Buying a 3-5 year old truck

[schmism]

The time to update the tow vehicle has come. The wife has complained about needing 4wd for the last time when we go get hay on the trailer for the goats. That and the existing 2001 E350 is getting a bit long in the tooth with 225K on it.

On the short list is a 2011-2013 Toyota Tundra Crewmax 4wd likely limited. (want the standard tow package)

For a long while (in the past) you could assume that if you went to just one or 2 locations you could feel confident that your search was touching 90% of the available inventory. But today it seems like everyone is rolling there own for sales websites so looking for something is now sorta a hit or miss endeavor. I'd hate to think that im going to make a trip 150 miles away to pick up roughly the same thing that is 30 miles away its just I didn't know about it.

The question is, how does one go about buying the above truck these days? Last time i bought a used vehicle at a dealer it was 17 years ago. Things have changed since then to say the least.

 

[mcfarmall]

Auto trader and the internet search. Good luck finding the vehicle that suits all your parameters.

 

[Wolfy]

Unless you can handle repairs yourself, which you certainly might, it would be wise to have a solid dealership nearby.

 

[bspeedy]

Craigslist. Within 300 miles of you, someone is selling one and DYING to get out of it. Make them a low cash offer and drive it home. Works for me on trucks, tractors, campers, cars...

 

[dodge man]

I use Autotrader in my area. Also, keep an open mind on what you want. Maybe there is a Chevy or Ford or Dodge that would meet your need for less money.

We just bought a new Ford F150. I planned on buying used. I wanted a Ford for the aluminum body and not worrying about rust. We got lucky when we were looking and Ford had deep discounts on leftover 2017's, and we got into a new one for just a little more than used. There are times you can get new for about the same price as used.

 

[Zick]

Autotrader.com, cars.com, cargurus.com, craigslist.com, searchtempest.com, ebay.com, (facebook market place), every local dealership website, and the list goes on.

You're right there are just too many different sites to try and find them all around you. All these different sites do nothing but make it harder and harder to find every vehicle for sale locally.
I went through this not long ago and it's extremely frustrating.

 

[schmism]

Zick, did you end up spending all the time to dig through all those sites? (exactly what I'm talking about) How did you find what you ended up buying?

 

[Zick]

Zick, did you end up spending all the time to dig through all those sites? (exactly what I'm talking about) How did you find what you ended up buying?

Yes, a lot of time wasted and probably only caught 50% of the vehicles for sale around me. A lot of smaller dealerships don't list their vehicles on these big sites like Autotrader and only list on their business webpage which takes even longer to find.

Basically I was down to only a couple different trucks in a limited year range and ended up buying new (end of the year 17' sale prices) so I was able to locate was I was looking for using the manufacturer vehicle locator (which is only good for new vehicles) which found one at a dealership about an hour away.

Good luck w/ your hunt!

 

[RalphVa]

That age is what ours were for the last 2 we bought.

Love Autotrader. Settled on a Mazda3 about 14 months ago when VW said they were buying back our TDI. Checked one out locally, but it didn't have the equipment we wanted in 6M. Found one on autotrader and figured I could get the local dealer to trade for it, as it was 6 hours drive away. Went in and told them about it. "Just because it's on Autotrader doesn't mean it's there", they said. They checked their own computer search gizmo, whatever it was, and said there was no 6M reasonably close.

So, I immediately went home, looked it up again on Autotrader and called the dealer. "It's there", he says. Made a deal on it and even got another $1,000 off when we walked into the place after driving a rental the 6 hours. Got in and out of there in record time for buying a new vehicle. Highly recommend them: Baglier Motors in Butler, Pa.

Located a 1995-1999 Tacoma recently with less than 60k miles on it on Autotrader. Looks in mint shape. All the way up in Massachusanuts. ****. Loved our 1996 and wish I'd kept it. Just needed brakes done and possibly a clutch and a tad of body work. We loved driving it. Hate this 2005 turd we have. That 1996 would pass everything in sight, blowing them off the road, and get 30 mpg, smiling away.

Ralph

 

[om21braz]

I use Autotrader in my area. Also, keep an open mind on what you want. Maybe there is a Chevy or Ford or Dodge that would meet your need for less money.

We just bought a new Ford F150. I planned on buying used. I wanted a Ford for the aluminum body and not worrying about rust. We got lucky when we were looking and Ford had deep discounts on leftover 2017's, and we got into a new one for just a little more than used. There are times you can get new for about the same price as used.

Good strategy! That was my recent experience. I give up looking for used and just bought a new truck that was close enough to what I was looking for. Same truck 2 years old with 40k was only 5 grand cheaper with no warranty.