Age vs. Miles?

Got rid of my tundra and went to a Lexus. Big mistake.. especially in this economy.

therefore I am in the market.
Curious about age vs mileage.
2015 44k on the odo. Used.
2018 55k on the odo. Certified.
$8k difference between the two.
Anyones have any advice?
Thanks!

 

Does the 2018 have a warranty? 44k on a 2015 is low mileage, do you know the history? Old man who babied it?

 

Yes the 18 has the rest of the power train warranty plus an extended warranty.
I have not seen the 15 in person yet..but from what I can see it’s clean. I’ll know better once I’m able to crawl all over it.

 

What Lexus did you purchase?

 

2012 GX460. just not for me.

 

I love those. They are thirstier than their size would imply though.

Regarding the trucks, I think you’d be overpaying for a slightly newer truck (with more miles) just because it says “certified” on it.

 

Certified is nice for the extended warranty, BUT read it's stipulations. Find the deductible for it, what the terms are, where it's honored etc.

Also, the large fuel tank wasn't available until 2016 or later. Find out if the 2018 truck has the larger tank. It's a significant quality of life improvement.

Also, are both the same engine. There were two options. Need to know if we are comparing apples to oranges here.

 

8k is a lot of repairs

 

So $8k more for a vehicle that's 3 years newer and +11k miles.

I think, as another said above, you need to get into the options on each to decide this one. The age/mileage on both are really not a factor IMO, assuming both trucks are in identical shape (very good to excellent). It'll come down to whether the 18 has enough upgrades over the 15 that are useful to you and will justify the extra $8k.

 

Same truck. Both are 1794s and 4x4.
I don’t know about the gas tanks as I would need to look at that.
Both are 5.7.
The certified is something else I’d like to look at as well.. I do have time so I’d like to make it a good buy.
Just curious as to whether a 7 year old truck with 44k will still stand the rest of time. Pretty sure, just wanna make sure I’m not missing anything.

 

What state? 4x4? Extras?

 

This is where I’m leaning..depending on shape and gas tank size.

 

Do you travel a lot or long distances? The 2018 probably has the 38 gallon tank. My wife’s land cruiser has a small tank and it’s annoying getting gas every 5-7 days. 46 gallon aftermarket tank is in the mod list.

 

Where were they owned? North East vs a Texas or Southern truck is something to consider too.

 

I wish I could get gas every 5-7 days in my Tundra. It's more like 2-3 days. LoL.

 

Right here in Houston Texas

 

In miles/year the 2015 is clearly the winner in overall wear and tear.

 

The miles are basically equal to me. At a point - a used car is either low miles, average or high.

Beyond 3 years old - I figure 12-15k typical. Some of this depends on where you live of course. 12k is low in Texas where you drive everywhere and nothing is within 5 miles - in the NE you typically drive less, so 12k might be average.

Certified - not much of a boost to me. Helps a little - but reality is the warranty will run out at some point on everything. How much do you value the remaining months/mileage of warranty - I’d say $20 a month is “fair” - it’s worth something - but I wouldn’t go crazy. Let’s say that warranty runs another 36 months - that’s $720. It might save you that much - even a little more - or it might not save you a cent. It’s a gamble - but I think $20 a month is in the sweet spot of risk/reward.

2018 is s minor cosmetic revision correct ? Not major - just a slightly different look and headlights if I remember right. Those can be changed of course.

Low miles is one of those things people live to crow about when selling - experience tells me however low use could well be lots of “short” trips. I’d just as well take a slightly higher mileage vehicle with evidence of regular care. Of course the benefit of a Toyota and the 5.7 is they tend to tolerate abuse/lack of maintenance more than many trucks. Miles mean 0 when it comes to aging / things break down naturally on mechanicals and that 4 year head start will start to creep up in you. Maybe not until 2032 - but eventually.

A lot would come down to how long I planned on owning and if I was paying cash or finance as well as use. I’m cheap - so 8k out of pocket is a tougher pill to swallow for me more than $150 a month. At the same time if this is something I’d be using daily - I’d probably go newer. Moly daily driver has to be reliable as possible and the extended warranty of it provides a loaner could be invaluable. The repair cost might not be bad - but when it’s going to take a shop a week to get to my vehicle (not unreasonable in todays environment) and with the possibility that parts may be delayed (again - not uncommon today) - that $50 a day spent on a rental truck (assuming I can get one) could wind up saving you half that 8k in a single incident. Plus if I were buying for say 4 years and not a buy and hold forever - the 2018 will command more at resale - maybe only a grand - but definitely more and will potentially be easier to sell being newer. Some dealers won’t touch cars over 10-12 years old - 4 years from now a 2014 will be 13 model years old. Just food for thought.

 

Another thing to consider is do you tow? 2016+ have an integrated trailer brake controller while on the flip side 2018+ do not have a transmission cooler. While Toyota says it is not necessary I like the added piece of mind.

 

Just to clarify the above, it’s the 2019+ that dropped the transmission cooler. 2018 is kind of the sweet spot for a lot of features.

 

Get the carfax make sure neither was a flood truck. We all remember hurricane Harvey.

Call Toyota with Vins get them to email or fax all service history in the computer for both.

What is smart for you money wise? 8k is like another year of payments. If moneys not a big deal get the newer one. It will have the newer gauges cluster and all the Toyota Safety Sense features.

I daily a 2005 F150 because my office is 3 blocks away and we have work trucks for business travel. I don’t put but 3,000 miles a year on my personal truck going to/from work if that. Can’t even listen to a full song on the radio before I am there. For the amount of time I am actually in the truck using it I can justify a big monthly car payment. I have friends who make 2-3 car payments and have already spent more than I will for an entire year. Everyone’s situation is different.

The 2015 is a great truck, if it was owned by and old man going to church every Sunday and garage kept, I would by it 10x over a 2018 that had been subject too a much harder life.

 

A Lexus is never a mistake. I have owned 3 (used).

Here is your advice -

https://youtu.be/l2OAHImTgA8

 

Sneaky FYI, If you get the Toyota app, you can put ANY VIN in it, and look at the service history (Dealer inputs anyway)

 

Whoops I guess I misread when I was reading up on them.

 

My 2019 has a Oil and trans cooler.

 

My advise, use the "search" button and start reading. It was a hot topic.

You don't have what you are thinking of as being the traditional cooler.

 

I was in a bit of a similar situation. I bought a ‘17 with almost 100k on it over a 2012 with only 50k on it because the service records on the ‘17 were impeccable. The ‘12 had a few major gaps and just not as sure a past. Two years in and still don’t regret. A well-maintained high mileage Tundra should not scare anyone off.

 

You can see warranty work on TIS but I didn’t know about this cool. When I was looking at a Tundra years ago the selling dealer had done all the service. They had all kind of records in their local database that other dealers didn’t have access too.

More importantly getting an idea of where the truck has been and if it’s been taken care of is key

 

The biggest difference you're going to see between the model years are going to be the tank size and the TSS sensor. I don't believe the BSM was introduced in the 2015 1794 but you'll have to verify that. Most of the tweaks between the two are going to be minor and behind-the-scenes as that's what Toyota likes to do.

My personal opinion, if you're not uncomfortable with the sensors (as this is the first year for Toyota to introduce TSS), I'd say go for the 2018. If you want simplicity of less electronics, go for the 2015. If the truck is going to be long term, 8k difference between the two will be a drop in the bucket, in my opinion, based on what it would cause in time and frustration if you decide to add things to your 2015 to be like the 2018.

Also, as a side note, I do believe the 2015 has less recalls than the 2018. Good luck to you and your decision.

 

Me personally I would pick the 18 solely for the larger gas tank and TSS. I will never again own a vehicle without radar cruise. It's a game changer for me.