I accidentally posted this thread in the tri forum, but have now put it in its proper place. Sorry about that.
This is something that’s been bugging me for quite a while and I’m not sure what I should do (if anything). On Dec. 26, 2006 I bought a brand new Toyota Corolla (Christmas present to myself!..first new car I’ve ever owned). It’s the perfect car for me…completely stripped down version, manual transmission, no power windows or locks or anything like that. I put on quite a few miles - between driving to races/training events and a (usually) twice weekly 300-mile round-trip commute to grad school, I already have 35,000+ miles on the car. So, that amounts to about 30,000 miles/year. I took out a 72-month loan on the car and have no trouble making the payments. My question is this: Toyotas hold their resale value fairly well, but with the way I’m putting on the miles, should I think about trading it in on another new vehicle before it loses too much value? Any insight is very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
I sold Hondas for a little while and always hated the fact we had a Toyota dealership next door. If people where coming to me from the Toyota dealership I had a sale because they where tired and just wanted a car and get back home. Hondas are good cars so the sell was easy. IF they walked next door too look at the Toyotas they never came back. Good cars.
It all depends on what you want out of a car. If you don’t have to have the most up to date car then I say follow the maintenance schedule, use synthetic oil, put RXP in your tank ever 3000 miles and drive it into the ground. Don’t play the resale value game. A game you will loose. If you need a new thing all the time then lease and you will loose.
In short take care of it, love it, drive it forever.
What Tibbs said- those cars have been known to routinely get over 200k miles. Even w/ your estimate of 30k/month, you’ll get at least an extra year out of it after its paid off. Put that same payment away in a short-term investment for that time after the car is paid, and use it as a down payment on the next car. Get a shorter loan each time. After 2-3 cars are driven into the ground, you will always be paying cash for them- DEBT FREE!!! And remember- you won’t be driving 30k/yr forever, will you? That extends the life of your car right there.
I’m 31 and am 11 months into my 3rd car- I won’t buy another until I’m at least 35 (looking at some serious miles over the next few years).
72 month loan you maybe upside down still so if you go to trade or sale it will hurt.
Keep it drive it that machine will serve you well. It took me some time but I keep and
drive my wheels for a long time(98 v70 volvo ,99 F-150 and 1993 Acura 200,000+ miles)
When you can on your next car in the future dont go past 48 month loan.
This is very good advice. Thanks! One of the main reasons I bought a Toyota is because of its reliability. I have no reason to expect that I can’t drive this vehicle well beyond 200k miles. Maybe I’ll just plan to hang on to it until it’s dead.
You should have an easy time of it. I kept a Jeep Cherokee alive for 10 years- I put on a lift, changed the steering and driveshaft to match, and abused the hell out of it- regular maintenance was the key. I’d still have it if I hadn’t turned into a road warrior. If the Jeep lasted that long, your Toyota will be with you at retirement.
What Tibbs said. Take care of it. Drive it into the ground.
I recommend this as well. I bought a 2002 Outback with 104k miles on it in June of 2006. It now has 127k miles on it and I expect to keep it until it has 250k or so miles on it. Even though it has a lot of miles on it, it looks and drives great. No problems at all besides normal stuff like maintenance, dead batteries, etc.