Unique situation - value of '07 Toyota FJ trade in?

[plucky duck]

My friend has a brand new yellow Toyota FJ, bought last summer, fully paid for, and never driven. Right now it's sitting in the garage. Has less than 100KMs on the odometer. She doesn't even have a Canadian licence yet. Her "friend" bought it for her, vehicle is registered under her name.

Now almost a year later she is only now beginning to get her driver's licence. She wants something smaller and more efficient on gas. A new Corolla, Civic, Mazda3 hatchback, Accord are options. Soon to be starting a family and her SO likes a vehicle with room to haul the little things occasionally from Home Depot or wherever, so he prefers a hatch.

Question is how much can she possibly get for it now if she were to sell it privately or trade it in? I think private sales is the better route. But haven't Toyota just reduced their prices on their vehicles recently? On one hand it's new, but then again, not really considered new new anymore.

Thanks

[mtl4]

As nice as that vehicle is, it lost alot of value when she took posetion from the dealer. Private sale will definately be her best option unless she can find a dealer who will give her alot higher than just trade-in value (she'll take a financial bath on that deal). If she can afford the payments on it, she might even consider just driving it (even if gas is expensive) because she's going to lose money to get rid of it no matter how you slice it.

[Jeff-TheBiz]

As nice as that vehicle is, it lost alot of value when she took posetion from the dealer. Private sale will definately be her best option unless she can find a dealer who will give her alot higher than just trade-in value (she'll take a financial bath on that deal). If she can afford the payments on it, she might even consider just driving it (even if gas is expensive) because she's going to lose money to get rid of it no matter how you slice it.

If a dealer pays too much for the trade you are paying too much for the new car.


Better off to sell it privately.

[KawaiiTentacleBeast]

What the hell is a Toyota TJ?

[nsr250]

What the hell is a Toyota TJ?

It's either a Jeep TJ or Toyota FJ cruiser. Or a merge of both!

[VivienM]

My friend has a brand new yellow Toyota TJ, bought last summer, fully paid for, and never driven. Right now it's sitting in the garage. Has less than 100KMs on the odometer. She doesn't even have a Canadian licence yet. Her "friend" bought it for her, vehicle is registered under her name.

Now almost a year later she is only now beginning to get her driver's licence. She wants something smaller and more efficient on gas. A new Corolla, Civic, Mazda3 hatchback, Accord are options. Soon to be starting a family and her SO likes a vehicle with room to haul the little things occasionally from Home Depot or wherever, so he prefers a hatch.

This seems silly to me. This vehicle is completely paid for. She wants room to haul things. But she's going to sell a perfectly suitable at a massive loss because of GAS PRICES???

According to the government, the FJ Cruiser on average costs $1200/year more in gas than a Corolla (which is far less thirsty than an Accord or Mazda 3). That assumes she drives an average amount - if anything, I'm guessing she'd be driving much less, at least in the short term.

I'm guessing replacing that thing with something more fuel efficient is going to cost a lot more than $1200/year...

[mtl4]

What the hell is a Toyota TJ?

It's really only a concept at the moment.




I'm sure it's a Toyota FJ.

[plucky duck]

Whoops, sorry, it's a FJ

I'm still working on the TJ, soon to be available summer of '09

She prefers the smaller sized vehicles. The person who bought it for her looked at it from a safety standpoint that higher is better for seeing the road. She didn't have an opinion back then. Her SO is the one who prefers something that can haul minor stuff, thus the Mazda3 hatchback.

But for a daily driver I know I wouldn't want to be lugging around the huge boat that the FJ is. Looks horrendous and a big waste. Since she's the driver and the only person in it 90% of the time I'd suggest a smaller vehicle as well for manoueverability even if it weren't for the gas savings.

[nolimtzel]

tough luck yellow.