Why do tacomas hold their value better than tundras?
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While the Tacoma has long been king of the small truck crowd, the Tundra was never really taken seriously until the 2007 redesign and even then it was hampered with the engine issues in that year. Basically Tundra's from 2000-2006 are simply not as good as the Big Three's trucks from those years and never really caught on. While they offered similar size in later model years, they were always behind on towing capacity (Tacomas from 2004-2006 were rated at about 85% capacity of the Tundra) leading a lot of people to refer to them as "7/8ths scale trucks". Weaker resale values on those models is simply reflective of the fact that as a full size truck they just weren't as good as the competition. The older T100's were even worse off in that department and really weren't full sized trucks.
The Tacoma has always led the small and midsize truck market in features, content and design. They are quite simply the best small pickup IMO and I'm a domestic truck guy. Their quality and popularity combined with the offroad reputation of the older Hilux/Toyota Pickups made them very popular and they hold their value very well.
As far as whether or not they are worth it, that's a different matter. In short Tundra's before 2007 weren't much more than upsized Tacomas. Stepping up to them had drawbacks (fuel economy) and not much added utility outside of size since the tow ratings were very close. Since the vast majority of Toyota truck buyers are using them as personal city vehicles, the Tacoma makes a lot more sense than a Tundra. I don't personally think used Tacomas are really worth the asking price, but they are very much in demand and people tend to hold on to them.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. I'm also a domestic truck guy but can give props to Toyota for having the best small pickup truck on the market. I do NOT believe a used Tacoma is worth the resale prices that one lists for. I took a quick glance on Edmunds.com and checked the 2005 model year of both the Tundra and Tacoma and usually a full-size (albeit the 2000-2006 Tundras were NOT what I classify as full-size) pickup commands a much higher resale value but the Tundra and Tacoma have nearly identical resale values.
The 2000-2006 Tundras were basically what I'd classify as a mid-sized truck. They were not meant for heavy usage but rather as passenger vehicles for commuting and such. Toyota really tried to beef up the Tundra's image with the 2007 redesign but I believe they tried a bit too hard. The current Tundra looks like a Tonka truck and doesn't have the specs to go along with its beefy image.
The Tundra has a 10,100 towing capacity but ONLY in a regular-cab, long-box equipped truck. If you move up to a more popular double cab or crew max, the highest towing rating you can achieve is 9800 with the double cab and 9000 with the crew max. Compare this to an F-150 and the Ford can pull 11,300 pounds with either an Ext. Cab or Crew Cab. Toyota put too much into the look of the new Tundra but didn't put in the capacities to back it up.
Usually the reaso for demand is that there is more demand than available.
vehicles.Large pickups ae much more numnerous it seems.it also might have somethig to do with their reputation also.
It's amazing how much EVERY truck keeps it's value. Because of this, I see nothing wrong with buying a brand new one and driving it for 5-10 years. I could never buy a 10 year old truck with over 100k miles for $10k. No thanks!
In addition to all of this, I think it also has something to do with the fact that there aren't as many great small trucks available to the used truck buyer as there are great full size trucks.....The perceived difference between a Tacoma and say, whatever Chevy's small truck is now called, is wide. The perceived difference between a Tundra and any of the big 3 full sized trucks isn't as big.
5 year old Tundra's still command a good price, my last truck was a dodge I had for 11 years but after 5 years it wasn't worth squat that's why I kept it for 11 years and ran it in the ground. My 08 tundra dblcb could be sold 2 years later for close to what I bought it for, maybe more and for a 1/2 ton it'll more than get the job done just don't pull up to home depot and put 28 bags of 80# cement in the bed and run 30 miles down the road like I did last weekend unless you have one of those 3/4 or 1 ton diesels I'd hate to see ya bash your truck instead of my Tundra.LOL
That price is ridiculous for a 12 year old truck, I don't care how "tricked out" it is! Trucks hold their value well but this owner is really squeezing to get top-dollar for a vehicle in mediocre shape!
1998 Toyota Tacoma (http://tricities.craigslist.org/cto/2080843754.html - broken link)
someone escaped from the funny farm
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