Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives New vs 2 years old

Everyone know that you take a beating on depreciation the first few years.
Should a 64 year old. retired guy buy new or get a 2016 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road

There likely is no right answer only opinions. My suggestion would be to bite the bullet and get a new one because there is so little difference in price, especially if you expect to own this truck long term. BTW I bought a 2018 Tacoma TRD several months ago. I have been totally satisfied, but I pretty much knew what I was getting because this is my third Taco. I never even looked at other small trucks when I was in the mood to buy.

Only you can answer that question. Depends on the used Toyota of course (condition and price) and on what you want. Frequently the price of a new one, if there are any incentives in the marketing plan, result in a better deal than buying a used on with a lot less warranty remaining.

The 2016 was the first of the redesigned Tacoma with a new motor. They had some issues and not sure if they were fixed that year. A new one is what I would go for in this case. If you can find a good 2015, then I would go that route.

do research on the new 3.5 Tacoma motor.......compared to the ole 4.0L

I bought a used '14 a year ago with 70K on the clock......now only pushing 80K

Good reliable trucks.......also have an '05 with 167K..wife's daily driver

Both DC SB's

I am thinking that this will outlast me, might as well get a new one.

I really like my '14 shown here with new Cooper ST Maxx tires

One thing I had to have when I bought it was the 6 speed manual transmission

I have had 6 Tacomas over the years. I bought all of them new. The resale value is so high that you are better off buying new............

I had a 1989 but after my boys were to big for the back seat I got a F150.
Now the boys are men and I am ready for a Tacoma and I like the manual transmission myself.

I'd say it depends on how you plan to use it. As a daily driver and a lot of miles, I'd opt for a new one and that newer traction system that they have on the 4x4's would be worth having if you go off road much. I only use my truck for special occasions and I wanted the 5.4 engine and bought the last year F-150 that used that engine so I bought like new, used. The Tacoma was the only Toyota that didn't get the "recommended" tag for the 2018 year in Consumer Reports auto issue last April. You could look on Autotrader.com or check out Lenztruck.com to see what the used ones are going for, but they have always seemed exaggerated high verses the price of a new one.

Manual transmissions are very scarce new or used around here. My intentions are to drive it any time it is to miserable to drive a motorcycle which is about half the year.

I'm not sure I'd buy the newer 2016+ Tacoma though. While I've not personally driven one I hear too many bad things about the new engine. I have a 2007 that has been great.




Many people ASSUME that they take a beating on depreciation the 1st few years. That is true of most cars and SUV's, but trucks hold their value much better. With trucks it is often a wash long term and you can come out better buying new.

Here is the mistake I see people make. They look at $50,000 stickers on new trucks and panic. They end up buying a 3-4 year old used truck for $25,000 and tell people they saved $25,000. The problem is that the $50,000 truck will actually sell for $40,000 and the $25,000 truck they bought used sold for $30,000-$32,000 new.

I have bought new trucks, driven them 10 years and 150,000 miles and gotten 1/2 my money back. The guy who buys if from me thinks he is getting a deal paying $12,000 for a truck I paid $24,000 for 10 years earlier. The problem is that I got 1/2 my money back, and he has the same amount of money in the truck that I had in it. And he gets to pay for all of the repairs.

I wouldn't even consider buying a slightly used Toyota.
I am not a Toyota fan, don't hate them, don't really care.

But, people are stupid in their believe that a 100k mile vehicle is still "new".

If I was a buy new and often guy, Toyota would be my choice.
Folks will pay damn near new price for a used one.


Toyota, buy new.

If you had asked about Tundras I’d say buy new.
But with Tacomas, I’d probably take tikkanut’s advice and look for a low mileage ‘14 or ‘15 with the 4.0L.
Find an Off Road model with A-Trac and you’ll be set.
Just my opinion.

You can usually buy new for close to the same price as 2 yr old if you shop well. I have rarely seen where situations where you come out better buying 2 yr old used vs new.

^^^^^This^^^^^

Good thing a lot of people don't take your advice, Nothing wrong with buying a used toyota if it is bought RIGHT and you can judge the trucks condition.

With new you get oil changes for first 20K, new tires, new brakes, and a warranty. I just got a 4runner, and I'll trade in 3 years with 50K miles and really not loose too much. Toyota is still a money suck, but depreciation is not like other trucks.
I was going to get a 4 door Tacoma, but that 3.5 engine is a downgrade to the older 4.0. I hear they always shift and lack torque. I had a V6 F150 like that, and I swore to never get a constant shifter. Apples and oranges, but that seems what people say on Toyota forums. Lot of trade ins due to the 3.5.
The 4.0 that I have in the 4runner is a V6 and it feels like a V6. It lacks torque but has HP when you slam it. I did have a 4.7 V8, and that was terrific, except it got 16 mpg in a first generation Tundra. The 4.0 gets about 25% more MPG in the 4runner.
If you want to go used, I would look for a deal on a 4.0 Tacoma.

Great hunting rig,

Read again, carefully.
One can't predict the deal someone may pull off.
One can't tell how much owning the truck from new is worth to another.


Saving $2k or less for a truck that has used up a bunch of its warranty, the tires are half shot,
I have no clue if maintenance was done or how it was driven? I'd buy new.

The numbers move. Maybe that 2 year old truck has 500 real miles and I believe the odometer.
The price saves me $5k. Well, that's different.

But, normally.......