Trade in or not trade in? **UPDATE** 11/15/21

So I have a 2004 Tundra Limited with 133000 miles. Runs great but of course living here in the Northeast the one thing we deal with is rust under the vehicles. Body is in great shape for the year so I have no complaints with the truck. I do not have a payment so I am wondering if I should just make improvements to my truck or trade up into a newer model. I am looking at 2014-2015 models of the Tundra. Found one for 29,999 with 63,000 miles on the odometer. Has some upgrades and it is a crew cab while mine is an extended cab. Don't really need the extra room but I do like the look. Just wanted to get your thoughts and did you do this and then later wished you kept your older truck?
Thanks

 

Sold my ‘06 double cab with 80k miles and went to a 2017 crewmax back in 2018. Haven’t regretted the change, and I really enjoyed my ‘06 for the decade+ I owned it.

You’ll give up some bed space, but gain a lot more interior room. You’ll have the last generation of the 5.7 V8 too. Lots more aftermarket support for any upgrading you’d like to do on the newer truck. You’ll likely give up a bit in mpg…but it doesn’t sound like you put excessive miles on your truck to begin with…and get better towing capacity, more power in return. Ironically, the dimensions of the trucks are pretty similar in terms of overall width and length. I’d say drive it and see if it’s worth it to you.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yes I don't put much mileage on my truck and fuel mileage isn't a huge concern of mine since it is a truck and I expect to get less mileage with one. I am driving a truck because I like the size and feeling of having more protection in one and plus when I need to tow or haul stuff I can. I love my truck, but would also love a newer one as well. I have a boat so yes towing is also something I would do with it. My truck now tows without any issues but having more torque isn't a bad thing either. I am going to look into maybe taking a test drive as well. One thing I noticed is that the listing says it has 63,000 miles on it, yet when I looked at a Carfax report it says that the last reported mileage is 96,000 so something is a little off with this. Going to look into that before going to look at it.

 

I would say it’s worth the trade. With the new 3rd Gen out, the order trucks are only going to get harder to find in good shape/low miles. It sounds like there are a few red flags with the truck you are looking at, so maybe not that particular truck but a 14-17 is a nice upgrade.

 

Yeah-that sounds a bit off…if you’re close to a Toyota dealership, go test drive any of the crewmax’s they have in if you haven’t driven one recently already. A ‘14-‘21 are all the same exterior body, and powertrain, with minor aesthetic changes over the years. ‘18+ added tss safety sensors and deleted the transmission cooler shortly into the ‘18 model year production…but all will drive/feel similar (or should)

good thing is with your truck being in good shape, you have time to wait for the right deal to come along

 

Sounds like possibly an instrument cluster replacement and who knows if carfax is correct. When was 96k reported? If recently, I'd say maybe it is correct, if three years ago, maybe still correct but not as likely. Regardless, 30k is like maybe 5 oil changes different, so not exactly a huge difference. The big deal with used cars for me is floods. So often, people don't have insurance on an older vehicle that ends up in a flood. They clean it up and dump it. Look at the wear on the brake pedal, lots of wear, lots of harder driving, not much wear, highway miles.

 

Agree although it is nice not having a car payment . I went the other way from a 07 cm to an 06 ext a while back. The 06 had less miles then my 07 and the 06 has been more then capable to fill all my need. Test drive one if not drive your 04 to the ground. 133k you should still get a good buck for it.

 

Just be careful that you actually end up with just 1 truck in the end if thats your plan!

Unlike what happened to me?

 

Very helpful tips from everyone. Lol Ezdog, I do not plan on keeping mine and purchasing another. The wife would definitely kill me....
I am going to contact the dealer and question the mileage to see if it is a mistake on the dealers part or Carfax. according to the carfax website the mileage was reported this month. I know that these trucks can have a ton of miles put on them if taken care of, but to me that affects the price they are asking and compared to others on the market with similar features.

 

I say go for it, upgrade to the 2d gen or better while you can. Plus the low miles is a plus. Congrats.

 

The CarFax info shows back in 2019 when the truck was sold to the 3rd owner it was serviced at a toyota dealer and the mileage listed was around 57,000 and then later when it was inspected later in 2020 it was close to 80000 and then the last notification was around 96000 or so. CarFax now as of today there is a mileage discrepancy which I am like, Do ya think?? So I am going to look into it and keep looking around.

 

So an update to this post. I have decided to keep my truck for now and make some improvements to it. I like not having a payment and it does run well so I have that going for it. I am looking into getting some new wheels/tires for it and had a question regarding what I can do without doing a lift kit right now. Is it possible to get wheels with a negative offset to bring the wheels out some and still put larger tires on without doing a lift kit right now? Or is it better to just add a lift kit first and then put wheels on after that? Just trying to find the best option without doing unnecessary work for nothing. The truck is currently stock in it's suspension set up right now.

 

So I may be back in the hunt for a newer truck again. After doing the brake job from Hell, I was cleaning the undercarriage to spray it with some fluid film to get ready for Winter and found a few things I did not care for. I found a broken fuel strap which must have just happened recently. It was not broken a week ago. The other is a bracket of some sort that goes from crossmember to another crossmember and supports some of the fuel tank components. The bracket is in huge need of replacement. I do not even know what it's called to even know where to buy it. Then after further review the driver side rocker panel is growing some cancer and is close to having two holes. I am going to look into seeing what a bodyshop will want to fix the rocker panels on both sides. Depending on cost of these newly found issues I may be looking to unload it and find something newer with less underside rust. The truck is in good shape overall but I am beginning to feel like it's going to be nickel and dime time with the latest finds.

 

I have to chuckle to myself a bit. Thinking about a 17 year old Toyota in the N/E starting to rust. 70's & 80's pickups barely made it to the last payment without extensive rust through.
And those were the years of 36 to 48 month payment books.

 

Just weighing my options and thinking what is more practical, dump more money into my current truck or buy newer and not have to do anything for at least for a few years. Upgrade would be at least 10 years newer.

 

Please don't think I was making fun of your situation; quite the opposite in fact. It's so nice you and many others are able to own a vehicle so long before rust perforation becomes a concern.
I bought a new 1981 Dodge 024 and within a few months a small rust stain developed on the A pillar. While picking at it with a fingernail my finger poked a small hole through the metal. So that chuckle was thinking back to myself 40 years ago and my new 2021 Tundra sitting protected in my garage.

 

No problem, no offense taken at all. Just clarifying what I may be doing. I know that the older vehicles rusted a lot faster back in the day than they do now. I remember growing up with my dad dealing with bodywork on his vehicles. I distinctly remember a 69 Pontiac Catalina that had terrible rear quarter panels that needed repaired. The car ran like a dream but body was falling apart in the back end.

 

So I have spoken with the dealership today regarding the trade in of my truck for the 2014 Tundra that I was looking at. I found out that according to them and their research based on my trucks age and condition that they have an independent buyer that is willing to give me
3 Grand for my truck. This is per the market that we are located and where they are which is near the Buffalo NY area and the need for this age of truck throughout the country. I mean my truck isn't perfect but it is not junk either. I am just wondering if anyone else feels that this is reasonable considering the market we are in today. Also, they did tell me that this is more money than I would have gotten last year for the same truck. My truck is a 2004 Tundra SR5 Extra Cab with 133,380 miles on her. Just replaced front brakes, rotors, pads. New rear bumper and tow hitch as well over the summer.

 

This is the truck I want to buy.

 

$3000 for your trade in???......run away from that dealer. Sell it privately first.

 

I was thinking about that. The one concern would be that trying to sell it and not dealing with tire kickers.

 

Are the newer tundras any better about rust? Reason I ask is I had a 2011 Tacoma (got totaled ) and received a recall notice that covered Tacoma’s all the way to like 2016 or 2017s.

we don’t see a ton of salt in Tn, more curious than anything

 

I do not know the answer to that one, would need to do some research on that one. According to the carfax information, each year the truck I am looking at had the undercarriage treated with undercoating at the inspections. I would definitely be doing some kind of spraying to the undercarriage of the new truck. I am in northwest pa so we do get snow and salt the roads. I know that the year I have they had a frame recall but my truck didn't need the frame replaced.

 

They are trying to take you for a ride. Move on!

 

That is what concerns me. I wish there was a way to really find out what a vehicle is worth without using a dealer to tell you what you can get.

 

Carvana or kelly blue book are both a good way to get in the ball park. Then factor in how long or how quick to move it.

 

I found on KBB and trade in at even fair condition is 6206.00 so it does lead me to believe that I am not getting a fair deal.

 

Carvana says 3515.00 trade in value. Based on answers given to questions asked without lying.

 

I have heard Carvana is sort of hit and miss sometimes. Don't know why, but it is.

 

So the dealer upped the trade in to the 3515 price that Carvana said they would give me site unseen. With the price they are asking and my vehicle trade the payments would be 530 a month with an interest rate of just over 5% which is pretty good. My credit is exceptional so I don't think that I will get a much better price payment wise without leasing something which is not what I want. The payments would be for 72 months. Truck is a 2014 with some aftermarket mods and relatively low mileage based on my research. I know I sound like I am trying to talk myself into it or out of it depending on how you look at it, but I would like some other opinions based on this new information I just found out.