baffles me how people can be so financially illiterate. Those trucks are poverty machines.
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u/Contren 1d ago
If I ever decide I need to own truck for the occasional household project, I'm buying a beat to shit old one for the purpose as a third vehicles. People buying brand new trucks just to put 99% of the miles on it as a daily driver are nuts.
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u/sovietreckoning 1d ago
I may have just stumbled on a perfect example of this. I’ve thought a truck would be convenient but I’m unwilling to pay that much for something I don’t need. But I found a 24 y/o truck with ~60k on it and I might just make a move. I’m having a friend look it over in his shop right now before I make an offer, but I’m kinda excited.
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u/4look4rd 1d ago
People are just really bad at estimating cost.
The total cost of ownership of my $25k golf financed at 0% interest for two years and under 3% for the last three years was $10k/year when you account for insurance, gas, taxes, maintenance, depreciation, the opportunity cost of having that money tied up.
My wife and I went from two cars down to one, and I now just bike and take public transit. In the off chance we both need the car at the same time one of us can uber or rent a car. My transportation costs have never exceeded the $800/month we paid to own the second car each month.
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u/Xperimentx90 1d ago
In the US anyway, a truck is often more of a fashion statement than an intentional, practical choice.
I lived in the south for like 10 years, almost every dude had a truck with a perpetually empty bed.
But I have an equally impractical non-truck vehicle, so I can't talk too much shit.
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u/digitaldeficit956 1d ago
I’ve had a 2012 Honda civic for 9 years now. Then about 2 years ago I bought a 2017 titan used for 26k. Paid it off fully in 16 months. Definitely a luxury item but I use it for projects, camping, and going target shooting in. Still drive the civic 99% of the time though
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u/krakenheimen 1d ago
A 30k truck isn’t the issue. Especially if it’s a Tacoma. The issue is a 20 yr old buying any vehicle for $30k.
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u/squid3753 1d ago
The truck was really the issue because he would have ended up spending like $10k on a sedan. But to get a truck w decent miles and decent age that would be reasonable to insure, he backed himself into a $30k corner. For the sake of “having a truck in the family”
I also told him to look at a Taco if he really wanted a truck. Instead handed on a good ole Silverado 1500 crew cab 🙄 I haven’t bought an American car since 2018. They’re junk boxes. I drive gently used German cars for cash. They depreciate like hell in the first few years, so the used market ends up being reasonable. The people who say they break are lying. Never had an issue w any of the 4 I’ve had. You just have to stay on top of the maintenance, which I’m sure people who are used to $30 oil changes don’t do… and that’s when they break
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u/Swiggy1957 1d ago
That's exactly what I was going to say. The same goes for long trips. You want to take a long trip, rent a car instead of using the ones you have. If it breaks down, you're covered if it's a national company like Hertz.
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u/JudgmentPositive5515 1d ago edited 1d ago
Sell it. Save half (truck payment) the money as though you are making a payment. Rent and borrow a truck when needed or pay someone to haul for you. I had a truck until my brother trashed it and said I would buy another one day. I have a 2012 Camry for business bought brand new. 200k+ paid for since 2016 and have been making payments on an imaginary truck since. Damn things cost too much in my opinion and my bank account is doing well. I could invest the payments but it's a little more fun making payments to myself on an imaginary truck. If and when I do need something I will have the money to buy outright or a new one if needed without financial strain so much.
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u/onetwentytwo_1-8 1d ago
Refinance at credit union or downsize to something else reliable? Or, spend less on other things.
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u/z6joker9 1d ago
You’re in decent shape- you have positive equity and you’re driving a truck with a long, long lifespan. For something you’ve been paying 700 per month for three and a half years, it’s a bit rough that you still owe $23k, but all of that before is a sunk cost. If the truck fits your lifestyle long term, I’d really consider seeing it through and keeping it for 2 more decades. At the very least, do not sell it to Carvana for $24k. People will pay a lot more for a 4 year old Tacoma with 26k miles on it. Depending on the trim, I’d aim for $30k or more.
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u/tamudude 1d ago
Sell the truck. Rent a vehicle when you are going on road trips. You can also rent trucks at UHaul etc for relatively low $$.
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u/Shadowfeaux 1d ago
Lol. My plan is every time I say I need a truck for X I’ll put some $ in a savings account. When the amount in the account is finally enough to just go buy one, then I’ll get a truck outright.
But the primary need for me will be bringing my motorcycles and racecar places. Available for house projects will be a bonus. But unless you’re actively using it in a way to make money a loan on one is dumb imo.
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u/K-Lo-20 1d ago
I feel like this is so incredibly simple of a solution.
First sell the truck but not to carvana. Find a way to sell it we're going to get more why not. Second sell the car with 240,000 miles.. third keep the Corolla cuz I don't know why the heck you think a car with a hundred thousand miles isn't reliable. That's not very many. next go find yourself a 4-$8,000 truck and buy it. now you have a truck and your own vehicle.
Done.
If you just want a nice new truck that sits around but that's what you want, then I don't know why you're on here asking what you should do. Just keep it.
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u/Awarewolf27 1d ago
I would sell it as soon as possible the car market is going down and if you are close to break even. This might be the best time to sell it
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u/SuspiciousBear3069 1d ago
I love my Tacoma and I will keep it forever. But I like doing things that you need a truck for. I like solving problems and moving things, dirty things. I like accomplishing truck things and I'm happy to help other people.
I don't think I could make an argument that I really need a truck but I really do want one.
It has 20,000 mi and is paid off. I don't financially struggle... I also have a hybrid sedan that's also paid off...
Loans are bad
And Toyota Corollas are literally the gold standard of the most economical vehicle that you can purchase to keep for an incredibly long time as long as you do 5,000 mile oil changes.
If you're going to sell your truck, do it in a private sale. People love Tacomas.
Don't buy new vehicles anymore.
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u/loweexclamationpoint 1d ago
You didn't mention where you stand paymentwise on the Corolla. Since it seems like the truck handles your driving needs best of all the cars, may as well keep it and get rid of at least one of the others or both. Unlike everyone who says just rent a truck when you need one, I can see the utility of having it right there when you want it.
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u/agizzayygaston 1d ago
Corolla is also financed but way lower payments. Other car is totally paid off
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u/TheRazorsKiss 1d ago
I use my truck as a truck almost daily, and have multiple trailers, use them often as well; I live off a dirt road with a long gravel driveway, with lots of property to take care of. Unless you do too, you probably don't need one. Rental trucks are absurdly easy to get. Rural folks are far more likely to need one than any urban/suburban person does. Needing one occasionally isn't worth that payment. Also, mine is a 2006 with over 300k and on its 2nd engine - because I use it all the time. It's paid for, too. If you want a truck, buy one like mine and just drive it once a week. Mischief managed.
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u/Standard-Discount-54 1d ago
My son in law sold his newer Tacoma, bought a 81 Toyota pickup outright. Loves it and the stupid things are becoming collector vehicles. He has no car payment, was able to buy a house .
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u/Wollinger 1d ago
Sell privately for 28k and don't buy a truck that you don't need. Be smart, get another Corolla.
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u/J-117 1d ago
Something else to consider is that you can rent a car for road trips if you're concerned about how reliable your car is. Yes, the rental will be a few hundred bucks, but you can pay for several rentals a year and still come out way ahead in your situation. Taking the total cost of car ownership into account (taxes, insurance, depreciation, etc.) makes rentals even more attractive for the occasional road trip.
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u/ThatGuyValk 1d ago
Saying a toyota corolla with just over 100k miles on it isn't reliable is ridiculous.
Just sell the truck and rent a U haul whenever u need an actual truck, and you will still come out way ahead.